Day 30
Today I'm in: Cape Town, South Africa
The cape lived up to its reputation today. After four days of impossibly beautiful weather I woke up to gloomy, leaden skies, mist and rain today. it was disappointing, since today was the day I'd blocked off to drive to Cape Point and some of the communities on the cape as well. After waiting until about 10am and not seeing any improvement, I got in the car and set off for the national park entrance.
Cape Point is not, in fact, the southernmost tip of the African mainland - that honor goes to a point further down the coast on the Garden Route. It's probably the most dramatic place on the coast, however. I drove through a windswept moonscape of stunted shrubbery, rock formations and peat bogs before arriving at the Cape Point Lighthouse, which was squatting in the midst of dense fog. Eventually the fog lifted enough for me to see the end of the point, but it was raining intermittently and just generally damp and cold.
From Cape Point I set out to see the Atlantic coast. The road winds through small communities like Kommertjie, Hout Bay and Noordhoek, all looking snug against the gray skies. Each town is nestled against the mountains with a thin strip of white-sand beach, but the fierce winds and pounding surf mean they aren't much for swimming (although they are popular weekend getaways for Capetonians).
I finished up at Camps Bay, which is at the northern edge of the cape and is essentially a very affluent suburb of Cape Town. The skies cleared a bit by the time I got there, although it was still fairly threatening. I had a walk down the beach and then set out trying to find a place to get my hair cut - it's been five weeks since my last cut and I knew this would be the final opportunity before heading into the wilderness of Kruger National Park and Namibia for over a week. Fortunately I found a nice place and they didn't completely scalp me.
Back at my hotel, things are getting tense with the penguins, who do not make for very good neighbors. They didn't keep me up last night, but they also do not appreciate me being here. When I got home from dinner tonight, one of the nesting pairs was defensively blocking the path to my room, and lunged at me with beaks snapping when I tried to get by. I had to go the parking lot and get a large palm frond that I could swipe at them with, which sent them into the bushes long enough for me to get by. I'll be glad to say goodbye to them tomorrow.
I may be going off the grid for a few days - tomorrow I fly to Kruger National Park to begin a four-day safari, and I'm not optimistic that internet will be hooked up at the camps. Stranger things have happened - it could be wired - but don't be surprised if a few days elapse without posts.
Today I'm in: Cape Town, South Africa
The cape lived up to its reputation today. After four days of impossibly beautiful weather I woke up to gloomy, leaden skies, mist and rain today. it was disappointing, since today was the day I'd blocked off to drive to Cape Point and some of the communities on the cape as well. After waiting until about 10am and not seeing any improvement, I got in the car and set off for the national park entrance.
Cape Point is not, in fact, the southernmost tip of the African mainland - that honor goes to a point further down the coast on the Garden Route. It's probably the most dramatic place on the coast, however. I drove through a windswept moonscape of stunted shrubbery, rock formations and peat bogs before arriving at the Cape Point Lighthouse, which was squatting in the midst of dense fog. Eventually the fog lifted enough for me to see the end of the point, but it was raining intermittently and just generally damp and cold. 
From Cape Point I set out to see the Atlantic coast. The road winds through small communities like Kommertjie, Hout Bay and Noordhoek, all looking snug against the gray skies. Each town is nestled against the mountains with a thin strip of white-sand beach, but the fierce winds and pounding surf mean they aren't much for swimming (although they are popular weekend getaways for Capetonians). 
I finished up at Camps Bay, which is at the northern edge of the cape and is essentially a very affluent suburb of Cape Town. The skies cleared a bit by the time I got there, although it was still fairly threatening. I had a walk down the beach and then set out trying to find a place to get my hair cut - it's been five weeks since my last cut and I knew this would be the final opportunity before heading into the wilderness of Kruger National Park and Namibia for over a week. Fortunately I found a nice place and they didn't completely scalp me. Back at my hotel, things are getting tense with the penguins, who do not make for very good neighbors. They didn't keep me up last night, but they also do not appreciate me being here. When I got home from dinner tonight, one of the nesting pairs was defensively blocking the path to my room, and lunged at me with beaks snapping when I tried to get by. I had to go the parking lot and get a large palm frond that I could swipe at them with, which sent them into the bushes long enough for me to get by. I'll be glad to say goodbye to them tomorrow.
I may be going off the grid for a few days - tomorrow I fly to Kruger National Park to begin a four-day safari, and I'm not optimistic that internet will be hooked up at the camps. Stranger things have happened - it could be wired - but don't be surprised if a few days elapse without posts.
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