Sunday, 14 March 2004 -- Back in Cape Town...  Arrived at Cape Town International 1330.  Janice was there to pick me up.  She met the boyz, we took the gear back to the hotel and went down to the Victoria & Alfred Waterfront to have a beer with the crew.  We wandered around the waterfront mall area for a while and went for dinner.  We talked about what we wanted to see and do over the next few days and made a tentative plan.  Yes, my writing, not Jim's - I'm sure he'd have more to say than that!

Monday, 15 March 2004 -- Table Mountain Again...  The mountain was clear, the day was sunny.  To the top we went.  It was different going back up top with Janice - science geek that she is!  She spotted some vegetation that was interesting and had me snap pix.

I thought the red plant was really neat - single stalk with multi-branching flower on top - all by itself, no other plants like it anywhere else we walked on the mountain top that day.  As for the purple one, it was just vibrant and caught my eye...

We wandered around the footpaths for a couple of hours.  Jim pointed out the various bays/points that he'd passed while sailing and we decided that we NEEDED to go to both the Cape of Good Hope and Cape Agulhas.

We took the cableway back down the mountain and drove further along the scenic dead-end road.  I spotted a tortoise crossing the road and of course had to stop so Jim could take a picture of it.  The poor little guy starting running (as much as tortoises can run!) when he noticed us coming back towards him.  Here he's tucked into the grasses on the shoulder of the road - doing his tortoise best to blend in to the surroundings!

We left him to his hiding spot and headed back down the mountain and over toward Camps Bay.  The drive was beautiful, the beaches are magnificent.  We parked the car and clambered over the rocks looking for interesting things in the tide pools.  There wasn't much there, but it's always fun being close to the water splashing over the rocks.

As we crested the hill on the way back to Cape Town, Table Mountain with the city spread below it came into view.  What a spectacular setting for  a city!  If you look closely on the mountain top at the right hand side, you can see a small building.  That's the top of the cableway.  Follow the line down the mountain and you'll see the lower cableway station.  It was an awesome ride!

Tuesday, 16 March 2004 -- Cape of Good Hope...  There is a nature reserve at the Cape of Good Hope.  It's also the Cape Peninsula National Park.

We headed back out towards Hout Bay, taking the scenic drive along Chapman's Peak.  This is a toll road that is absolutely amazing.  They've done a wonderful job - lots of pullouts, nice rock retaining walls... very pretty.

We stopped at several places along the way just to look over the side at the waves crashing on the rocks.  The water was brilliant blue, lots of hues.  Visibility was amazing - you could see the bottom for quite a distance offshore.  I love watching the surf crash over the rocks - I'm glad Jim enjoys it as well.

At one stop, we saw a seal thrashing around in the water.  It had something that it was flailing against the surface of the water.  I've seen this behaviour in Antarctica, leopard seals will grab penguins by the feet and thrash them against the water surface to skin them before eating them.

Jim took a series of photos of Hout Bay to create a panorama of the area. Quite impressive!

From there we continued south.  We saw a neat lighthouse and an outdoor pool (natural seawater) at Sweet Water.  There were no people around - the pool was very green.  Guess they don't swim in the fall in Africa!  We headed for the park and the lighthouse at Cape Point.  The drive through the park was beautiful - rugged terrain and grasslands, short scrubby trees growing almost sideways (just like here in Lompoc!).

We got to the incline station at the base of Cape Point and decided to take the incline up the hill.  Once at the top, we hiked out to the old lighthouse and looked down on the newer, functional one.  The old lighthouse wasn't bright enough so they built a new one.

The trail was narrow with some switchbacks.  There were a lot of tourists out.  Yeah, Jim and I have the same feeling re tourists....  especially when they're throwing garbage or climbing over barricades  or trampling flora in areas marked "keep out".

Still it was a pretty hike, winding along the side of the hill and out to the old lighthouse site.  Jim commented that it never ceases to amaze him that they can actually situate lighthouses where they do.  Just look at the Cape Point lighthouse in this picture - how did they get it out there?  The path we were on was narrow and steep at times.  I can only imagine them hand carrying the pieces out and clambering over the rocks to get everything in place.  Pretty amazing when you think about it.

