Friday, March 06, 2020

South Africa - Day 7

Day 7 - Cape Town Day 4 - October 18, 2017

Today we tried once more to get on a boat to Robben Island, but the seas were still too rough for the ferries to operate.


We stuck around near the wharf to play on the playground for a bit.




After the playground we went to some tidepools that were nearby. The tide was out and it was fun to look for little sea creatures.



Chocolate muffins and shell collecting. What could be better?


We were killing time waiting for the tram to the top of Table Mountain to open. The same winds that were keeping the ferries docked were even worse at the top of the mountain.

We went downtown and wandered through the market and found some lunch and smoothies.


When the tram finally opened we drove up to the base and waited in the long lines for our turn to ride up the tram.


Here is a map of the biodiversity that I was trying to describe in yesterday's post. The Cape is the world's smallest floral kingdom, but has an incredible amount of biodiversity.


When we got in line for the tram the top of the mountain appeared to be clear.  But, unfortunately, when we finally got tot he top of the mountain the fog was too dense to appreciate the views (and we were freezing!).





These little friends, the rock hyrax or dassie as they're known locally, were all over the place.



We brought the fog and cold to the top of the mountain, so the lines to get back down were super long. I think we ended up waiting in the cold almost an hour. The trams can only run so fast.


I like maps like this one.  At the bottom right is the waterfront and wharf.  Downtown Cape Town sits between the waterfront and the mountain.


We had a good view of Signal Hill from the tram on our way down.


Here is the view of Cape Town that we were looking for from the top of Cable Mountain. We finally got the view from the tram window on our ride down.


It was a little disappointing to look out the back of the tram to see that the fog was burning off at the top of the mountain.  If only we had stuck around a little longer!


Another view of Cape Town from the tram station.



Signal Hill.


If you look closely you can see the two trams about to pass each other.


We went back down to the waterfront. It looks like the clouds actually stuck around at the top of the mountain.



Hot chocolate at our favorite Mugg & Bean.


My punishment. I spilled my water all over the table, floor and myself.  This cone was my punishment.


By 8pm the jet-lag had caught up to me.

Tomorrow we head to Kruger National Park.

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