South Africa - Day 11

We wanted to get down to see the penguins and see the Cape of Good Hope but it took us a little while to get out of the house (no surprise).  We finally made it out and decided to stop for a snack on the way to hold off everyone until lunch.  A took us to a great bakery everything was delicious and we headed out fueled up and ready to go. 

First stop, penguins.  We tried the little beach where they are occasionally found but no one was there.  The day was too beautiful and they had all headed out to sea.   We walked back up to the road and through a little market where I learned the necessity of bargaining.  Not my strong suit and the first batch of souvenirs were a bit overpriced.  I did a bit better as we went and we ended up with a few gifts and commemorative items that weren’t too expensive.  Out of cash, we walked along the boardwalk watching the penguins just on the other side of the railing.  Some were molting, some with chicks.  The boys exclaimed over each one.

At that point, we decided to wait for lunch and go down to Cape of Good Hope.  We drove down and A dropped us off with his little one J and went to park the car at the other end of the path.  With J on my back, we set off down the path.  The path is high up on a cliff which did not make David feel very comfortable given his feeling about heights and the milling nature of our crew.  We met up with A (coming from the other direction) just as we came to a staircase down to the beach.  “Can we?” the kids asked.  They ran down the steps and we were soon standing on the beautiful beach we had been watching from above.  The kids ran in the waves and climbed up on the rocks so the waves could crash around them.  Finally we tore ourselves away and hiked back up the staircase and out to Cape Point.  It truly is one of the most beautiful places on Earth.  We stopped for a snack – at this point it was quite late and long past lunch time.  The boys fell to all our provisions and we filled them up with what we had.  We admired the view, saw a few lizards and David even found a crinoid.  Our friends A and J who we had stayed with originally were coming for a braai and it was time to head home. 

We arrived home just before they arrived and experienced our second braai.  South Africans do enjoy their BBQ and most houses have a built in place to grill.  You can buy wood in the grocery and grill meat over the coals.  The food and company were great and we watched the lights twinkling on below us from A and A’s front deck.