Ostrich family
Kirstenbosch gardens
Seal Island
Cape of Good Hope
Maidens CoveIt is 5 am here on Saturday, and I can't sleep, so will try and update while I am in a hotel with good access and free as well! This country is so phenomenally beautiful it makes you weepy. The cape area is gorgeous, with whales playing in the surf, ostrich families feeding at the side of the road, and mountains and coastline so impressive it makes your eyes hurt.
I will try and get some more photos in later as I have to do the photos from the laptop in my room and my poor roomie is sleeping!! I am in the business room off to the side of the front desk on one of the computers here.
Here's a rundown of the trip so far. We arrived late on Wed, 9 pm or so local time. We are 6 hours ahead of Toronto time, so it is a bit weird calling home as we are out all day, and back and in our beds when most of you are having your evening.
Thur 9th
Thursday morning was free time, so I walked 5 minutes from the hotel and spent the morning on my own in the aquarium, and had a blast. I haven't had much chance lately to do a solo trip to somewhere fun where I can take my time and enjoy every exhibit, it was a very good beginning for me. I enjoyed taking pictures with the new camera, and went wild, to the point where I had a few issues with trying to save them to disk back in the room later......
But, I persevered and got there eventually. A school group of local kids were so fun, I had to take their pictures, and I said say hi to Canada, and they hammed it up pretty good. Later I heard them say something about a newspaper, so I think they thought they were going to be famous!! There was a group of girls from a private school there as well, but not so friendly, so no cute shots from them. I will post some more pics from there as I really enjoyed the morning.
Later we got on the bus and drove to go up Table mountain by cable car. What a cool place. So high, right in the middle of a city, with ocean views around, and cloud in and out, and rocks and plants and flowers and birds as far as the eye can see. We wandered at will on the top on various pathways, some long and some short, and stopped for a peek at the local gift shop.
Boy, these women can shop me under the table, they are amazing. They are such a great bunch, what a trip this is going to be, and its just starting.
There were even some crazy souls rock climbing here. Unbelievable. I don't remember how high up we were, but my ears popped repeatedly coming up the cable car. And these guys are hanging over the ends on ropes!!!!
Eventually back down and on the bus and drove around to see the malay quarter, castle of good hope (which was closed so we just looked from the outside), St Georges cathedral, etc. No pics of a lot of this as we were in the bus. Besides, I was getting worried about the 250 I already had taken!!
Back to the rooms and freshen up and then on the bus to go to the Africa cafe for a wonderful supper of cassava bread, chick pea patties, pumpkin spice patties, rice dishes, shredded beef, etc all brought to the table buffet style. Lots of laughing, and a few drinks as well. The poor tour guide and the poor server. Twenty women together in one room is a bit daunting.
I was fine until one of the women said something about our upcoming trip to the ostrich farm and said she didn't want one to spit on her. That got me pretty bad, I was laughing so hard, I lost my voice. The rest of them now comment on the spitting ostrich every time I say anything!!!
Back to the room eventually to sort through the pictures as best I can, and eventually off to sleep.
Fri 10th
On the bus early, and off to see the coast. Maiden's cove for some pictures, then to Hout bay to take a boat to Seal island. My panasonic camera at this point told me I was an idiot not to have charged the battery. Back to the little Olympus for the rest of the day, so the picture quality is poorer, but still there. Shirley fell on the boat, and ended up getting checked out by the local hospital at the end of the day, and is now sporting crutches. Nothing broken, but this will impact on her trip pretty badly. She's pretty tough, though.
On the bus after the boat ride, and off to the Cape of Good Hope and Cape Point. What a drive. Whales playing in the surf, jumping just for the fun of it, waving their tail fins at us as if to say hi. Baboons feeding at the side of the road, can you imagine?? We worked our way to the cape, and came upon an ostrich family, mom dad and 5 chicks, quite small. Off the bus to take a photo of the cape sign with all the gang, then off to the lighthouse for a ride to the top, then stairs to the top of the top to see the ocean all around and more whales playing in the water. What an amazing country this is.
Off again to see the penguin colony on boulders beach, along a little elevated boardwalk to the water with close to a hundred penguins all hanging out moulting by the looks of them. Apparently this is all from one breeding pair that landed a few years ago (I cant remember what year it was, the signage at the colony was not very helpful, but lucky for us our guide Roger is amazing), likely the 80s or 90s??
Then to Kirstenbosch gardens. Unbelievable how beautiful this place is, and how big, and we only have an hour to explore as the sun is setting and we have to go. I would love to have a whole day here on my own to wander and fill a few more disks with photos.
