We stayed in Cape Town longer than expected due to flights being very expensive due to Easter. During our time here we took a trip to the Cape of Good Hope and cape point where it was very windy. It was an organized daytrip were we also visited the penguin sanctuary. It was a bit strange to see penguins in South Africa; normally penguins are associated with cold places. But these types of penguins were called Jackass penguins but are not called African penguins due to similar penguins been found in South America. It was amazing to go to Cape Point, the famous lighthouse at the high peak, a famous place where Vasco De Gama sailed around years ago and also the place where the two oceans meet. The wind was so strong I was a little worried it could blow me away! After walking up to the top and back we then got on the bikes and cycled from cape point towards the gate for the national part which is around 15km most of it down hill. At some points we didn’t have to cycle at all due to the strong wind coming from behind us. The weather was great the whole day and a really good trip. We even saw a few wild animals not to far away from us e.g. springbok.
Went to the annual Jazz festival and was lucky enough to get tickets for the concert as we probably got the last two available. It was a massive convention centre and coming from Mtwara it felt as we where in a completely different world. So many people so modernized felt a bit strange and in some ways I missed the simplicity of Mtwara. The festival itself was good we managed to visit at least 5 – 6 different performances throughout the night before leaving.
We tried to get tickets for the boat out to Robben Island where Nelson Mandela was imprisoned but the tickets where booked up for a week in advance instead we took a boat trip which went out of the harbour some miles and gave us a great view of Table Mountain as the clouds where coming over it.
When the clouds weren’t on Table Mountain we took a cable cart up to the top to see the sunset which was just as amazing as in Livingstone. It was really nice to walk around the top and get a great 360 degrees view of the city. The mountain is just amazing that it is situated right in the middle of the city. The cable cart up was interesting, as it was a revolving cart. I am not great with heights but I seemed to manage ok with this one : )
To get out of the city and see another part of South Africa we took a wine tour to Stellenbosch. The day involved 5 different wineries tasting at least 5 wines in each place and a tour of one winery showing the whole production process that goes into making wine. It was really informative as there were things I never thought about that goes into wine which is really important e.g. how important it is to have the right barrel in order to store the wine. The whole day was great, not least because we got to taste some really nice wine and also eat some fantastic cheese along the way! The cheese was amazing. It was a fantastic feeling to drink wine and be surrounded with fantastic scenery. At one place we where in the middle with mountains surrounding us in every direction. Not bad!
Back in Cape Town we took also a township tour going to some of the shanty towns near the airport and hear and see about their history. The tour focuses more on the positives rather than the negative aspect, although despite this it’s still obvious they are not well off. We were able to go inside some of the houses and walk around some of the places. It’s amazing that even with very little possessions people can be happier than those who have everything. It was great to see the children playing cricket outside one of these township villages
Finally we took a site seeing tour bus around the major sites of Cape Town. Then it was time to say goodbye to our good friends Dani and Chris who would continue on there around the world tour to England. Hopefully we will see them in Finland soon. We got a flight back to Dar and shortly afterwards to Mtwara.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment