Cape Town - South Africa's legislative capital (not THE capital!)
Flying hours - cca 9
GMT +2
Rest - 45 short and uncomfortable minutes on the passenger's seat
Allowance - bring more of your own money with you ;)
Things to see - where should I start?!
Landing in Cape Town and arriving in the hotel in the evening left us enough time to go for a drink and dinner at the nearby, one of the most popular areas in the city - Victoria and Albert Waterfront, with almost every member of the crew on that flight (they will tell you that doesn't happen often but I must've been lucky so far) :)
Some of us were in the mood for the meat and the others for some seafood (guess what i've chosen).
Not really sure about the name of the restaurant but they had a live band! In the good mood and hoping for some rock n roll we were pretty dissapointed when that 'Barbie/wannabe a rock star' opened her mouth! God... But then again, you know those typical american stories/movies/tv shows where a small town girl works as a waitress and she has a talent to REALLY sing, takes over the stage, first very shy but then rocks it as we are aplauding??? Well that was a highlight of the night :)
This, shortly called, Waterfront place has a lots of shops and restaurants so as the Two Oceans Aquariums, and it's also the departure point for trips to the apartheid-era jail on Robben Island and to the seal colonies on Duiker and Seal Islands... (would love to go there when the weather is nice!)
Tomorrow came and so as our booked taxi driver/tour guide... Our agenda for the day - meet the Penguins! :))
Long, beautiful, interesting and really mind relaxing trip and day...
We started driving along the Sea point hoping to see some whales or seals but they were probably too shy to come and say hi to us (or maybe sharks ate all the seals since it is their season -.- )
...through Clifton area...the most expensive neighborhood, an exclusive residential area with some of the most expensive real estates in South Africa! M.Jackson had and J.Lo still owns a house there (was thinking of going knock on her door and asking her for some tickets for the concert next month here in Dubai but then we wouldn't have had enough time for the penguins so I'll just go visit Jenn some other time :D )
The driver was great, showing us around, answering millions of our questions, taking pictures for us... :)
We stopped at Chapman's peak, the view was amazing, clouds, rain, the Atlantic Ocean, mountains, small village in the distance...
He told us that there was a recent discovery in those waters, divers have found an old portuguese (if I remember correctly) shipwreck on the bottom of the sea, from long long loooong time ago, and there were actually boxes full of real golden coins in it!
''...a penny for your thoughts, a nickel for your kiss, a dime if you tell me that you...'' lalalalala :))
Anyway...we drove through the Camps bay, stopped for some breakfast and souvenirs, drove by the Route 62 - the looooongest wine route in the World! (another, and maybe the biggest torture for a 24 hours layover) :)
So many things to see and stops to make before meeting our cute-little-tux-wearing friends :)
Nordhoek beach - one of the longest beaches, specially good for the surfers, unless you see this beautiful black flag dancing in the wind! Can you guess what does it mean? - come and play with the sharks! The great white ones!!! :O
If you are not, and I can't see why :p, interested in that you can always rent-a-horse and ride it on this beautiful sandy kilometers long beach... Will do that once, maybe in february when they say it's the best time to visit Cape Town.
Talking about it we came to the Cape Point! Situated within Table Mountain National Park within a section of the Cape of Good Hope park, which are both part of the UNESCO's World Heritage Sites of Table Mountain National Park.
Took the Flying Dutchman Funicular to the lighthouse on the top of the peak. A spectacular view from the top even if it was cloudy and foggy and rainy... Why the Flying Dutchman we wondered? The legend says (I love legends!) that the Cape of Good Hope is a home of the Flying Dutchman crew, tormented and damned ghostly sailors, it is doomed forever to beat its way through the waters without ever succeeding in rounding the headland! (and the name also sounds familiar from the Pirates of the Carribien movie) :)
Cape Point and Cape of Good Hope are often mistakenly claimed to be the southernmost point in Africa, but that is actually Cape Agulhas.
After enjoying the feeling up there, where you think you can literally see the Antarctica, maybe even those flags that flutter on the South Pole if it was just a little bit sunnier :), we headed next to the Cape of Good Hope - the most south-western point of this continent!
The first name of this point was the Cape of Storms, until John II of Portugal renamed it in today's name because of discovering a new sea route to India and the East...
Baboons on the road! Playing and jumping around :) - they have lived here on the Cape peninsula for aproximately one million years and continue to this day.
After this weird traffic jam, 15 minutes later we were in the 2nd oldest town in South Africa - Simon's town - home to the South African Navy, fishermen and great white sharks wich hunt the seals that live in the area (the ones from the beginning of the story)...
A few kilometers further there it was, that famous and all day expected and waited for - Boulders bay/beach! Small, white sand beach as a new home for the so called African penguins!
They have arrived here in 1982 and just decided to stay! From 2 couples of penguins in love the colony has grown to about 3000 in the last 20 years...
Those funny looking creatures are well known as a spieces that once they find their better half, they stay together till death do them part...
