Cape Town

Our trip to Cape Town included a Land Rover ride, a Cessna 210 flight, an Air Botswana flight, a British Air flight and a cab ride. We started at 4:30 am and crashed (figuratively) at 10:00 pm. The next morning we joined a small group tour of the Cape Town Peninsula. Our guide Helmut gave an excellent tour to his six German and four American passengers (Kay and Barbara, the other two Americans are from Houston).

We have always thought Highway 1 along the Pacific Coast was nonpareil, but the drive along the Atlantic shore south of Cape Town far surpasses Hwy 1. The water is aquamarine in all its rich shades. The coast varies from smooth beach front to fatally dangerous rocky shoals. Waves crash sending up tall sprays of foam. It was Sunday and the miles long walk way was filled with runners, walkers and cyclists. The beaches sprouted umbrellas and lunch baskets.

Our first destination was Cape Point or Cape of Good Hope, claimed as the confluence of the Pacific and Indian Oceans. While a place of great beauty, its original name of Cape of Storms was apt as gale force winds threaten to blow away visitors who come to admire the view. Fortified by a delicious lunch at the park’s restaurant, we chose the gondola as safer than the stairs to ascend the peak where a lighthouse guards the point. The reward was a strong wind and a spectacular sight.

Our next stop was The Boulders, home to a colony of Jackass (now African) Penguins. They arrived in the 1980s and settled in right behind some very fine homes. The area now serves as a rookery for a large number of our favorite birds

Our tour ended at the Kirstenbosch Botanical Garden. The gardens are lovely, even this late in the spring, but what was most pleasing were the crowds of people enjoying games, picnics, and music on the vast grounds. There was a sold out concert later that night and the line for seats was very long. Either there was piped in music during the day or we heard the band practicing, whichever, we enjoyed our music enhanced stroll around the garden.

Back on the Nautica, we met the first of the many enjoyable people with whom we will live for the next 34 days.

The next day was a sea day and we slept in until 6ish (remember those 4:30 wake ups). We got familiar again with this ship we previously sailed on in Asia and the Eastern Med. The bridge coordinator seems good and we plan to take some lessons. Anna Lee even was willing to play duplicate and we didn’t embarrass ourselves. The entertainment is typical of Oceania, okay but not great. The food continues to be quite good though not varied.

We continue meeting new people whose conversations we are enjoying.