Our second tour in South Africa was intended to give us an over view of the topography of Cape Town … from the shore at the Cape of Good Hope to the heights of Table Mountain.
Background: Cape Town was established by the Dutch in 1652 as as a food and water station for Dutch merchants sailing the trade routes between the Netherlands and India. The British took control of Cape Town following the Napoleonic wars in 1814. In the 1820’s Britain sent settlers to South Africa to reinforce their control of the Cape of Good Hope but there was tension between the British settlers and administration and the Afrikaners, descendants of the original Dutch settlers. Following the discoveries of gold and diamonds near Kimberly around the 1870’s, the tensions erupted in the Boer War. To resolve the war, self government was granted to all the South African Provinces. A ‘democracy’ was established which granted political rights to whites only. Cape Town became the administrative capital of the newly formed Union of South Africa. Tensions grew between the white government and the native African population until the Afrikaner government implemented a program of near complete racial separation and repression of the native peoples, Apartheid, in the early 1950’s. Following the implementation of the repressive Apartheid regime, increased organization of native African people in both civil and armed struggle ( for more see the next blog) as well as international condemnation ultimately forced the repeal of Apartheid and racist political limitations resulting finally in the election of Nelson Mandela as president of South Africa.
Our tour was to begin with an ascent of Table Mountain for a view of the whole Cape area but it quickly became clear that the mountain was shrouded in fog and clouds. Hoping that the mist would burn off, our guide changed up our itinerary and headed for the Cape of Good Hope.
Our first stop was at Chapman’s Bay but the views were pretty much obscured by fog.
Next we stopped in Hout Bay at the Tokai Forest Reserve but, again, fog.
Our third stop was in Simon’s Town at Boulders Beach and, yes there was fog, but we were there for an up close and personal view of African Penguins which we could see!
We also caught sight of a small animal that South Africans call a ‘dassie’ but which is formally known as a Rock Hyrax. Although they appear to be a rodent, they are most closely related to the elephant.
From Simon’s Town, we headed to the beach at the Cape of Good Hope. Here our guide explained that the Cape is not the dividing point between the Indian Ocean and the Atlantic Ocean. Instead it is the dividing point between the IndianOcean current and the Atlantic Ocean current. I’m not sure what the difference is.
Next, we rode the funicular to the top of Lion’s Head to view the Cape of Good Hope. Alas, the fog limited our view to the lighthouse which was built around 1860 and a few other buildings of the same vintage.
However, by the time we had lunch, the mist did seem to be burning to a haze. So we headed back to Table Mountain. Once we arrived, we ascended to the top of the mountain via a gondola that rotated 360 degrees during the ascent. As it rose we traveled into the clouds, breaking through just as we approached the top. Upon disembarking, we found ourselves on a relatively flat plateau surrounded by waist high walls and from which several paths led off to higher points. Looking over the wall, it seemed as if the whole world below us was shrouded in clouds, but, as we followed the wall to the south, we realized that there were breaks in the clouds where we could glimpse Cape Town and its Port below. We could even even see the Queen Victoria at dock!
As we descended again in the gondola, we were afforded a more panoramic and clearer view of Cape Town.
Later we had dinner in a South African grill. Diner ended with “Death by Chocolate”.
