November 26. Thanksgiving with the Penguins & Baboons. We met our guide, Ivan, at 9:00 am and headed South. Driving along Beach Rd, we see much of what we saw yesterday, but it's so beautiful there were no complaints from us. We traveled past Twelve Apostles, where we'd stayed on our last visit, on to Hout Bay and to Chapman's Peak Road with all sorts of twists and turns. Over the peninsula to False Bay, so named because so many sailors took a wrong turn and thought they'd arrived in Table Bay. Our next stop was Simon's Town for a visit to Boulders Penguin Colony, a part of Table Mountain National Forest. Set in the midst of a residential area, you suddenly come upon a sheltered bay, with a thriving colony of African Penguins! They are the small penguins, and absolutely adorable! They are endangered and this is one of the few sites where the birds can be observed at close range, wandering freely, in a protected environment. We were able to see molting birds, nests being built and the constant grooming that takes place between mates; it was so windy today, most were snuggled into the sand staying warm!
After our penguin encounter, we headed further south to Cape of Good Hope and the obligatory photo next to the sign. On the way we were stopped by a couple of "baboon jams"... the baboons just take over the road, are extremely bold, extremely nasty and have an attitude! We had a few photo ops from the safety of the car but didn't venture out. Loved seeing them in packs with the babies on the mother's backs as they traveled across the road at their leisure disrupting traffic. We drove on to the Cape of Good Hope where we posed next to the sign and got back into the car as quickly as possible as there was an absolute gale blowing!
Ivan had made reservations for lunch at Two Oceans, the restaurant right below Cape Point, which is actually the Southern most spot on the peninsula. Delighted to report we had a table inside, out of the wind and chill that was in the air. Excellent lunch - so many times in a tourist destination the prices are high and the food quite average. Not so at Two Oceans; it may be touristy, but there was great food. And you MUST have a reservation! I had a combo with Queen Prawns and Calamari that was excellent, with more outstanding wine! We were so invigorated by our luncheon (or guilty) we took the funicular as far as it went, then started climbing steps to the very tippy-top to the Cape Point lighthouse. Really steep climb, but with a couple of recovery stops, we soldiered on and eventually made it! Alyssa, my trainer, would have been proud!
Back on the road home to Cape Town with our objectives accomplished. Traffic in Cape Town is just like any other major city, and at 5:00 pm there are traffic jams everywhere! We made it back about 6:00 pm, stopped at the bar for toddies before heading to the room. I had two bottles of champagne, one from the Lisbon winery visit and a Cava from Madeira. I had planned to drink on the ship, but was just too busy! We met a couple in the bar celebrating their 10th wedding anniversary, had the bartender pop open the cork on the Cava and shared it with them. After that, we were so exhausted we headed upstairs, watched an old movie and ordered room service... not a good idea, but we survived!
Tomorrow Franschhoek and wine country! Sorry, somebody has got to do it!
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