February 1 -Explore the Cape Area by Car

The Baldwins acted as my tour guide as we traveled around the Cape area. Driving is a little confusing...if you look at a map of the area, you see a number of large hills and large bay inlets which you must drive around or over. First we started with a visit to a number of beach areas along the Indian Ocean...reminded me of the the Delaware beaches including all of the tourist traps and food eateries...the winds were blowing and the surf was extremely rough. See the picture of the trees permanently bent by the winds. We drove around an area called "False Bay" on the Indian Ocean side....beautiful beaches which are inviting but you must be careful. 

                    

During the time when swimmers are present, there are shark spotters located along the hillside looking for "great whites". These sharks are so large that I'm told that it is easy to spot their shadows as they patrol the coast looking for dinner. If a shark is sighted, a loud alarm horn is sounded, and information communicated to the lifeguards. We passed a point that jutted into the bay where a 73-year woman was swimming last year and unfortunately, she was taken by a "great white". The only thing that they found was her red bathing cap.

As we progressed south towards the Cape of Good Hope, the winds and surf became rougher. The coast line looks more like Nova Scotia's Cape Brenton with tall cliffs and pounding surf. Along the way we
encountered a number of baboon families laying in the middle of the road grooming themselves. We did not go to the southernmost point, Cape of Good Hope, because it was overcast; maybe when I return in mid- March. Had a nice lunch along with a nice glass of white wine.

We turned north and drove along the Atlantic Ocean. At first the waters looked like Caribbean turquoise colors and eventually became more foreboding. The Atlantic is approximately 10 degrees colder than the Indian Ocean resulting in the waters' roughness, an increased availability of marine life and the attraction of predators.

                                                
                                                        

Drove back to the Baldwin's beautiful B &B. Completed my packing for the next 4 + days and am excitingly waiting for the adventure to begin tomorrow.  don't know when I will have access to the Internet again so until then......Tom