After a couple of hours flight from Joberg we were in CapeTown ready to explore. We rented a Airbnb flat in the city about 2 miles from the harbor and in the heart of the city We had a wonderful view of table mountain but more on that later.
To get the week kicked off right we got up the first morning and met our guide Remmy for our ride to Hermanus for Whale watching.
Hermanus – Whale Watching
About 3 hours from Cape Town is the beach town of Hermanus. The bay off the coast of Hermanus is know for whale watching both by boat and on the shore.
We boarded the boat and moved out of the harbor. It was a beautiful sunny day and the ocean was uncharacteristically calm. As we motored out the speaker stated that were were upwards of 1000 whales in the waters outside of Hermanus.
Right away we started getting multiple whale sightings and the action kept going from there. I have been on whale watching boats before but the sightings came so quickly I didn’t know which side of the boat to be on. Here are some of my photos.
This whale breech happened about 200 feet off the stern of the boat. It was amazing and I took of succession of pictures that I put together in the video below…
Whale Breech
Whale open mouth – Baleen
I barely got to the side of the boat when this was happening (not a great picture). This is a southern right whale opening his/her mouth. What you see in the mouth are rows of baleen filters. The whale usually opens its mouth under water and pulls water into its mouth. It then pushes the water out of its mouth and the krill cannot get through the baleen and are food. Super cool to even get a view of the open mouth.
Benguela Winery
On the way back to Cape Town we decided to stop at the Benguela Winery along the way. Here is Sara on our way in with our guide Remmy.
This winery is right on an inlet to the ocean so we sat out on the patio to have a 5 wine tasting and some cheese. The wine was tasty and you could tell they took pride not only in the taste of their wine but the beautiful atmosphere of their surroundings.
Robben Island
Robben island was named by the Dutch – Rob for Seal. When the Dutch arrived they saw lots of seals on the island. Robben island is where Nelson Mandella was incarcerated for being a political enemy of the state. We knew Robben island as a prison but did not know it was also used as a leper colony and a military outpost.
On a clear day Robben island is visible from Signal Hill above Sea Point.
Ferries to the island leave from the Harbor several times a day, we purchased our tickets way in advance. The ferry ride takes about 30 minutes in good weather. We found out on the way back that the weather can change quickly and the ocean get really rough.
I took a picture of Sara near the entrance Robben Island and then we boarded a bus for a tour of the island.
Our bus tour showed us the different parts of the island before we were taken to the prison.
There is a Leper graveyard for the period when Robben island was a leper colony
There was a lookout toward the mainland near the lighthouse
There is also the Lime Quarry where Mandella and several other political prisoners were forced to work day in and day out. The pile of rocks in the foreground was created by Mandella and other prisoners each placing a stone on the pile years after they had been released.
After our bus tour we returned to the entrance of the prison where we were greeted by our guide who had also been a political prisoner here.
We walked into the gates with our guide as he began to tell us about what it was like to be a prisoner here and how the prison was organized.
Many of the prisioners were kept in rooms such as this where they either had mats on the floor or bunk beds.
For the political prisioneers like Mandella who they didn’t want in the general population they were kept in a building with a couryard and small single man cells.
Courtyard outside Mandella cell window.
Mandella cell window
Mandella’s cell
After the prison tour we were asked to walk back to the ferry. They call this the Walk to Freedom because it is the same walk the prisoners took as they walked to their freedom. Off in the distance you can see the gate from the start of the tour.
The weather got progressively worse as the day went on and they told us that our ferries would be the last of the day because the ocean had become to rough to continue service. It was a bumpy ride back to the mainland – luckily Sara and I are good on the water.
Table Mountain
Table mountain is the most visible natural monument in Cape Town. It towers over the city and is just a short drive from downtown. Here you can see Table Mountain on the left and Lions Head on the right.
We heard from a good friend that Pletteklip Gorge was the trail to do to hike from the base road to the top of Table Mountain so we hooked up with our guide Remmy and started our hike.
It was misty in the morning and clouds were socking in the mountain this morning. The trail is rocky and steep with lots of stone steps, and the trail was wet. I led the team off on this ledge when I went the wrong direction on a Y intersection of the trail. It was a beautiful ledge with some small waterfalls like this one.
We got back on track and hiked quickly to the top because we had a reservation to Abseil down from the top of Table Mountain. Abeil is the south african way of saying rappelling. So we met with our Abseil Africa team and got started.
