From Hermanus to Cape Town

South Africa/ Day 15 (Mon.) - 5.9.2016

Yes, we were already quite nostalgic at the thought that this wonderful vacation would be over soon.

Hermanus bid us farewell with rain, sun, and rainbows. On the way to Cape Town, we saw the sea on the left, mountains on the right, and occasionally the first vineyards appearing. However, the plants are not yet green, but rather puny. It's winter after all. To the east of Cape Town is a famous wine region. You can stop by the wineries everywhere, eat, and of course, drink. But since we can't handle anything, we continued on.

In South Africa, the roads often have a wide shoulder, marked by a continuous yellow line. This is where you move when someone wants to overtake. It's a practical thing and works well in principle, even with oncoming traffic, but not on this stretch. No one made way for us and JC got annoyed for the first time on this trip. Then it started pouring rain and on the supposedly most beautiful kilometers through the mountains, all we could see was fog.

When we arrived in Cape Town and at our hotel called Ocean View House, the rain had fortunately subsided a bit.

The guesthouse is located in the Bakoven neighborhood (Camps Bay), with the mountain range of the Twelve Apostles behind us and the sea in front. After a short drive and a brief check at the intercom, the heavy gate of the hotel complex opened for us.

Behind it, we found ourselves in a beautifully landscaped garden with cacti, rock gardens, and trees. The view of the sea and mountains was phenomenal. A walkway over the koi pond led us to the reception. Since it was still raining a bit, a friendly staff member hurried towards us with an umbrella. Everything seemed classy and elegant. We entered the reception and there it was again, the South African casualness. In Germany, one would now expect hotel staff in uniforms in this category, assessing you briefly and continuing their work with their usual forced friendliness. But here, we were received as if they had been waiting just for us. A friendly staff member informed us that the room was not yet ready, but we could already explore Cape Town and when we came back, everything would be in the room. The luggage was quickly taken out of the car, maps were handed over, all the important POIs were marked on them and we were on our way again.

Right on time, as we set off by car towards the Cape Peninsula, the rain stopped, the clouds cleared, and gradually the sun came out.

On the way there (and later back), we drove over Chapman's Peak Drive, which is considered one of the world's most spectacular coastal roads and was opened in 1922.

In Simon's Town, a small town with pretty historic houses (and South Africa's most important naval base), we stopped for coffee and carrot cake (according to JC, it was so delicious that he will never again eat the German dry carrot cake) and apple crumble with cream for me. After that, we visited South Africa's penguin colony. On walkways, you can get very close to the animals. Many of the charming creatures were currently molting. They looked very round because they have to gain fat before molting, as their feathers are not waterproof for a while during this process and they would sink while fishing. A naughty penguin took advantage of the helplessness of its molting companions and approached them quite aggressively with inappropriate advances. We watched them for quite a while before heading to Cape of Good Hope.

I'll tell you more about that tomorrow.

See you soon...
Tatjana

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