Arrived Back in The Good Old USA - March 20

     

I arrived back at 11 AM on March 20 at Dulles Airport. From the time I arrived at Cape Town International Airport to arriving at Dulles was 27 hours...2 hours before boarding flight from Cape Town to Johannesburg.....3 hour layover in Jo'Burg........1 hour stop in Dakar, Senegal to discharge/pick-up passengers. South African Airlines does a good job with drinks and meals....service is a step-up from US carriers....the airline is a member of United's Star alliance so my travel miles were credited to my United account.

This will be my last post but I will update many of my photos taken with my SLR camera and telephoto lens...I have attached some awesome pictures of the "BIG 5" (Cape Buffalo, Elephant, Leopard, Lion, Rhino) plus the leopard's kill, a male kudu (large antelope) to this BLOG entry.

Thanks for accompanying me on my journey and hope that you enjoyed it as much as I did recording as my diary of my trip......check back in mid-May to see the newer pictures....Tom

PS: You can select a picture with the right button of your mouse, select "open link" from the drop-down menu and the picture will be enlarged....


Heading Home



White Rhino - Grass Eater - Look at Mouth




Sleeping Leopard

 

Leopard's Kill - Male Impala






Male Lion

Male Kudu

Elephant Line Dance



Cape Buffalo



 

 

March 18 (releaed 3/19): Seeing Cape Town

After an American breakfast of bacon, eggs, fried tomatoes,toast, jam and tea, Ken takes me to the Kirstenbosch Gardens where I pick-up the Blue Hop-On/Hop-Off bus. My plans for the day are to stop at Hout Bay and take boat trip to seal island, travel to the city and visit the Jewish Museum and Holocaust museum and finally walk through Cape Town's Garden area to see the Parliament Buildings and visit St. Mary's Catholic Cathedral.

Riding the Hop-On/Hop-Off bus is a good value...120 rand and you can see the entire city and get off when ever you desire. I get off at Hout Bay and take the boat to seal island. This must be school outing day since numerous public school groups are on our boat.....notice the uniforms and the discipline in lining up to board the boat. The trip lasts 45 minutes, the sun hot but the wind coolly refreshing.

Hout Bay

Hout Bay's Mariner Wharf



Muriel Snacks



School Outing to Seal Island

Seal Swimming Pool

Seals Galore

I








After the short cruise and a take-out order of calamari, I catch the Blue bus and head into the city...the ride along he coast is beautiful and we pass though numerous high class communities...Camps Bay, Clifton, Bantry Bay, Sea Point, Green Point, Waterfront. These communities are similar to Southern California beach communities of Venice, Manhattan, Hermosa, and La Jolla.

Exclusive Camps Bay Hotel

Camps Bay Condos

Beach Condos

Sea Point Beach

Additional Beach Area

Green Point Light House

Cape Town Aquariums

Cape Town Skyscrapers




Near Convention Center

 

Soccer Ball Water Fountain

I arrive at my destination and discover that the Jewish Centers close at 1:30 PM on Fridays.....it would have been smart to check before I left the Baldwin's. I decided to visit Long Street which the Hop-On/Hop-Off bus operator said was Cape Town's backpacker center. The picture of the bartender at the beer tap...the circular device underneath the tap injects a stream of clean ice cold water into the glass...cleans and chills glass in one operation...neat.
 

Pan African Market



Long Street Pub

Pickwick's Eat Your House

Mama Africa

Mama Africa's Coke Bottle
Chandelier

Device Cleans and
Chills your Glass

I walked the street visited some of the watering holes and caught the bus to Kirstenbasch. The walk from Kirstenbosch to the Baldwins takes about 15 minutes so I stretched my legs with this short walk.


The Baldwins and I decided to visit one of the local vineyards fine restaurants, Constantia Utsig. The ambiance was refreshing being surrounded by the grape fields and the restaurant's decor. I had swordfish ceviche and medium rare springbok medallions covered in a delicious mushroom sauce....small carafe of Merlot wine.... fancy ice cream dessert and a glass of port wine topped off a wonderful evening.


Constantia Utisis



Moon-Lit Night

Tom, Jackie, Ken

Yum - Yum

Home...to bed....I did sleep well!!

Hello to my friends Jimmie and Mel Koch of Norfolk, VA ...thinking of you!!!!!!!

March 17 (released 3/19); Visit to Cape Point

Ken Baldwin is gracious enough to take the day to drive me to view the Cape of Good Hope called Cape Point. The weather in Newlands is beautiful, there is little to no wind and the sun is shining. We were suppose to visit Cape Point when I first arrived on January 30 but the weather didn't cooperate....today looks like the day.

This entire area is confusing to me...a peninsula with large bays and roads that go north, east, south and west...I am easily disoriented. The route we take is along the coast.....it is the same route that a large bike race (event) followed on Sunday, March 13...large in the sense that there were 35,000 participants...the race route involves some major...and I mean major hill climbs.....total distance 110 km (67 miles). Ken completed the race in a little better than 5 hours and he is older than I am!!