We took the incline back down to the takeoff point, jumped in the car and headed for the Cape of Good Hope.  It was already getting late in the afternoon and there was still much to see!  We made it down to the parking area and joined the tourists crawling over the rocks in the intertidal area.  The beachcombing was pretty good - the tidepools were full of anemones, bat stars, limpets, chitons and barnacles as well as a variety of red, green and brown algaes.  Some of the limpets were huge.  Jim actually got a short bit of video footage of a big limpet moving on a rock - you'd have to do a lot of limpet watching to see that!  We climbed up to the lookout point - very windy up there!  Just an indication of the type of weather you might get rounding the Cape...

We left the Cape hoping to make it to Olifantbos Bay to see a shipwreck before we had to be out of the park at sunset.  As we drove down the road I commented that it would be neat to see baboons on the road.  Yep, you guessed it, we rounded the corner and there they were!

Jim seemed a little put out that all I had to do was mention baboons and we saw them... :)

We sped towards the turnoff to the point where the shipwreck was.  The park gates closed at 1900 and it was already 1730. We made it to the parking area - the sign said the hike to the shipwreck was 1.5 hours return.  It was 1800, that wasn't going to happen!  We hiked along the shore, jumping and climbing over rocks and rotting bull kelp.  The sun was starting to sink so we headed back to the car.  We went through the gate at the park entrance at 1850.  No getting locked in the park with the wild man-eating ostriches overnight!

We spotted this restaurant with an upstairs and lots of glass.  We got a table near a window on the second floor and watched the sun set.  A couple of Windhoek lagers and some pizza went down really well!  This was the second of several meals courtesy of Carol, Jim's mom - she said "have a nice meal and enjoy yourselves".  We certainly did!  Thanks again, Carol....

The drive back to the hotel was long, the road was pitch black and I was paranoid we were going to hit a baboon!  We drove back over the scenic route and stopped to look at the lights over Hout Bay.  Jim pointed out the lights they used to navigate their way into the harbour there.  Hard to spot them in the sea of light from the town....

Wednesday, 17 March 2004 -- Happy St. Paddy's Day...  We got a late start to the day, the long day of hiking and driving yesterday took it out of both of us.  We headed to the V&A Waterfront for a late, very late breakfast.  It was so late, it was lunch!  We went to one of the regular watering holes and had a bite to eat along with a couple of beers.  We then headed towards the Two Oceans Aquarium.  That was the plan for the day....

We ended up wandering around the waterfront area for a while then noticed the dockworkers at the dry dock area had put fencing around the area.  We stopped to check it out.  The dry dock was being flooded to let the ships out.  Very cool!  We watched them float the footbridge and pull it out of the way with the winch.  The first ship came out and tied up along the pier - she had a bad list and the engines did not sound too healthy!  The second was a refueling ship.  She pulled out under her own steam and tooled around the harbour area.  We watched while the dockworkers put the footbridge back into place.  It was quite the operation and took a couple of hours.

It was now after 1600.  We debated about the aquarium for about 30seconds and decided to go for it.  Great choice!!  I was very impressed with this place, it's easily on par with Monterey.  They've done an absolutely amazing job with their displays.  Jim bought memberships for both of us.  He looks like an axe-murderer on his ID card!  For the first time in recorded history, my picture does not look too bad.  Hmmm, what's up with that??  We hung out there until they announced they were closing, hit the gift shop and went looking for dinner.

We knew we were heading to Cape Agulhas the next day and planned to have an early night so we could get on the road first thing.  We walked around looking for somewhere to eat.  We found a mexican place that didn't look too bad - though my experiences with mexican food a la German (or British) weren't favourable.  We went in anyway.  It was interesting - we both ordered spicy dishes and the waitress came back to make sure the food wasn't too hot for us - we looked at each other and both said "no, not spicy at all".  She seemed surprised.  Even the addition of hot sauce didn't help.  The food was bland but the atmosphere and the company were good.  It was still an enjoyable evening.

We stopped by the music shop to look for Poe.  They had it, Jim bought it, we left.  We headed back over to the Irish pub to have a beer with the boyz for Paddy's day.  We did just that, had a beer, Jim bought a round and we hit the road.  We grabbed a cab and headed back to the hotel.

