Cape Town

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After the incredible Safari experience, I flew from Sodwana Bay to Cape Town and spent three days exploring the area.

The first day I did a guided hike up Cape Town’s iconic Table Mountain via the Skelton Gorge trail, which was 4 miles long, with ~3,000 ft elevation gain. The hike starts at Kirstenbosch Botanical Gardens and leads through a jungle-like setting with waterfalls, boulders, and ladders. After hiking a ways across the flat plateau at the top we took the Table Mountain Cable Car down, which afforded great views of Cape Town.

The second day I wandered around Cape Town on foot, including exploring the V & A Waterfront is named after Queen Victoria and Prince Alfred, members of the Royal Family of Britain when Cape Town was part of the Cape Colony. It contains shops, art, entrepreneurs, and restaurants. A highlight was visiting the Two Oceans Aquarium which has a diversity of exhibits including coral, jellyfish, Rockhopper Penguins, and Cape Fur Seals.

The third day was a guided tour, with Irene of Cape and Table Mountain Tours, of Cape Point, a whirlwind day which took us through the unique shrubland vegetation called Fynbos which is known for its exceptional degree of biodiversity and endemism; 80% of the species are endemic.

-Our first stop was Boulder Beach to see African Penguins, which are confined to southern African waters. Large granite boulders at Boulder Beach protect the beach from wind and large, stormy waves. Currently the population of African Penguins is estimated between 2,000 and 3,000 birds. Sadly, the African Penguin has been classified as an endangered species, due to over-fishing, habitat destruction, pollution, and irresponsible tourism activities.

-Our second stop was the Cape of Good Hope, at the southern tip of the Cape Peninsula, which marks the point where a ship begins to travel more eastward than southward.

-Our third and last stop of the day was hiking through the Fynbos on the Thomas T. Tucker Shipwreck Trail at Olifantsbos, by the ocean. The shoreline is littered with wrecks from years gone by, and while major shipping accidents along this coastline are thankfully a thing of the past, their presence on the peninsula’s beaches make for a fascinating journey into an altogether different era.