Saturday 25 February 2017

Penguins, The Cape Of Good Hope and Baboons

The next day we took advantage of having the car and went for a drive down the coast.  We started on the east side of the penninsula and drove through the touristy towns on False Bay.  We took our time, having coffee and doing some shoppjng in the trendy boutuques along the way.  The fishing boats  of course were  nestled in their harbours, having brought in the  catch already.





We stopped at boulders bay to view one of two shore based schools of the endangered south African penguins.  It is one of the few colonies whose population is increasing.  We could get so close to these docile creatures it was just astounding.





Then we pressed on to the Cape of Good Hope, which we were both interested in as it has so much maritime history.

We drove throuh Table Mountain National Park which stretches the 71 km length of the peninsula and could just imagine the early explorers  arriving to this treeless landscape.  It is deceivingly barren, as it is covered in low shrubs and other vegetation.  It is dry but supports life, insect, zebra, baboons, oryx and ostrich to name a few.  The coast is rugged and there is a flat plane between the mountain ends and the cape.





When we arrived at the cape itself at the bitter end of the peninsula, we parked and as I was opening my door Paul told me, in his commanding voice, to "Shut the door"  I demanded why in my biligerent "don't give me commands" tone of voice and Paul replied "because there is a flipping baboon on the roof!"  Sure enough...there were two who sauntered over  the front window and the  hood of the car having a quick look in to see if there were any food.  These animals are everywhere, looking for food and walking down the street.  The park has baboon chaser-offers, and we saw a couple of altercations which showed us just how mean these little creatures can get if provoked.



We made our way to the viewpoint for the cape and then took the funicular up to the lighthouse, which is at the highest point.  The view was spectacular and the wind blowing unrelentlesly!  Luckily for me I have an invincible Tilly hat which usually stays on, despite the wind!









As we were leaving we explored a bit and we saw some wildlife, as well as some beutiful views.











We took the road over the mountains towards the western side of the cape and discovered Chapman's Peak Drive...a beautiful drive over a mountain with outstanding views of the coast.  We were there just as the sun was starting to set...so we found a beach to watch it sink below the horizon.














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