How Far South Can You Go?

Dave and I boarded South African Airways the evening of February 1^st, bound for Cape Town, South Africa. We landed safely in Johannesberg (or Joberg, to which it is commonly referred) the next morning. A quick and easy 6 hour flight! As this was just a quick stopover before our next flight to our final destination, we didn’t have a chance to really check out the capital city. My first impression was that it is a very big metropolitan city; primarily because of the thick layer of pollution that lined the horizon. The airport was clean, large, and civilized. Civilized is always good after leaving or arriving at the airport in Ghana! After a quick breakfast at Wimpy’s, we set off for our next flight, landing in Cape Town a little past 11 a.m.

We were met at the baggage terminal by a representative of &Beyond, with whom we had made room accommodations. Ali was extremely nice and quite helpful, guiding us to the Budget Rental Car depot where we picked up our car.

Point of concern here. South Africans drive on the wrong side of the road - at least an American would call it the “wrong” side. Subsequently, the steering wheel is on the right side of the vehicle, making driving a bit unorthodox.

We had decided against hiring a driver as we wanted some privacy, especially after being driven around all over Accra 95% of the time. We kept telling each other, “left side of the road; left side of the road.” We, of course, had a GPS included with our rental and as we began our exit out of the airport she clearly stated, “stay right; stay right.” We looked at each other….WHAT? The entire drive out of the airport was on the right side of the road.

The 30 minute drive from the airport to our bed and breakfast was scary - at least for me - especially when we had to drive down the narrow streets leading up the hill. While Dave was focusing on staying to the left of the white lines in the middle of the road, my concern lied with the cars parked to the left of me. I can’t tell you how many times I cringed, squeaked, and flat out screamed. I was sure Dave was going to take off all of the mirrors on the cars. Fortunately, we safely arrived at our destination.

Once Dave got the hang of it, his driving improved, or rather my reactions to his driving lessened. Nevertheless, he continued to have some issues with the blinkers. You see, the lever to turn on the blinkers is now on the right side of the steering wheel and the windshield wipers on the left. Meaning, often times the wipers came on when we were making a turn. It was a great source of amusement.

We were warmly received at the Abbey Manor, which sits at the base of the Table Mountain.

The day we arrived, as well as the four subsequent days, the wind howled. I had visions of my younger days in Wyoming. The B&B was clean and comfortable, with most of the rooms within the main house. Dave and I were actually in a cottage just off the main house, which afforded us quite a bit of privacy. Each morning we were served breakfast, which was a great way to start off our days of exploring.

That afternoon, after a short nap and a shower, we headed down towards the water to check out the V&A Waterfront and grab some dinner. The Waterfront is a working harbor and has endless restaurants, stores, sidewalk entertainment, bars, and an enormous shopping mall. Basically, it’s the heart of Cape Town.

We chose to walk to the Waterfront, which was about three miles. After a yummy Italian dinner and some browsing, we headed back to our B&B on foot. We felt relatively safe until about a mile or so from Abbey Manor, where we began to encounter more and more homeless people. We then took a cab - safety first!

Super Bowl Sunday - There’s not really too much to say about Super Bowl Sunday (in terms of football), other than….we didn’t watch the game. We have never missed a Super Bowl game for as long as we can remember. Last year I was in the states, and Dave stayed up in Ghana until after 3:30 a.m. to watch the game. One year we watched the NY Giants beat the NE Patriots while sitting atop a Princess Cruise ship bound for the Caribbean. Not this year. South Africa is a first world country, but American football doesn’t appear to hold much interest for the locals. The TV in our cottage only had nine channels, none of which carried the game. It was a sad day in the Kern household; both because we didn’t get to watch the game and Dave’s team lost to the Ravens.

On the much brighter side, we spent our first full day in Cape Town driving down the Cape Peninsula which is about 30 miles long. The northern end is Table Mountain, which overlooks Cape Town, and the most southern is Cape of Good Hope. That's Table Mountain in the background. More about that place later.

We drove down the east side of the peninsula, with our first stop being Boulders Beach near Simon’s Town. Boulders Beach is famous for the African Penguins that inhabit the shores. The penguins roam freely, and a person can get in the water with them. We didn’t actually see any interaction between human and animal, although there was one snorkeler out there. Their nesting season begins in February, which explains why so many of them were laying down….on their nests.

