Cape Town: I Am a Seaman

Today was a day filled with wonder and beauty. Also, with me throwing fruit at Abby and generally being unfit for society, but what else is new?

We rented a car, a blue Honda Jazz, and headed down the coast to Cape Point. Cape Point is essentially the Cape of Good Hope, which is where the Atlantic and Indian Oceans meet. It's also the southwestern most point on the African continent, which is not as cool as being the southernmost point of the continent, but you have to take what you can get.

It's impossible to describe how beautiful the drive down there was. We're in pretty mountainous country, and the mountains are red and rugged. We usually had the mountains on one side and the sea on the other, so just imagine a panorama of beautiful mountains and ocean, as well as the city of Cape Town below. It was also just fun to go on a long drive with my Cape Town bros. (Abby drove, for the record).

When we got to Cape Point, we walked up a mountain in the rain to get to the lighthouse at the top. It was actually a nice temperature though, and I didn't mind the rainy weather. I just kept thinking about all the sailors that had been through these waters and the people that had been there to receive them (which was not always good for both parties). The view from the lighthouse was the open ocean on one side and the mountains on the other. Abby and I were both taken with the maritime history that the place had and declared that we would have been good sailors. I have an obsession with the ocean and sailing, so I didn't want to leave.

After we had finished with Cape Point, we headed to Simon's Town, a touristy coastal town. We got lunch (I have had only calamari, shrimp, and burgers since getting to South Africa, because the seafood is SO GOOD and the burgers are my fallback) and ice cream and then went to see some penguins.

There are penguins in South Africa, which I didn't know until two days ago. They are African penguins, and this is what they look like:

http://www.adelie.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/PhotoIndex/SPH_PICS.htm

We got to see them up close and went onto the beach with them. I chased one around because their walk is so funny, and eventually the others chased a few because we are all terrible people who like scaring animals. Their beach is on the Indian Ocean, so I've now touched that ocean. I just need to go to the Pacific to complete my tour of the major oceans.

Afterwards, we headed back to Cape Town, stopping at Signal Hill, which overlooks the city. It's a beautiful view from up there, but everything in Cape Town is beautiful, so no surprises there. Now we're back home, and Abby and I have work tomorrow. Back to journalism...