After our morning in Langa, we showered and hit the road by 2:30 pm. Jamie didn’t want to drive through the city so I was first behind the wheel. Now having been a passenger AND a driver, I can say that it feels more odd sitting in the passenger seat, than in the driver seat. It was still bizarre, but not as much as I thought. By the time I was actually driving I didn’t even feel like I was on the wrong side of the car. The wrong side of the road: that’s a different story. Remembering to turn left to the CLOSEST lane, and to look BOTH ways when making a right turn, that was the tricky (and often scary) part. One thing I’d never thought of was the turn signal. That’s flipped as well! Each time I turned, the wipers came on.
So with me piloting and Jamie navigating, we drove about an hour and a half along winding coast-line roads. The views were magnificent; cliffs and waves and mountains and ocean that stretched for miles. We passed through Constantia, Nordhoek, Fish Hoek, Musenburg (to name a few) and ended up in Kalk Bay. Our plan was to stay at a B&B in Simon’s Town but we first drove a little ways past to visit Kalk bay at Gabby and Melanie (connect staffers) suggestion. They also recommended a visit to a bakery called “Olympia”. We were sold at, “Bakery” and made sure to check it out. We were so glad we did because Kalk bay is super cute. It is a small, ocean side town packed with fantastic shops and eateries. The town had a sort of Santa Cruz feel to it…a trendy bohemian vibe. After checking out some of the shops, we found the bakery. While it wasn’t all that much to look at, the pastries were everything we dreamed they would be. I got a choc chip cookie (that sounds boring but it had oatmeal and other delicious stuff-it was no ordinary cookie) and a bar called a “crunchie”. We took our treats for a walk along the harbor. The fisherman were displaying their catch (and rather grotesquely) and prompting the tourists to buy. One man was particularly insistent…but on what I’m still not sure. He walked up to us mumbling something. We gave him the standard response of, “No, thank you.” At about that moment we spotted some seal looking for a meal. Our relentless (and I’m pretty sure drunk) friend took advantage of our interest and continued to pester us, this time, about the seals. Still not sure of his intentions (or his language) we did our best to ignore him. Just when we thought we had lost him, he showed up with what appeared to be the mangled remains of a decent sized fish. He used this, along with his version of a seal call to coax the mammal closer…so we could get a good photo of course. We did get some pretty fab photos but had no intentions of rewarding his efforts. At this moment he tumbled onto the pavement, spraying fish insides on nearby tourists. Now it was our turn to seize an opportunity, and we bolted. Always something to blog about in Cape Town!
After Kalk Bay, we headed into Simon’s Town. The other girls has stayed there and highly recommended the quaint little town. We had dinner at BAYERS WARF on the harbor. We sat outside at a picnic table, just steps away from the water. I had my first Hake (not sure on the pronunciation but I think it rhymes with lake), a type of fish but referred to as “Cape Town’s Chicken”. It was really good (I’m running out of adjectives for ‘delicious’).
The B&B that the girls stayed at was full. We soon came to find out that ALL the B&Bs were full. We found incredible since the REST of Simon’s Town was desolate. We were about to try the next town over when we spotted Cheriton’s B&B. I think it’s fun to pronounce it like “Sheraton” because it was the “Sheraton” of B&Bs; not over the top, but clean, comfortable and cozy. We swiped the last room, which was awkward when the owner mentioned it to the two guys who came in 10 mins after we did. The house was gorgeous! It sat up on a hill overlooking the water and the mountains. After our self guided tour of the house and yard (and about 30 pics), we chose a few movies from their (500+) collection, made some tea, and enjoyed our accommodation.