I feel so bloody lucky to be able to go on a trip like this, with such a good group of people, so fun and so adventurous, to see a place that is beyond description. I cant imagine what the next few days will be like when I have seen so much just today that my eyes feel full.
I will try and get some more photos in later as I have to do the photos from the laptop in my room and my poor roomie is sleeping!! I am in the business room off to the side of the front desk on one of the computers here.
Here's a rundown of the trip so far. We arrived late on Wed, 9 pm or so local time. We are 6 hours ahead of Toronto time, so it is a bit weird calling home as we are out all day, and back and in our beds when most of you are having your evening.
Thur 9th
Thursday morning was free time, so I walked 5 minutes from the hotel and spent the morning on my own in the aquarium, and had a blast. I haven't had much chance lately to do a solo trip to somewhere fun where I can take my time and enjoy every exhibit, it was a very good beginning for me. I enjoyed taking pictures with the new camera, and went wild, to the point where I had a few issues with trying to save them to disk back in the room later......
But, I persevered and got there eventually. A school group of local kids were so fun, I had to take their pictures, and I said say hi to Canada, and they hammed it up pretty good. Later I heard them say something about a newspaper, so I think they thought they were going to be famous!! There was a group of girls from a private school there as well, but not so friendly, so no cute shots from them. I will post some more pics from there as I really enjoyed the morning.
Later we got on the bus and drove to go up Table mountain by cable car. What a cool place. So high, right in the middle of a city, with ocean views around, and cloud in and out, and rocks and plants and flowers and birds as far as the eye can see. We wandered at will on the top on various pathways, some long and some short, and stopped for a peek at the local gift shop.
Boy, these women can shop me under the table, they are amazing. They are such a great bunch, what a trip this is going to be, and its just starting.
There were even some crazy souls rock climbing here. Unbelievable. I don't remember how high up we were, but my ears popped repeatedly coming up the cable car. And these guys are hanging over the ends on ropes!!!!
Eventually back down and on the bus and drove around to see the malay quarter, castle of good hope (which was closed so we just looked from the outside), St Georges cathedral, etc. No pics of a lot of this as we were in the bus. Besides, I was getting worried about the 250 I already had taken!!
Back to the rooms and freshen up and then on the bus to go to the Africa cafe for a wonderful supper of cassava bread, chick pea patties, pumpkin spice patties, rice dishes, shredded beef, etc all brought to the table buffet style. Lots of laughing, and a few drinks as well. The poor tour guide and the poor server. Twenty women together in one room is a bit daunting.
I was fine until one of the women said something about our upcoming trip to the ostrich farm and said she didn't want one to spit on her. That got me pretty bad, I was laughing so hard, I lost my voice. The rest of them now comment on the spitting ostrich every time I say anything!!!
Back to the room eventually to sort through the pictures as best I can, and eventually off to sleep.
Fri 10th
On the bus early, and off to see the coast. Maiden's cove for some pictures, then to Hout bay to take a boat to Seal island. My panasonic camera at this point told me I was an idiot not to have charged the battery. Back to the little Olympus for the rest of the day, so the picture quality is poorer, but still there. Shirley fell on the boat, and ended up getting checked out by the local hospital at the end of the day, and is now sporting crutches. Nothing broken, but this will impact on her trip pretty badly. She's pretty tough, though.
On the bus after the boat ride, and off to the Cape of Good Hope and Cape Point. What a drive. Whales playing in the surf, jumping just for the fun of it, waving their tail fins at us as if to say hi. Baboons feeding at the side of the road, can you imagine?? We worked our way to the cape, and came upon an ostrich family, mom dad and 5 chicks, quite small. Off the bus to take a photo of the cape sign with all the gang, then off to the lighthouse for a ride to the top, then stairs to the top of the top to see the ocean all around and more whales playing in the water. What an amazing country this is.
Off again to see the penguin colony on boulders beach, along a little elevated boardwalk to the water with close to a hundred penguins all hanging out moulting by the looks of them. Apparently this is all from one breeding pair that landed a few years ago (I cant remember what year it was, the signage at the colony was not very helpful, but lucky for us our guide Roger is amazing), likely the 80s or 90s??
Then to Kirstenbosch gardens. Unbelievable how beautiful this place is, and how big, and we only have an hour to explore as the sun is setting and we have to go. I would love to have a whole day here on my own to wander and fill a few more disks with photos.
I feel so bloody lucky to be able to go on a trip like this, with such a good group of people, so fun and so adventurous, to see a place that is beyond description. I cant imagine what the next few days will be like when I have seen so much just today that my eyes feel full.
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