We’ve been in South Africa almost four weeks now and have spent this time in the Cape Town peninsula area. We could almost feel like locals now if it wasn’t for our accent that gives it right away! Dan bought himself a royal blue overall and is helping with the many repairs on the vehicle.
Because of the state of our Land Rover, we spend a lot of time in garages, repair shops and other 4x4 fitting stores and very little time to actually enjoy the beauty of the area. All in all, we had two days of site seeing so far.
Cape Town reminds us of Vancouver in many ways. The sight of the oceans is omnipresent, with the cold Atlantic on one side and the warmer Indian Ocean on the other side. Mountains are also part of the daily life in Cape Town, with the very characteristic Table Mountain overlooking the down town area from its 1087m elevation. A steep trail took us to the top of this landmark on a perfectly clear day, giving us an overall overview of the whole peninsula, but also an indication of the pollution level around the city.
Surprisingly, the pollution can not be that bad because 50km from the main part of town, lays Cape Point with one of the 22 Atmosphere Watch Stations located at clean air sites, which monitor global changes in atmospheric composition under the World Meteorological Organization. The station was set up here for the quality of the air. Cape Point is the virtual meeting point of the Atlantic and the Indian Oceans. A short walk took us from Cape Point to Cape of Good Hope, the most south-western point in Africa.
When you think of Africa, the first things that come to mind are savannahs, wildlife, desserts and the big fives. There are of course none of these around here, but we had the opportunity to enjoy some of Africa wildlife. The Cape peninsula is home of the African penguins (Spheniscuc demersus).
A few breeding pairs of this endangered species, also known as the Jackass penguins arrived in Boulder’s Beach in 1982 and now 3000 residents can be seen wandering around. They look very awkward walking on earth but are excellent swimmers. Boulder's Beach is one part of the multi areas that form the Table Mountain National Park.
The particularity of the peninsula is its vegetation. The Cape floral kingdom is by far the smallest of the six vegetation kingdoms, but it is also the more diverse. It can only be found in this area. The dominant vegetation is the fynbos, which means “fine bush” and consists of fine-leaved shrub. The fynbos is resistant to both fire and frost to survive the scorching hot summers and the cold winters of the area. It's in the fynbos that you find the King Protes, South Africa national flower.
All in all, Cape Town is a really nice place to be, close to the nature. There is so much to see and do around Cape Town, it is a shame that we had to spend so much time repairing our vehicle and making it safari-ready.