Cape Town Day 3 / Thu Mar 14

Today is our 3rd and final day in Cape Town. We took a full day private tour with Karin and Joe and had an amazing time!

We started by driving around Hout Bay which is a fishing village, then drove on the very winding Chapman's Peak road (super scenic but it's tucked in between the mountain and the water), past Camps Bay (a high end beach community near the 12 Apostles rock formations) and on to Table Mountain National Park. Once at the park, our first stop was at Boulders Beach - home to a large population of African Penguins. 

Hout Bay

 

 View of part of Hout Bay from Chapman's Peak drive

 Chapman's Peak ... narrow and winding but beautiful views

If you look super close you'll see people on horseback riding along the beach

Who knew?

 

Penguins find a mate and they stay together for life. The one in the photo above is bringing nesting items for the female he's courting

Sitting on an egg

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Next we decided to hike from Cape Point to the Cape of Good Hope. We were atop a ridge the whole time and it was a dramatic drop to the sea below. Photos don't do it justice. 

Steps down to the beach.

All of us at the Cape of Good Hope

 

As we were leaving the Cape of Good Hope we saw male and female ostriches, baboons (some in heat) and a few Elands (world's largest antelope).

Female Ostrich

Male ostrich

Baboon in heat

 

 eland

Then our driver took us to another area where a dead humpback whale had washed up. It had been there for several months so it was hard to see its shape although we did make out its jawbones.

Whale carcass - you can see its jaw bones

 

We had a late lunch at a cute local cafe then headed back to the ship. We were supposed to sail out at 7pm but the wind had picked up and the Cape Town harbor was closed. We eventually left around midnight when the winds usually die down.

Next stop - Namibia.