We got a fairly early start on Sunday morning with breakfast at 8am. We were served fried eggs, toast, bacon, sausage, mushrooms, smoothies, OJ, tea and all the accoutrements. We sat on the back porch overlooking a spectacular view. We were on the road by 9:30. This time it was Jamie’s turn to try out the flip-flop driving. Our host recommended we drive all the way to The Cape of Good Hope first (the most south western point of the African Continent) and hit Boulders Beach (penguins!)on the way back to avoid the crowds. We did as suggested. Our first stop was Cape Point. This is where the Atlantic Ocean merges with the Indian Ocean. The reserve is a vast stretch of green then mountain, cliff and beach. Once parked, we walked for about an hour and half exploring the fynbos, heritage, and lighthouses…and of course: the baboons!
FYE: Cape Point is famous for its baboon population. The area is flooded with them and it is well known that they can be dangerous, especially where food is involved (I can relate). So when Jamie and I ventured out, we were sure to keep our wits about us and our food sealed in the car. We made it all the way out to Cape Point (the drive through the reserve and the walk out to the lighthouse) without ONE baboon sighting. We were actually pretty disappointed. Anyone who has been to cape point has great pics and amusing stories about the excessive baboon population. And we didn’t even SEE one. We were reassured by a staff member that we would most likely see at least one on our way out. As we were walking back to our car, we found what everyone was talking about! baboons were everywhere along the paths; climbing fences, tumbling on benches, playing in trees. We were taking pictures left and right as the babies made faces at us, and the adults ignored our presence. We took so many pictures, in fact, that Jamie’s camera ran out of memory space. As she was reaching in her bag for a spare disk, a (rather large) baboon, who up until this point hadn’t done so much as blink an eye at us, assumed she must have some food in there. As the baboon approached her, I gave her a calm ‘heads up’ figuring he was just curious. She turned just in time to see the baboon leap onto her back in a chaos of grunts. She screamed and dropped her bag as I jumped in yelling, “There’s no food in there!!!!” I expected him to throw his hands up and say, “Oh! My bad. Just checking. I’ll just be going, then.” So you can imagine my surprise when he dove at me. I shook him off and assured him that I didn’t have any food either. He wasn’t buying it and thought maybe he should check for himself. We did our best to look fierce and he backed away just enough for me to gather our things and make a stealth get away. We raced down the path in nervous laughter toward the parking lot (which is really difficult when your legs are trembling) and each time a baboon ran past us, we huddled in fear. The other tourists thought we were over reacting, but I have a hole in my dress proving otherwise!
After Cape Point, we drove a little further to the Cape of Good Hope. There was not much to see here besides rock, cliffs and ocean, but who goes to Cape Town without visiting the most south western point?! Not us! Oh, and we did see an Ostrich = bonus! Except that after the baboons, neither of us trusted nor dared to get too close. 
Next we were on to Boulders Beach. Penguins, penguins and more penguins!! I have never been so close to a penguin-especially in its natural habitat. We saw nests, and eggs, and adorable fluffy little babies!! To my dismay, none of them could tap dance…My favorite part about the penguins was that when you knelt to their level they gave you the sideways (german shepard) glance. They would tilt their head as if to say, “you’re an odd looking penguin.”
Before heading back home, we decided to visit Kalk Bay for lunch. We learned on Saturday that Olympia is not only a bakery, but a deli and café as well! We sat outside in the sun and pondered over the confusing menu. I finally decided on a beet, feta, and pine nut salad. Do I need to mention how good it was?
Back in Cape Town, we took advantage of having a car and drove from the base of Lion’s Head to the Rump, or “Signal hill”. There is most likely a trail that connects the two, but the obvious route is a road between the two. Signal Hill is even smaller than Lion’s Head but provides fabulous views of the city and ocean. We made it up as the sun was setting for some pics and a short walk. The night ended with my biggest Pick-N-Pay run yet. Having a car, why not?!
LESSON #18: ANIMALS CANNOT BE TRUSTED…I certainly consider myself more an animal lover than not, however I have learned that the unpredictability of animals can be dangerous. Our game rangers explained this during our safari and after our encounter at Cape Point, I understand what they mean and have a deeper respect for Mother Nature.
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