Table mountain. Cape Town.

27/9/17
Today is the first day of our tour and we meet at 7.45am for a 8am start.  Better than 6am starts on the Southern Italy  tour.

I hate to compare breakfasts but the breakfast at the Westin is better though not much. We gorge ourselves with eggs, coffee and muesli and prepare ourselves for the bus trip to Table Mountain. Apparently there is to be a demonstration against the president in the city so we need to avoid some places. However being so early, we don't have a problem and go first to the garden in the city and see our first wildlife.  A squirrel which is not native but there are lots in this garden and they are amazingly tame and come straight to us.  I think to myself, is this  the first of the big 5 we are to see? I am surprised when I realise I have actually said it out loud.

We also see Parliament house

We see the statue of Cecil  Rhodes and hear about his  diamonds and gifts to South Africa and a bit about his private life and why Rhodes Scholarships are only for boys....

And Desmond TuTu's church I think, not a great shot:

and a few interesting other buildings in the garden:

I am absolutely amazed by the constant view of Table Mountain in the background. it is majestic and seems so close you could touch it.

Our trip today includes going to Table Mountain which involves a long slow trip up the first part of the mountain and then a cable car to the top. It seems a perfect day.

Once we get there, even though we have booked tickets for the tour group, there is still a wait and even fears that the wind might stop the cable car.  As we get closer we are advised that the wind is building and that we will go up but that we should consider making it a quick trip and coming down quickly as they might have to stop the cable cars.  You are kidding we think as it does not seem too bad....

it is amazing

Once there we did a tour of the top which includes cafes, souveneer shops  and amenities but lots of lookouts and rock ledges.

It is extraordinarily beautiful up there but also freezing cold and bloody windy. We cannot believe how cold it is.

we leave as we all need to go back down due to the weather.  we were lucky to have gone up at all and were in fact the last cable car that went up due to the wind. It was sad to see the disappointed people still on the ground being told there were no more cars going up that day.  How lucky were we??

On the way back to the hotel we stopped at the Malay district  which is a trendy area of Cape Town:

Once back, Paul and I decided to go to Camps Beach, just a bit out of Cape Town for ocean viewing and lunch.  A beautiful beach:

 Paul with Table Mountain behind him. Majestic.

 More Table Mountain. it is amazing.

Me on the beach in Mermaid pose.

a family of ducks enjoying the beach.

and a message for us all:

We had an amazing taxi driver from Congo on the way to the beach and a taxi driver from Zimbabwe on the way back. Their stories were tragic and inspiring. There are so many stories of what people will do for their families and just to survive.  The man from the Congo was so angry about the Congo president and had been an activist in his country but now could not ever go back as he was on a hit list and would likely be killed if he returned. His mother remained in Congo but he was ok that she was safe.   Another man had told us how he had chosen to drive a taxi in Cape Town rather than sell drugs and /or kill people for money in Johannesburg.  Those were his options.  It is Another world but the more amazing thing is not just the resilience of the Africans we have met but the fact they still have a great sense of humour.  The guy on the cable car was very funny as have been many of the waiters and bus drivers, not to mention the signs, some of which I have photographed.   It seems that even in the worst of circumstances, the Africans we have met have been able to somehow keep their sense of humour and their sense of the ridiculous and survive.  

Cape Town is an amazing place and its people are even more amazing.