We got up at 7am with a welcome to Cape Town call, from the bridge, piped into our cabin. We were planning to get up at 7:15am anyway. The weather is bleak today as this picture from our cabin balcony shows.
We are on a long ship excursion today so arranged for room service breakfast of cereal, juices and Pam 2 fried eggs, bacon & a hash brown whilst Mark had scrambled eggs on toast, mushrooms and a hash brown. That should set us up nicely.
We went to theatre to report for our shore excursion and was just about to sit down when our number was called. We were off about 10mins ahead of schedule and boarded the no.9 coach to the Cape Point Peninsular. There was another coach (#10) behind us but they left slightly behind schedule.
As we came off the ship we were greeted by local entertainment - always nice to be welcomed.
Our first stop was a scenic drive along the beach front and the many bays of Cape Town with some lovely commentary by our guide. We then stopped off a a place called Chapmans peak, via a purposely built road, to get to this lookout with wonderful views. Of course, where there are tourists gathering there are also vendors selling stuff.
It was a fairly short stop and now we drove for about 1hr to the national park which included the Cape of Good Hope. The rain had started to fall now but we managed to get this very important snap to go with our UK Land’s End and John O’Groats ones. Like John O’Groats there was controversy over if it was the furtherest point and it also lost but many people think it still is.
We also managed to see some very damp ostriches.
Next up was a short drive to Cape Point where we got a funicular train up to the top where you are meant to see the Atlantic and Indian Oceans meet. We could see our hands in front of our faces but not much else up in the clouds with the drizzle all around.
An included lunch at the Black Marlin restaurant was next up and that was about 15min drive away. The other coach joined us a few minutes later and that include our quizzers Diane and Andrew. However, it soon became clear that they were having a torrid time being rushed around and did not even stop for the Cape of Good Hope sign photo.
The food was OK (we had beetroot and butternut squash salad; calamari and battered snapper fish and chips with bread and butter; ice cream with chocolate sauce and coffee and a free drink. The service however was abysmal and the organisation was a bit shambolic so lunch over ran.
The other event was that we had baboons trying to break in to grab our food. We weren’t seated near the window so did not get a great view of this event which is said to be common - our food is obviously tastier.
Next up was the highlight of the day a 20min drive to Boulders Beach and Simon’s Town to see the penguins that nest there. Due to some reason we couldn’t park close so had about a 15min walk to the entrance of the beach. Coach 10 arrived just ahead of us but their guide ran off and left half their group behind. Our guide collected us all and purchased tickets and got us in. Then the other guide told her group they only had 30mins whilst we looked at our guide behind her who basically shook her head gently with a look that said ignore her. We took 45mins which still wasn’t enough time.
At the beach there were over 200 penguins - some young, some old and some mothers nesting. It was a lovely experience and drizzle even let up a little.
Our final stop was 1hr away on the outskirts of Cape Town. It was Kirstenbosch botanical gardens. It was wet and gloomy, and as we had already done a fantastic garden tour in Durban, we decided to go to the on-site restaurant for hot drinks. Diane and Andrew joined us - a good thing they did as their guide had run off again and our guide had to get them into the gardens.
Getting back on the ship was pretty seamless and we went back to our cabin to catch up on mails etc… before dinner. The Wi-Fi in South Africa does not seem to be that good either but still much better than the one onboard. There are power cuts all the time across the country (different parts at different times apparently) so maybe that is the cause of the bad reception at times.
Dinner was in the kings court buffet where we both had a roast pork meal but Mark followed his with spotted dick and custard - he hadn’t had that for ages. Pam had a fruit cocktail.
We then went to the golden lion to play cards with Diane and Andrew before we tackled the Big pub quiz during which we got 17 out of 20. We think some smart people have just boarded as a team got full marks. We all moved onto the Carinthia Lounge for the late night quiz where we were again joined by our extra team member Raju. We got 19 out of 20 but still no win. Before heading up to bed Diane and Andrew taught us how to play Partner Whist so we shall try that later on.
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