January 18th, 2008
I cannot even begin to describe the beauty of this place. It is absolutely amazing. Everywhere you look, there are mountains, there is gorgeous blue water and on top of that, such a beautiful culture. Yes, I took 430 pictures today (I am totally going to beat your record Ches, probably in this first week!) but none of those pictures can possibly classify the beauty that is South Africa.
We went to Cape Point today. Supposedly, this restaurant that we stopped at is famous for fish and chips but as the connoisseur of that particular meal, I did not think it was the best. Definitely good but not the best.
This restaurant was at a gorgeous beach. The wind was whipping around today so it was chilly. Some crazy people went in the water – I did not envy how cold they were when they got out. After this little trip, we went to Cape Point and the scenery along the route was gorgeous. It was all cliffs, mountains and water. The roads were extremely curvy with very very tight curves on the edge of a cliff so Amanda, I suggest we do not rent a car to get down there because we would both be freaking out driving around that area.
Cape Point was amazing. For anybody who doesn’t know, it is the southernmost tip of Africa, besides Cape Aguilhas. Africans say that it is where the two oceans meet but unfortunately, it is at Cape Aguilhas that the two oceans actually DO meet. This, for all interested readers, is also the playground of the infamous Chacma baboon. Unfortunately for us, they were a little tired from harassing tourists the day before and we saw all but two walking along side the road. I was very angry that I did not get a good picture of them because when I pointed it out (which I shouldn’t have), everybody stood up with their cameras and got in my way. L I am sure I will see more baboons at another point for all of you fanatics. Oh and by the way, the houses that they raid are huge!! No wonder the baboons raid those houses! They know that all the good stuff is centralized there!
Anyways, getting back to Cape Point – we took a trail to the very tip of the peninsula which was very steep. Once again, I am not sure if you would want to walk this trail Amanda because the wind was blowing so hard you could practically get blown over and you are walking along side a cliff with nothing next to you but more cliffs and water. When we reached the point though, the view was amazing. All you could see was ocean and more ocean. We found this little hut thingy (it looked like a bomb shelter) and climbed on top of it. The view from up there was even better and I am so glad that I did not stay behind with the other group of people that decided to take the trolley because they did not get to go. To get to the point, or what everybody else considered the point who did not go on the trail, you can either walk up a steep hill and many steps or take a trolley up. I chose to walk up because it isn’t that big of a deal and the other half chose to be lazy and take a trolley up. They missed out big time on the other views that we were able to see. Oh and my RA Matt said that the last time he was at Cape Point, the trolley was more open and when you went on it, baboons jumped out of the bushes and grabbed your stuff. I found this particular story hilarious.
After Cape Point we drove through Simons Town which is the town where all of the rich people live and where the baboons terrorize them. We then went to Boulders Beach, a cove between Simon’s Town and Cape Point. This is the beach with all of the penguins. I think half of the pictures I took today were all of penguins. It was ridiculous! Anyways, I really do not know what I was expecting. I think I thought that it was a regular beach that you walked onto and you were surrounded by penguins. I was very disappointed. I should have thought logically and figured that penguins = tourists = protection for the penguins = regulated passageway. First of all, we had to pay to get in, like an aquarium. Then there were all of these raised boardwalks that you walked on and the penguins were all around. Amanda – I told them that you said hello and that they will have to wait to see their favorite person! J Anyways, the penguins were cute, the ride back we all slept because we were exhausted from the walking and the sun. Right now we are having a briae (sp?) which is a barbecue so I should go and be friendly! Love you and miss you all!!


Sorry guys - I meant to put pictures with these but I need to work out a more efficient way to add the pictures. I will add them later for sure but for right now, I want you to know what I am doing. The internet situation is quite crazy so I won't be able to blog as often as I thought.