As we drive towards Cape Point, the weather remains sunny and winds calm....the scenery along the coastal roads are beautiful. As we near the Cape the winds pick-up and the clouds begin to gather around the Point. As we enter Cape of Good Hope National Park, we begin to sense that today might not be the day to see the Cape in all of its powerful glory....the clouds are lower and fog becomes more opaque. Bottom line, we arrive at Cape Point, visibility is less than desirable....we walk towards the best view point and "see" or I should  say "don't see" the rugged coast line and crashing waves except through snippets of openings in the clouds/fog. Here are pictures of what we saw...

Cape Point Lat/Long

A Foggy Day

Looks Like Miniature Palm Trees

Visibility - Nil



Cape Point Coast Line

 

Parasailing Surfing

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
As we leave the Cape, the weather becomes clear....a clear example of the fickleness of Cape Town weather. As we drive towards our luncheon stop, we see 3 parasailers riding the waves.....an awesome athletic display...they fly out of the water, ride the waves, skim the surface at incredible speeds. Lunch...drive home......watch the cricket world cup...I have become a follower of the game of cricket.....overs, wicket, LBW - leg before wicket, yorker, stumping, bowler and 4 vs 6 runs...South Africa is in the quarter-finals.

A quite evening of dinner, working on the BLOG and bed...reading a great book "Cutting for Stone"....nite, nite.

March 16 (Released 3/19): Table Mountain and Robben Island

My internal clock is set to 6 AM so I'm up early to continue touring the Cape Town area. My plans are to visit Table Mountain, the iconic edifice associated with Cape Town, and Robben Island, the infamous prison that hosted anti-apartheid activist including Nelson Mandela.  The weather is ideal with little wind and few clouds. Visiting Table Top Mountain is an iffy proposition and one must make sure that the top is not covered by a "table cloth"; clouds the obstruct the view from the top. Looking up at Table Mountain, the sky is clear and there is no "table cloth" so today is the day to take the cable car to the top.

The Baldwins have been great host and Ken suggest that he drive me to Table Mountain and after my visit to the top, I take a "Hop-On, Hop-Off" bus that circles the central part of the city. If you drive to Table Mountain, you are in for a surprise....parking is limited and the walk to the cable car station can be up to a 1/2 mile. The cable car cost is 180 rand. The ride to the top takes about 5 minutes and presents an impressive moving view of Cape Town and the surrounding Atlantic Ocean. Everyone who gets on the cable car rushes for the 2 openings at the front and back of the car in order to take pictures without having one's view obstructed by glass....but....guess what....once the cable car begins its ascent/descent, the floor of the car begins to rotate so that everyone has a chance to take pictures from the 2 openings...neat. Enjoy the view...

Up - We - Go

Cable Station on Mountain Top

Typographical Depiction of
Table Mountain

Try-It, You'll Like It
Repealing off the Mountain



To my Left - Atlantic Ocean
To my Right - Indian Ocean



Table Bay - Cape Town

Notice Robben Island
Soccer Stadium at the Point

Heading Back to Earth



After Table Mountain, I hopped on a red "Hop-On, Hop-Off" bus that took me along the Atlantic shoreline to Cape Town's famous waterfront. I disembark at the 2nd stop. I attempt to purchase a 1:00 PM ticket but am told they are sold out; check back at 12:45 PM.......the Gods are on my side and I purchase the only no-show ticket. I spend about 1/2 hour walking around the harbor area taking pictures before the Robben Island tour begins.

View of the Waterfront

All Points North, South, East, West

Waterfront Clock Tower

Robben Island is where Nelson Mandela and other Black anti-apartheid activist were imprisoned. The Island has a history that is centuries old.....a rest stop for sailors and ship provisioning...a military outpost and prison...a prison and leper colony internment...finally a political and criminal prison.

You take a boat to the island; the sail takes about 40 minutes. You take a bus which takes you around the island and you see...leper cemetery.....lime stone quarry where prisoners dug worthless limestone as a punishment......view of flat Table Mountain from the sea-side.....a mosque built in honor of an Islam prisoner.....village of Robben Island which house the employees...the maximum security prison where Nelson Mandela was held. A former prisoner takes you through the security complex and explains life in the prison. The prisoner uniforms were worn year around so that in the winter months, June - August, the black prisoners froze since there was no glass in the windows. Non-blacks were colored (mixed-race), Asian prisoners from Malaysia and Indian prisoners.

Robben Island Boat

Main Gate

Official Welcome to Robben Island

Former Prisoner Welcoming Our Group

Blacks:  Wore Shorts/Short Sleeve Shirts
Non-Blacks: Wore Long Pants/Long Sleeve Shirts

Blankets Only - You Slept on Floor
Decade Later - Bunks Were Added



Nelson Mandela's Cell # 7



Flat Table Mountain -Sea View

The tour starts at 1 PM and we return at 4:30 PM; cost is 200 rand.

I take a cab back to the Baldwins for a quite dinner and and early bed.