Part 2 – Port Elizabeth and Cape Town South Africa
The challenge of sailing through South Africa and rounding the cape of good hope is that the seas can be quite tricky. We have been extremely fortunate in that the seas have cooperated with our travels to date have been good. Now, sailing to Port Elizabeth, we did have the prevailing west wind that slowed our ship and caused some swells that slowed our progress and as we approach the port, the captain and pilot waived off our initial approach to port to wait for improved sea conditions – thus, our arrival was about 2 hours delayed – which was fine with us! We had three very busy port days and really could use the break. Our excursion planned for Port Elizabeth was another safari type excursion to an elephant reserve. We dreaded another 90 minute drive to a park and found out the excursion was to stay on the bus to drive through the park – well the bus seats are not that comfortable for 6 hours of sitting and the windows are normally dusty and not great for photos, so when they announce that people could cancel without penalty we chose to cancel and go to the local Mall for some shopping fun and checking out the boardwalk mall area. The mall was not photo worthy and the shops were local and carried items for the locals – there were a few African stores that we purchased souveniers – but we simply enjoyed the walk, got back to the ship, did some laundry and got a chance to catch up things. So Port Elizabeth was basic but nice, but not any highlight to mention.
Cape Town –
When we arrived in Cape Town, we were immediately taken back by the vista of the city with tabletop mountain as a backdrop – it is incredible!! Our excursion was not until afternoon so we took a quick shuttle bus to the Victoria and Alfred waterfront – a magnificent harbor village/mall/shops that is in the heart of Cape Town. We went to the watershed, an artist workshop which houses many local artisans selling their crafts in small stores under in the building. After having a wonderful walk, we shuttled back to the ship, had a quick lunch, then headed to our excursion of tabletop mountain and sundowners event on signal hill.
The trip to table mountain was fairly quick but slowed by heavy traffic – after-all its not every April day that the temperatures are nearing 90, with bright sin, cloudless skies, and everybody wanted a view from the top of table top.
Table mountain is an African marvel and listed as an African wonder – rising to 3500 feet above the sea level Cape Town below, the flat topped mountain (for which it gets it name) is reached either by hikers (a 2 hour fairly steep and rough hike) or by a 4 minute cable car ride that features 65 person cars that rotates 360 degrees to give everyone a view going up or down. On top, there are numerous trails and bluffs to catch a views of the Indian Ocean, the Atlantic Ocean and the mainland of Africa.
The view are simply breathtaking wherever you go – assuming that heights don’t bother you, and the top has shops and restaurants to sit relax enjoy a beverage while enjoying the scenery.
The place was very crowded. It actually took us an hour to wait in line to go up and our guide reserved our spot to head down after a 90 minutes good on top.
We then went over to nearby signal hill for sunset – we were greeted with champagne and lite bites and then went to the sunset viewing area which is a fabric protected grass spot – the weather was perfect! no clouds and warm – what a spectacular sunset!! Enjoy the photos we took.
The second day at Cape Town, we went to the cape of good hope area at Boulders park to visit the most unique animal – the Penguins!! There were lots of Penguins too! we went on a beach boardwalk and got near these birds that nest in Africa and thus called African Penguins. Very cute! After an hour, we headed to a local town, Muizenberg and then back to the ship.
With our ship departing at 5PM, and immigration check-out closing at 4PM, we had a another opportunity to go to the beautiful Victoria and Alfred waterfront and see even more of the waterfront stores there – after spending all of our South African rand, we went through immigration to check out of South Africa and got ready to sail to Namibia!! We will definitely look forward to traveling to Cape Town again and catch all the sites we did not have time for – friends went to the vineyards in Stellenboch area and loved the towns in the rural area they said was fabulous and worth the trip.
