Cape Town



After a light rainfall the first evening, we’ve had spectacular weather here in Cape Town.  Perfect for sightseeing.

We spent the first full day here with guide Cheryl Scott exploring the entire Cape - our tour lasted 9 hours.  First stop was the oldest winery in South Africa - Groot Constantia, which has been producing wine since 1685.  We walked around the grounds, and I tasted wines.


Next we visited Simon’s Town, where we saw gemstones being polished in large tumblers.



The best stop of the day was Boulders - home of the African penguins.




While we were there we also saw a little dassie sitting in a tree -



Ironically, these little critters’ closest relatives are elephants.

I decided to climb up to the lighthouse at the southern end of the Cape of Good Hope- there’s a funicular that goes about two -thirds of the way up, but I walked all the way (and it was a hike).  At the upper funicular station the trail becomes steps.



A friendly woman from Texas took my picture at the top - proof that I made it.


Back at sea level, we stopped for the requisite photo at the Cape of Good Hope sign -




En route back along the west shore we passed through several very affluent communities, and as we approached the city we had a great view of the “Twelve Apostles” (there are actually 17) - peaks that form the backside of Table Mountain.  The separate peak to the left is Lion’s Head.





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