To The End of The World!

Today we drove to the end of the world (well, maybe the end of Africa) and visited The Cape of Good Hope and Cape Point. We started out early and headed toward Camp Bay.

A quick stop for a photo op and to admire the incredible water and we were off again. The weather was very nice - California at the beach weather. The sun was out for a good part of the morning and then dropped behind some fog. Either way, the views for the day were stunning. The rock formations as we drove up into the mountains were incredible.

At one point the road was carved into the mountain side, almost like a tunnel with one side open . We drove across Chapman's Peak - a newly opened road through a National Park. Wild flowers are blooming - dark pink geraniums, orange nasturtium, yuccas with tall pink flowers, white daisies. Always the stunning views of the sheer cliffs, the waves crashing and the blue green water nearby.

Our next stop was Simon's Town. It is a quaint beach side town. A walk was in order - down to the water to get my feet wet. The sand is powder white in some areas, the water cold.

We picked up some bread, water and hummus for a picnic later on at the beach. There was an open air market so of course I had to browse. Several vendors told us we were their first customer. They would give us an extra discount. How could I resist? We are now seriously strapped for room in our bags.

After Simon's Town we headed for the Penguin Colony. It is in a National Park as well and the walkways run parallel to the water. The clear blue water, slight breeze in the air and penguins everywhere made us feel pretty lucky to be here today. We had a better view of penguins today than we did at Betty's Bay - but only because the wind was blowing so hard the day we were there. Today, everything was perfect. Along the trail we met some women from Houston and a couple from Norway. He stopped to admire Bob's camera and discuss the lens with him.

From Penguin Colony we headed to Cape Point. Lots of people driving, hiking and biking on this late spring day. The roads and parking lots were fairly busy all day.

Rounding the corner of the peninsula we headed to Cape of Good Hope, the farthest SW point of the continent. Again, lots of tourists but we found a spot to park overlooking the ocean on one side of us.

There were baboon warning signs everywhere. We've seen the videos online of baboons in South Africa opening car doors, taking purses and flinging their contents everywhere.

We managed to get close to several but were very cautious. After 6 hours on the road, we opted for the freeway back rather than the beach road. A very nice day - to the end of the world!

Headed to Robben Island in the morning, maybe a little more shopping. All too soon our South African adventure is coming to a close.