Change of plan today…one of the other solo travellers has accepted my invitation for a road trip to the Cape of Good Hope. This will take most of the day, and the plan is head south along the west coast to the Cape, and then return to Cape Town along the east coast, visiting the penguin colony near Simon’s Town along the way back.
The rental car is due to be delivered to the hotel at 8.30. By the time the hotel concierges (the excellent Maryanne and Jacqui) have hassled the car rental company every half an hour, it is after 11am before the car eventually arrives. It is another spectacular day in Cape Town, and we retrace our steps from yesterday, passing through Camps Bay and on to Hout Bay, before heading up to the lookout at Chapman’s Peak. Below is the view looking back to Hout Bay. In June – September, I suspect this area is ‘whale soup’ for southern right whales.
Further down the western coast, we find the stunning expanse of white sand at Noordhoek Beach. Some hardy surfers are washing down on the beach, and this also seems to be a horse-orientated region, with many equestrian facilities apparent on the drive into the area.
Somehow we manage to cross the peninsula without intending to, and end up driving through Simon’s Town on the east coast of the peninsula. The Boulders are home to a swimming beach and also a colony of African Penguins.
Then it’s on to the Cape of Good Hope, 40 minutes or so down the road. Below is the obligatory photo of the sign designating the latitude and longitude…
We push on to Cape Point, but by 5pm it is too late to head up to the lighthouse, and have to make do with a lot of head-shaking about the efforts of another tourist to get himself bitten by trying to pat a female baboon with a baby. Some people have no idea.
I still have to get my passenger back to to hotel in Cape Town before I head off to Hermanus, which is about 90 mins from Cape Town. By the time I head for Hermanus it is 7.30pm and dark. There is thankfully little traffic on the freeways leading out of Cape Town – all I have to worry about are a couple of cars veering within their lanes, whose drivers turn out to be chatting on their mobiles when I pass them.
Jogging on the freeway shoulder in the dark seems to be sometime of a local past-time – it is quite disconcerting to be in a 120 kph zone, whizzing by men I would have no chance of seeing in time to stop if necessary. By the time I am on the N2 heading towards Hermanus, there are maybe ten cars heading in the same direction in the 90 mins it takes to reach The Marine Hotel.
It’s a shame that I have only one night at this hotel – driving to the Cape has meant that I’ve forgone the opportunity to see the landscape on the drive in, and need to press on to George the next day. The staff at The Marine are fabulous – you know you’re the last guest to check in when they are waiting with your paperwork at reception!