So, after all, who can say there is no more happily ever after fairytale love stories in this World? :)
HUGS AND KISSES :*
http://www.mydestination.com/capetown/things-to-do/21619?gclid=CK27rLzc-LICFcrItAodVhwAUA
GMT +2
Rest - 45 short and uncomfortable minutes on the passenger's seat
Allowance - bring more of your own money with you ;)
Things to see - where should I start?!
Landing in Cape Town and arriving in the hotel in the evening left us enough time to go for a drink and dinner at the nearby, one of the most popular areas in the city - Victoria and Albert Waterfront, with almost every member of the crew on that flight (they will tell you that doesn't happen often but I must've been lucky so far) :)
Some of us were in the mood for the meat and the others for some seafood (guess what i've chosen).
Not really sure about the name of the restaurant but they had a live band! In the good mood and hoping for some rock n roll we were pretty dissapointed when that 'Barbie/wannabe a rock star' opened her mouth! God... But then again, you know those typical american stories/movies/tv shows where a small town girl works as a waitress and she has a talent to REALLY sing, takes over the stage, first very shy but then rocks it as we are aplauding??? Well that was a highlight of the night :)
This, shortly called, Waterfront place has a lots of shops and restaurants so as the Two Oceans Aquariums, and it's also the departure point for trips to the apartheid-era jail on Robben Island and to the seal colonies on Duiker and Seal Islands... (would love to go there when the weather is nice!)
Tomorrow came and so as our booked taxi driver/tour guide... Our agenda for the day - meet the Penguins! :))
Long, beautiful, interesting and really mind relaxing trip and day...
We started driving along the Sea point hoping to see some whales or seals but they were probably too shy to come and say hi to us (or maybe sharks ate all the seals since it is their season -.- )
...through Clifton area...the most expensive neighborhood, an exclusive residential area with some of the most expensive real estates in South Africa! M.Jackson had and J.Lo still owns a house there (was thinking of going knock on her door and asking her for some tickets for the concert next month here in Dubai but then we wouldn't have had enough time for the penguins so I'll just go visit Jenn some other time :D )
The driver was great, showing us around, answering millions of our questions, taking pictures for us... :)
We stopped at Chapman's peak, the view was amazing, clouds, rain, the Atlantic Ocean, mountains, small village in the distance...
He told us that there was a recent discovery in those waters, divers have found an old portuguese (if I remember correctly) shipwreck on the bottom of the sea, from long long loooong time ago, and there were actually boxes full of real golden coins in it!
''...a penny for your thoughts, a nickel for your kiss, a dime if you tell me that you...'' lalalalala :))
Anyway...we drove through the Camps bay, stopped for some breakfast and souvenirs, drove by the Route 62 - the looooongest wine route in the World! (another, and maybe the biggest torture for a 24 hours layover) :)
So many things to see and stops to make before meeting our cute-little-tux-wearing friends :)
Nordhoek beach - one of the longest beaches, specially good for the surfers, unless you see this beautiful black flag dancing in the wind! Can you guess what does it mean? - come and play with the sharks! The great white ones!!! :O
If you are not, and I can't see why :p, interested in that you can always rent-a-horse and ride it on this beautiful sandy kilometers long beach... Will do that once, maybe in february when they say it's the best time to visit Cape Town.
Talking about it we came to the Cape Point! Situated within Table Mountain National Park within a section of the Cape of Good Hope park, which are both part of the UNESCO's World Heritage Sites of Table Mountain National Park.
Took the Flying Dutchman Funicular to the lighthouse on the top of the peak. A spectacular view from the top even if it was cloudy and foggy and rainy... Why the Flying Dutchman we wondered? The legend says (I love legends!) that the Cape of Good Hope is a home of the Flying Dutchman crew, tormented and damned ghostly sailors, it is doomed forever to beat its way through the waters without ever succeeding in rounding the headland! (and the name also sounds familiar from the Pirates of the Carribien movie) :)
Cape Point and Cape of Good Hope are often mistakenly claimed to be the southernmost point in Africa, but that is actually Cape Agulhas.
After enjoying the feeling up there, where you think you can literally see the Antarctica, maybe even those flags that flutter on the South Pole if it was just a little bit sunnier :), we headed next to the Cape of Good Hope - the most south-western point of this continent!
The first name of this point was the Cape of Storms, until John II of Portugal renamed it in today's name because of discovering a new sea route to India and the East...
Baboons on the road! Playing and jumping around :) - they have lived here on the Cape peninsula for aproximately one million years and continue to this day.
After this weird traffic jam, 15 minutes later we were in the 2nd oldest town in South Africa - Simon's town - home to the South African Navy, fishermen and great white sharks wich hunt the seals that live in the area (the ones from the beginning of the story)...
A few kilometers further there it was, that famous and all day expected and waited for - Boulders bay/beach! Small, white sand beach as a new home for the so called African penguins!
They have arrived here in 1982 and just decided to stay! From 2 couples of penguins in love the colony has grown to about 3000 in the last 20 years...
Those funny looking creatures are well known as a spieces that once they find their better half, they stay together till death do them part...
So, after all, who can say there is no more happily ever after fairytale love stories in this World? :)
HUGS AND KISSES :*
http://www.mydestination.com/capetown/things-to-do/21619?gclid=CK27rLzc-LICFcrItAodVhwAUA