Thursday, 18 March 2004 -- Cape Agulhas...  The southernmost tip of Africa, where the Atlantic and Indian Oceans meet.  Truly an awesome spot.  The drive to L'Agulhas took us along the coast of False Bay.  We followed the coast road to our first stop at Hangklip.  We ended up on a gravel road that dead ended with concrete barriers and no trespassing signs.  Of course, we had to see what we were missing!  It was some sort of private coastal reserve area.  The sand dunes were spectacular - extremely white, the colour in the photo is realistic, not washed out!

We climbed the barrier and hiked up the dune.  Jim took a couple of shots of the dunes and blowing sand.  It was really windy, we were completely covered in a fine layer of sand when we got back in the car.  I would have like to explore a little more, but Jim said there was a sign saying trespassers would be shot.  I figured that was pretty likely to happen in Africa so we left.

Back in the car we headed for Danger Point.  Jim was starting to get a little uncomfortable - reaction to the Mexican food from dinner last night.  We made it to Stanford, a small town about 20 miles from Danger Point and had to find facilities.  We hit the tourist info centre.  I spoke to the woman there about our plans and finalized the trip for the afternoon while Jim disappeared to the bog.  He then went across the street to the grocery store to look for a cure.  The only thing they had was Chamberlain's Traditional Colic Remedy - For stomach discomfort associated with cramps and colic.  The ingredient list was scary - chlorobutanol, ether, blackberry root powder, capsicum powder and ethanol.  Quite a combination!!!  The directions said to add 5ml to 50ml water.  We didn't have a mixing vessel so I told him to just take a swig and chase it with the soda water we'd just bought.  Bad news!!!  I don't think I've ever seen a look quite like that on anyone before (I'm actually laughing out loud here remembering it - sorry Jim!).  His face contorted and I shoved the soda water bottle at him.  He sucked it back.  Soda water was a bad choice.  Not 5 minutes later he started burping ether.  The entire car smelled like ether.  He put the seat back while we drove to Danger Point.  By the time we reached it, he was feeling a little better.

We got to Danger Point.  This place was absolutely amazing.  We clambered down over the rocks into the intertidal zone again.  The waves were breaking over the rocks and the spray was shooting up into the air.  There was a fair bit of development in the area, single family vacation homes mostly, but lots of for sale signs.  Don't be surprised if at some point in the future Jim drops a note and says, "come visit me, Danger Point, South Africa"......

We were running short of time - needed to be at Agulhas before sunset so we hit the road.  We had to drive inland a ways, there was no coastal route.  As we crossed over the Akkadisberg Pass, the terrain changed completely.  It was like going to a different planet - suddenly it was rolling, prairie like hills, either covered in hay or completely cut down to the dirt.  It was like nothing I'd ever seen before - very dry and arid but looked like it had the potential for agriculture.

We made it to Struisbaai (remember the storm, loss of 2 anchors, nasty weather??) at 1730.  We quickly walked out along the boardwalk to see if the fishing boat anchored offshore was the Thane.  It wasn't.  The wind was howling, ripping the tops off the breakers and blowing them backwards.  The picture gives an indication of this, but we were basically getting sand blasted while walking along the shore.

As Jim described earlier, nothing here but a small breakwall and decent anchorage...  While walking with the wind I said it was blowing 30-35kts.  Jim pooh-poohed me.  Until we turned around.  Then he agreed.  Walking back to the car we both lost a layer of skin off our legs!

We jumped in the car and headed to Agulhas for sunset.  We drove along the dirt/gravel path past the light house and headed for the southernmost tip.

Jim wanted to have one foot in each ocean.  We snapped a couple of pix and headed to the water.  The water was significantly warmer than that of the Atlantic over at the Cape of Good Hope 2 days ago.  Then again, it might have been that we were just freezing because the wind was howling!  We'll just tell ourselves it was warmer - makes for a better story!

The sun was sinking fast and we needed a shot of the lighthouse.  It's a striking area - barren & windswept - just like a formidable cape should be!!

Jim actually took the shot on the left as we drove past the lighthouse en route to the monument.  The sunset shot he took while standing on top of the monument.  We drove back to the parking lot and walked up to the lighthouse to have a look.  There was a mailbox there - nice to get a postmark from the southernmost point in Africa, but we had no postcards or stamps.  Guess we'll leave that for next time!

We waited for darkness, watched the light for a while and looked for constellations.  Then we headed back to Struisbaai to have dinner in the little bar.  Jim raved about the bean soup.  The food was good, the atmosphere was nice and the company was great.  Thanx again to Carol for yet another enjoyable evening!