African Penguins are monogamous, which sort of makes me laugh because there are lots of them to choose from and they all look alike (to me). How would you ever know which one belonged to you? Ha ha!

The males are the bigger of the two. Incubation of the eggs is shared equally by both parents for about 40 days. After the chick hatches, at least one of the parent guards him for about 30 days. After that time the chicks flock together while their parents head out to the sea for food. Can you see the little chick poking his head out?

After checking out the penguins in the wind (yes, another very windy day), we stayed in Simon’s Town for some lunch and ice cream, with a beautiful view of False Bay.

We continued our drive down the eastern coast, eventually arriving at the entrance of the Table Mountain National Park.

As we were driving Dave told me that the scenery reminded him of the drive to the sandy beach in Glendo, which was exactly what I was thinking! For all of my non-Wyoming friends, Glendo is a reservoir in central Wyoming. About 20 minutes later we arrived at a parking lot and the spot where we would begin our hike to what we thought was the southernmost point of the continent  Cape Point.

The Cape of Good Hope is just west of Cape Point, and over my shoulder in this picture.

It is often thought to be the most southern point of the continent, as well as the meeting point of the Atlantic and Indian Ocean, but technically it is at Cape Agulhas, about 120 miles to the southeast. Regardless, we hiked as far as we possibly could on Cape Point. There were only five of us at the point on that particular day, and it was sort of uncanny.  I wondered to myself…how many people do I know who have stood in this same exact spot? I’m sure I know more today, after having lived in Ghana for almost two years, but before that….I don’t think I would have known a single person. Here we are at the most southern tip of the continent that we will likely ever be....just the two of us! Pretty awesome!

We arrived at the first of two lighthouses. This one was constructed first in 1860, but proved to be quite dangerous as it could be seen too early by ships rounding the point causing them to approach too closely. In addition, the lighthouse was often times covered by fog, making it invisible to the ships. 

We hiked down and out as close as we could to the newest lighthouse, built in 1919. This location cannot be seen from the west until ships are at a safe distance. The light is the most powerful on the South African coast. We weren't able to actually hike down to the lighthouse, but you can see it in the distance. The ocean was just as blue in person.

Dave pointed out that the Lusitania had wrecked just off the cape (among many, many others), which is actually what prompted the construction of the second lighthouse. I was surprised to see the name Lusitania. I told him I could have sworn that the Lusitania had wrecked off the coast of Ireland, and that I distinctly remembered reading about it when we were in Ireland at the port from which the Titanic left on her last voyage. When we arrived back in Ghana, we mentioned it to some of our South African friends, and they thought we were crazy. They insisted the Lusitania did NOT wreck off the coast of South Africa. I duly went and retrieved my camera, as I had taken a picture of the sign. After providing the proof, we googled the ship and discovered that there were TWO Lusitania vessels that have wrecked; one being the RMS Lusitania (British ocean liner that was torpedoes and sunk by a Germ U-boat off the coast of Ireland in 1915). The other, the SS Lusitania, wrecked on Bellows Rock off Cape Point in 1911. The things you learn…and remember!

A sign at Cape Point said that this was the cleanest air in Africa, but strangely enough, it was sort of smelly. Regardless, the view was indescribable. It was extremely windy, but the day was clear and bright.

We headed back to our car to end our day with a drive up the western coast of the peninsula. After leaving Table National Park, we drove through the countryside to arrive at Chapman’s Peak Drive, which winds its way between Noordhoek and Hout Bay. The views were stunning, although Dave was not allowed to look.

This is a 5-6 mile drive with 114 curves. It borders the rocky and very steep coastline. Remember, we are driving on the left hand side of the road, so I had a great view of the vertical terrain. The road was extremely narrow, and it was taking Dave’s full concentration to maintain the car in our lane. I, on the other hand, could hardly keep my eyes open as I was sure he was going to run into the very short wall next to us. I kept wondering why the wall wasn’t taller so that when Dave hit it, we would bounce off of it rather than plunge to our death.

Take a look at this “tunnel,” we had to drive through.

It did not appear to be soundly constructed, but we made it through. We were hoping to be able to stop to watch the sunset go down, but this is about all we got. We stopped at one point, but the wind was SO bad, we didn’t stop for long.

We ended our day by stopping at the Waterfront for dinner and a movie. Awesome first day in Cape Town.