walk the earth

Thursday, April 27, 2006

The Cape Escape

After a long cold wait at a gas station for my bus to arrive in Keetmanshoop, it finally did at 11pm. Things can change quickly while traveling, sometimes better, sometimes worse. As fun as sitting around at a gas station for three hours with the local folks of Keetmanshoop, Namibia was; it was about to get a whole lot better. The bus came. I got on, found my seat next to a trio of girls from Finland who were also on there way to Cape Town. We got along well and made good time out of the 3am border crossing into South Africa. We drove through the night and into the next afternoon before finally rolling into beautiful and sunny Cape Town, South Africa.

"Travel the world over and you will not find a more beautiful city than Cape Town" said the travel guide, and it was right on. This is a Fantastic city in an extraordinary location dominated by impressive Table Mountain. Where the Indian and Atlantic oceans meet at the south western tip of the African continent has always been a strategic shipping point, this city has really done a good job of making it's harbor the center piece. Not like any other African city I've seen, I have to remind myself constantly that this still Africa.

I also met up with an American in the Peace Corp, Kevin from St. Louis, on the bus. We got some lunch after the trip and then split up to head to our respective hostels... while walking down Long street looking for Long St. Backpackers, I bumped into my old travel mate, Dave the British Safari Guide! Because of my Fish River Canyon non-adventure, our schedules had realigned and we had great reunion. Talked about all we had each done since Malawi and had a great time for the next few days checking out the city and surrounds.


welcome to cape town, seth ifrika.


The waterfront and Table Mtn.


downtown.

Went on a tour of Robben Island, the prison island just off the coast where Nelson Mandela was held during Apartheid.


Nelson Mandela's cell.


Robben Island tour.


guard tower, robben island.


The hot ride which took us to the island. The sea was angry that day, there was quite a bit of puking going on during the 20 minute ride out. Dave and I held it together, but when this older gent behind us tossed cookies down the front of his shirt, I got up to get some fresh air above deck.


a friendly seal on the docks.

After two days of cloud, rain, movies with my good friends Dara and Dave, malls, and bars!, it finally cleared up again and we headed up the mountain above the city.


view hiking up Table Mtn.


Dave overlooking Cape Town on Table Mtn.


The city center and harbor.



Looking west.


I told you it was beautiful.


Splash down.

We hiked up around 3pm (because Dave was so hungover (Cape Town has great nightlife) from the night before he couldn't get up before 2:30pm despite my attempts to wake him earlier by hitting him with a Masai club.) We took the last cable car down the mountain after sunset. To be fair, had we gone up any eariler we would have been in the clouds, so it really worked out for the best.


The 'table cloth' being pulled down over the mountain at sunset.


The 'twelve apostles' run down from the mountain on the western side.


On Dave's last full day in Africa we rented a car to explore Cape Point and the Cape of Good Hope which is about 50 miles south of Cape Town. Great fun.


Our ride. The powerful 1.3 liter Mazda 323, 5 speed gearbox, 4 wheels, 1 trunk; about the most basic car on the planet.


Yes, yes they are. They stole Dave's sandwich off the table and were chased away by the waiters with slingshots. sorry I should have got a photo of that too.


The Cape Point lighthouse.


it's a beautiful day, don't let it...


We are far from everywhere.


it's a lizard. Andrew, what kind?


Dave and I at Cape Point. We'd come a long way through Africa together and had lots of really good times, it was really fun to meet up again. There was a huge wall map of Africa at our hostel and we retraced our steps from where we met up in Kampala, Uganda. If you find a map of Africa, have a look, it is quite a way to Cape Town, many a bus ride, let me tell you...


face off: mazda 323 vs. female ostrich.


it was a draw.


a hyrax. It's apparently related to an Elephant?




And there were penguins too.


Today I hiked up Lion's Head, a mountain overlooking Cape Town and next to Table mountain with a friend I met in Namibia, Max from Vancouver.


Max climbing up the chains on Lion's Head.


top rock.


We hiked up Lion's Head, then across the 'Lion's rump' to Signal Hill and then back down to the Waterfront area downtown. big day.


another view from the hike.


i'm enjoying an apple at the top.


bye bye.

Next stop Plettensburg Bay up the East coast on the Garden route.

5 Comments:

  • Patrick!
    Great to hear from you again...was wondering how things were going. I love the pictures of all the views and the animals....esp the penguins! Reminds me of AK...minus the hot sun. :) Keep traveling safe and see you in a month!

    take care,
    Mardy

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at April 27, 2006 2:20 PM  

  • Hi Patrick, every time you post one of these I have to change my wallpaper. Astonishing photos! I like the view from the top looking west. But they (Namibia and now Cape Town) are very low res compared to the Mt. Rainier photos. Feel like helping me out from the south of Africa? Or is in the pixels?

    Best regards

    Jim H.

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at April 27, 2006 3:51 PM  

  • Ohhhh I love the penguins!!! It just seems like you are having a perfect ending to your trip! Are you able to check in on Brady's blog for the stark contrast? Yikes!Can't wait to see you in a few weeks!
    Love Betsy

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at May 01, 2006 1:27 PM  

  • We are so glad that you got to one of our favorite places in the world!! We loved the Cape area, found the city beautiful and the people friendly. Your pix look amazing. Have a great trip up the east coast.

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at May 01, 2006 7:07 PM  

  • Sadly the 'most basic car on the planet' Mazda 323 would be a step up from my current ride....see you soon!

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at May 03, 2006 10:00 PM  

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