Hop On Hop Off Bus

Sadly, not meant to happen, again.

City scenes.

The 'one of a kind' market.

A secretary bird.

A marmoset. 

A gannet.

A honey badger.

A hornbill.

Devil's Peak, the western edge of the Table Mountain formation.

The township of Imizamo Yethu which is built on the slope of Table Moutain.

Hout Bay.

Clifton Beach.

Clifton Beach.

Nancy and GP.

Sunday, December 17^th.

Didn't get a great sleep... The three young girls all came to the room separately and after I had gone to sleep... the last one at 4:00. Oh well, hostel life.

I had the provided breakfast at 7:30, blogged a bit and then decided to see if the Robben Island Ferry was running today. The wind is still blowing very strongly. When I got there I learned they had cancelled all the trips for the day and the next available time was Monday at 5:00, with no guarantee of course. I hope to see GP at that time, so I settled for a refund.

Robben Island was a no go, so was Table Mountain as the wind was too strong for the cable car and I didn't have time to hike it as I am meeting GP today late in the afternoon. The other available tours are full day and I don't have time or the interest really. Interestingly I learned that the Shark Diving I did here seven years ago has moved to another area about three hours away because the white sharks in Ganse Bay are being killed by Orcas.

So with limited options I decided to take the Hop On Hop Off Bus tour of the city. I sat on the top of the double decker and almost got blown off there. The wind was so strong that at times I couldn't hear the tour information coming through the provided headphones. Anyway, the tour was very scenic as the area is truly beautiful. Unfortunately Table Mountain was cloaked in clouds, or as they call it, a table cloth. I saw a large outdoor tent market and decided to get off there as I am searching for some tourist sunglasses that Jay had. It turned out to be a “One of a Kind' type Christmas market and I had no luck, so I got back on. I got off again at World of Birds. It was started in 1973 by a man named Walter Mangold, who got downsized and decided to take up his passion for bird. He had a couple of setbacks including dogs who broke into the property and ripped into most of the avaries and killed and maimed three quarters of the birds. Eventually it grew from a small operation to one that houses over 3000 birds, many of which are brought by caring people who find wounded birds or people who want to discard an unwanted pet. They have a no kill policy and care for all. Today they have a staff of 40 and the running costs are 600000 rand per month ($60000). He says he maintains the zoo as a heritage site for the people of Cape Town and that it is a spiritual creation. He relies on entrance fees ($12 per) and donations. This was a great place to see a large variety of birds and a few small mammals up close. They have over 400 species on display in big cages or aviaries that you can walk into. They birds are used to people and see pretty chilled. I was really happy to see a honey badger there as that is another of the African animals that I didn't see on safari.

Then I boarded the next bus (they come every ten minutes) and completed the rest of the circle tour, which took us all around Table Mountain and then along the coast past Camps Bay and Clifton Beach. Beautiful beaches with ice cold water that comes up from the Antarctic.

I arrived back at the V&A Waterfront by 4:00 and walked back to the hostel where there was a message from GP saying he would pick me up at 5:30. They took me to a restaurant/pub in their neighbourhood and we enjoyed a couple of good craft beers and a Philly steak sandwich. It was great to see them and catch up. Nancy is Peruvian and is a lovely lady and they are obviously very happy. She was a tour guide in South America before she married GP and moved to Cape Town. Now they both work at the company offices in Cape Town.

When I got to the room, I found that the German was gone and the other two were already in bed.