These guys were fun and safe. So we climbed over the railing where everyone else was enjoying the views of Cape Town below and took a closer look, with our harnesses on and clipped in.
We have a short way to traverse to where the abseil ropes were tied in to the rocks. Here we followed the guide rope down a ladder.
Here you can see the ropes tied into the rocks and Cape Town and the ocean below.
Rappelling Video
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Here is Sara and I setup with our harnesses and ready to rappel. They had a safety rope on us here for the picture so we didn’t have to hold on to our ropes, really unnerving at first but fun. Since we were braking with our hands we got the cool gloves.
Here we are at the bottom of the rappel. It was super fun and included a wild area were we were suspended free in the air for about 150 feet.
Next it was time to hike back up to the top to get our stuff and meet our guide. These handy yellow foot prints showed us the path on the rocks.
This sign about half way up to the top. It says “This is not an easy way down” I think it is to discourage people taking this trail from the top that it gets much more dangerous to hike past this point – but for Sara and I just gave us an awesome laugh. You can see the city peeking out between the clouds and the rocks.
Cape Point and Boulders Beach
Cape Point is a peninsula at the tip of the African continent. Cape Point is a part of the national park system.
After going through the gate it was a long drive to Cape Point parking lot. After getting out of the car it was a hike on the trail below to the point.
The trail climbed steeply up to one of two light houses.The one shown here is a newer large lighthouse.
This view point was beautiful with the coast in the background. You can see the older lighthouse just near the point.
Here is the older lighthouse on the point and the end of the continent.
On the right side of this picture you can see the trail we took toward the beach, to the point and then down the other side to the beach. It was a beautiful hike,
We came down off the bluff down to the Cape of Good Hope sign. Here we are with our guide Remmy.
This was the beautiful beach on the other side of the bluff and sign.
Boulders Beach is home to an African Penguin Colony and is protected.
Penguins on the beach and in the water. They are way better in the water but on the beach they know they are protected as well.
A cute brown fluffy baby penguin. this is the brown coat that is lost as the penguin grows.
Townships
The first township we visited was Langa. It is one of the oldest and was first created to house the men working at the port. Beyond the shack in the foreground you can see the brick barracks in the background.
Langa is a black township and is relatively small but close to Cape Town. In the townships, similar to in the cities, people live in dwellings based on wealth or lack there of. Here poverty is rampant.
Langa is one of the Townships which now has local tour guides who live in the township which lead tourists through certain parts of the township. We would not have gone into the township unless we were escorted with a local guide.
The poor lived in shacks like the picture above and some made out of shipping containers below.Thomas in the grey jacket was our guide and had previously arranged for us to look at a few peoples homes.
This shipping container was separated down the middle with two families living in it. The electrical was hacked into this dwelling…
People also lived in the old barracks. Several families lived in a single room in these buildings.
Sometimes there are 3 families living in a single room. Each bed represented a family and the oldest person slept on the bed.with the children sleeping on the floor.
There is a centralized area in the township where people can buy things.
Next we drove down the road to Bonteheuwel a colored township,
We also ate near Bonteheuwel in a barbecue place called Mzoli’s.
You walk in and pick your meat from the counter and they put it in a bowl for you.
You then take it into the back where you hand the meat to these guys who are cooking it in the back on these wood grills.
When it is ready you eat up in a music party area just outside the restaurant. The meat was perfect and seasoned. We were really hungry at this point so all tasted really good :).It was a tiring day.
Capetown City Tour
Capetown is a big city so we needed an easy way to get around and see things. We hopped on a red Double Decker bus to see the sights around town, and we could hop on and off all day with one fee.
We first jumped off the bus at the Kirstenbosch Botanical Gardens. Kirstenbosch is an important botanical garden nestled at the eastern foot of Table Mountain in Cape Town. The garden is one of nine National Botanical Gardens covering five of South Africa’s six different biomes.
The gardens has this skyway above the cannopy where you can look at the many tree species they cultivate and grow. This is bridge is like a serpent making its way through the trees.
We attended mass at St Georges Cathedral on Sunday, it was a quick 10 min walk from our place in the city.
Bo-Kaap is known for its brightly colored homes.This is a mostly Muslin area. The people painted their homes in multi-color once they free from apartheid.
We saw a lot during our stay in Cape Town however I feel like we scratched the surface of what this city and the surrounding are has to offer.
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