Another long drive home on a dark road.  It was nice to get back to the highway.  We rolled in to the hotel parking ramp at 2330.  Friday was another early day - heading to Langebaan at 0800.....

Friday, 19 March 2004 -- Langebann, Resort Town Extraordinaire!!!  We pulled up to the OSA office at 0830.  A little late but, it's Africa!!  The van had not left yet so we had no worries.  We got a map and headed out to grab a bite to eat.  We made it to Langebaan just after the OSA van.  I left Jim at the school and headed over to the hotel to check in.  I spent the rest of the afternoon unpacking and organizing his 3 bags of gear - I was hoping to take at least 1 bag home with me!  I'll teach him to pack light yet - good thing I learned how to pack from my Dad rather than from my Mom....

I met Jim and the boyz at the Langebaan yacht club for a beer at 1730.  I was watching the cormorants do their funky food search pattern thing that I'd seen in Antarctica and the guys noticed me staring intently out the window.  It's always neat to explain something to people when they're actually interested in it - they asked some questions and I noticed them still looking out the window as Jim and I left.  We headed back to the hotel to try and get the packing done so it would be out of the way.  We spent several hours going through the gear and then decided to go to the restaurant for a beer.  We sat on a bench overlooking the lagoon (something of a misnomer, it's not really a lagoon, more like a really sheltered bay) while the sun set.  It was very nice.

I'd done some exploring during the day and found a restaurant in the centre of town.  We packed up most of Jim's stuff and headed into town for food.  All in all, a pretty successful day!  Jim was down to a little less than 2/3 of what he'd started with and I was pretty stoked that we weren't going to have to deal with repacking on Sunday nite.

Saturday, 20 March 2004 -- Rugby Rules!!!  The guys found out on Friday that there was a rugby game in Cape Town at Newlands on Saturday.  Jim got tickets for us, the guys talked the instructor into letting them out early and we made plans to head south.  They rented another car and between us we had enough room to take all 9 of us down to Cape Town.  I stopped and picked up a 2-4 of Windhoek Lager.  Cold.  The guys were stoked.  Five of them piled into a little VW and 4 of us were in our little Nissan.  Off we went.  Chris, the Afrikaaner, was driving - he knew how to get to the stadium.  I had a little trouble keeping up with him - doing 160km on the highway...  we made it in one piece...

The game was fun - no alcohol served in the stadium so people really watched the game.  A guy several seats down and 1 row back decided it would be more fun to watch the game in his teeny weeny grey bikinis.  The cops did not agree and told him to get dressed or get out.  He should not have been wearing teeny weeny bikinis and that's all I have to say - got the visual?!?!?!

Jim has picked up rugby pretty quickly - then again, I think that anything he has an interest in he'll work it to death!  It was fun watching him discuss plays and options with Fintan.  I think Fintan was a little surprised Jim understood things so quickly as well.  We filed out of the stadium and made our way back to the car park.  Back to Langebann and to the Driftwood for dinner.

Another day ends and I've only got 1 day left....

Sunday, 21 March 2004 -- Just Wandering Around...  Jim decided to bail on class after lunch so we could spend some time down in Cape Town.  We went to the waterfront to look for souvenirs.  Nothing turned my crank and I hit the wall on the mall thing so we left.  I still hadn't checked out of the hotel (it was prepaid, no refund for early checkouts) so we checked out and headed back to the waterfront mall to check email and get some dinner.  Schwarmas were the food of the evening, followed by chocolate dipped cones.  We headed back to Langebaan for the final packup.  The trip was awesome - too short by a long shot.

Monday, 22 March 2004 -- 24 hours in the air...  I dropped Jim off at class at 0730.  He went in the door and they told him class wasn't starting until 0830.  We headed to Club Mykonos for breakfast.  Jim described it as the most expensive worst breakfast buffet he's ever had.  We wandered around looking at boats, wasting time until his class started.  I dropped him off at 0835 and went back to the room to finish packing and check out.  Mark, one of the guys from Shabby, needed a ride to the airport.  I went back to pick him up and was heading to Cape Town at 0945.  Got to the airport around 1130, dropped off the car and waited...  I couldn't check bags in until 1630 so it was a pretty long day.

Jim was back in class studying navigation - there was going to be an exam on Thursday.  My flight left at 2055, 12 hours to Heathrow....

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