Cape of Good Hope

We have suddenly, and very unexpectedly, received our visas.  After a few hours notice, we hopped on an airplane and we now find ourselves settling back into our African country once again.  We should have been happier with our visas, but having gotten comfortable with the luxuries of South African life over the last few weeks, we felt twinges of sadness at packing up our new apartment and trading it for the shock of the third world once again. Cape Town was a wonderful place to be a visitor, with more to do than we ever got the chance for.  We did, though, get to do something big on our list of places to see... the Cape of Good Hope. Highly recommended.

Give us a call when you go.  We'll join you in a heartbeat.

 

Pictures won't do justice. The Cape Point National Park of South Africa contains the Cape of Good Hope (above), as well as Cape Point, a mountain with a lighthouse that looks down on the Cape of Good Hope.

  Pictured here is the lighthouse, as well as the walking trail and Africa's only funicular path to the top.

Funicular: also known as an inclined plane or cliff railway, is a cable railway in which a cable attached to a pair of tram-like vehicles on rails moves them up and down a steep slope; the ascending and descending vehicles counterbalance each other. Yep.  There. I did it.  Probably the one and only time in my life you will catch me plagiarizing Wikipedia.

 

Blaming our laziness on time and a three year old constantly wanting to be carried (smart boy), we opted to go up the funicular, but walked down afterward. The funicular was reminiscent of a subway car, and packed with people from around the world.  Like being home in New York City.

The view from the top, looking back towards land.

 View of the Cape of Good Hope from Cape Point. Trails below lay out a 1.5 hour hike down to the Cape.

At the lighthouse.

 

Lots of animals to see in the park, as well.  We rubbed shoulders with baboons, ostriches, and three far off zebras.

 

At the Cape of Good Hope.

There is a misconception that the Cape of Good Hope is the southern tip of Africa. This comes from the fact that it was once believed to be the dividing point between the Atlantic and Indian Ocean.  The Cape of Good Hope actually marks the point where a ship going around Africa begins to travel more eastward than southward.

     

Here Kurt and Jonas navigate the rocks with friends Juana and William.

 The tide pools below the cape were amazing- as though the ocean were sitting open for a viewing.

 

The gorgeous towns to and from the cape were fairly congested with stop and go traffic, as there was one road to get to and from Cape Point.  A lovelier stop along the way could not have been found, though, when we got out of the car for a few hours of penguin time.

To see way too many cute pictures of my child with wild penguins, check out my other blog in a couple of days: http://keepingupwiththejonases.blogspot.com/