Capetown Holiday - Day 2

I woke up excited to start the day. Because according to our well-planned and well-documented itinerary, we would be doing our drive down to the world famour and world heritage site of Cape of Good Hope and Cape Point.

After a full breakfast, off we went to the tip of the Peninsula. Paui actually mapped out the route we would take and even made a little codigo so I know which signs to look out for (he knows how inept I am with a map...girl scout training and all. haha. I think were we to go join the amazing race, we would always be the last team to arrive). It was Sunday so the streets were not so full of people. We passed by one road where it looked like downtown Capetown. I got quite scared at that point because I imagined someone ambushing us on the road and just robbing us basically. It was a really long drive, albeit a straight one.

Finally, we got to the coast! Ganda. The roads they built were very close to the coast so I was able to enjoy the view while Paui drove. Picture picture nalng ako so Paui will get to enjoy what he missed during the drive.

Our first stop was at Boulders beach. Here we saw the African penquins. Ang cute cute nila. They were just living there on the beach, one whole group of them. They were very small , just up to my kness lng. The penguins were located in a coastal town named Simon's Town. We were planning to have lunch there in one of the small and quaint looking hotels overlooking the ocean. But we nixed that idea and decided to eat at Cape Point instead.

We then stopped at one point on our journey for a bit of whale watching. But di kami prepared koz we didn't prepare binoculars. So while the people around us where ooh-ing and ahh-ing that they saw whales and very big ones, we just saw water. We comforted ourselves with the thought that yes, we did see a whale in the harbour yesterday.

We drove on again. Near the Cape of Good Hope National Park, we stopped by because there was a weird sight to behold: baboons, hordes of them, coming down the mountains. And they were apparently in heat because their butts were as red as ever. We have dire warnings on our guidebooks to not feed them nor walk around with food when they are near. They actually kill the baboons that the tourists feed! Crazy huh. And one woman in the car in front of us, got out of her car (against the rule to stay in the car and close the windows) and took pictures of baboons. Well. A rule breaker. If she gets mauled by one baboon, then it's her own fault . Hmp.

Finally we arrived at the National Park. Since we were dying from starvation already ( we simply lacked the foresight to bring packed lunches), we ate at the pricey but well situated Cape Point Restaurant. We ordered burgers (which were the cheapest ones on the menu). Once done, we decided to go up to the lighthouse first then go down the Cape of Good Hope hiking trails. Since going up was going to be so much trouble for our exercise-challenged bodies, we bought a one way ticket to the funicular instead. A funicular (I think that is how its called) is like a train going upward. And since this particular one was steep, it felt like a ride at Enchanted Kingdom or something. hahaha. Needless to say, I enjoyed it.

We went up the light house and they had this cool signpost which pointed to the exact direction and gave the exact distance of famous cities like New York, Paris, etc. Bakit kaya wala ang Manila or Cebu dun? hahaha. It was quite windy up there so may kaguluhan mga pictures namin. And from up there, you can see the tipmost point (not officially the tipmost, just the most famous tip) jutting out and they say that if you run a straight line and point southwards, you can reach the antarctic region from there already. And that area is the meeting point of two oceans, the Atlantic and the Indian. Which would explain the strong currents and why so many ships get shipwrecked around here. In fact, they even have hiking trails towards the shipwrecks (there is even a Chinese vessel marooned here and the wreck is still preserved.

In fact, I think that either Dias or Vasco da Gama got shipwrecked here in Capetown after going from the Philippines in search of the spice islands. Weird huh. I was standing on a spot mentioned by my history teacher during social studies class. hehehe. Well, I can't remember half of the History lessons I have had, but these two names do sound familiar. ;)

Then Paui and I walked down to the actual tip sa peninsula. I swear. The winds were so strong that I was afraid it would blow Paui or me to the sea! I actually chicked out the first time we came down as I felt the slope was too steep. Paui talked me into it and after five minutes, I went down to the tip. He kept on offering to hold my hand but I was afraid if he did, he would be walking far too close to the edge then it would be my fault if he fell . (okay, i am a bit paranoid. hehehe. sakit naman siguro ni). So finally we reached the tipmost point and saw the new lighthouse (they had to create a new one because the one on the cliff kept getting hampered by fogs and thus was not so effective). We spent a few minutes wondering how in the world were they able to create a state of the art light house on the edge of a rocky cliff with angry waves crashing on the shore. I mean, the logistical nightmare! This should be featured on Discovery under one of their construction shows.

Then Paui and I back down (we only bought one way tickets for the funicular). And had our picture taken again by a farang. hehe. Then after energizing ourselves with water, we went for our second hike, the one to the other point. This one, I am ashamed to admit, I was already plain scared. Just imagine, they built wooden pathways at the edge of the cliffs without railings. The winds were strong it was literally picking me up and throwing me off the trail. And there were times when the path took a steep turn and I couldn't see beyond it anymore. I panicked and stopped several times, testing my baby's patience to the limit (heck, I felt like I was going to be on the front page of tomorrow's daily "FILIPINA JUMPS OFF THE CLIFF IN DESPERATION").

Finally, Paui convinced me to take his hand and we we walked the trail together. It is cheezy and corny, but walking that path hand in hand just gave me a certain stability inspite of the howling wind. Sure there were times we had to stop because the wind was too strong and were pushing me towards the rocks, but I felt safer holding his hand than if I was walking alone. :P Corny and senti ko...pero paki nyo, blog ko ito eh. hahahahaha.
And we finished the walk, with matching rock climbing pa ito. All in all, we walked almost a total of 4 hours. Work out na ito! hahaha.

Exhausted and tired, we drank cokes and were walking back to the car when who should be walking towards us but (psycho music please) a baboon! Not just any baboon, but a big one. And we had drinks in our possession. Would it maul us in order to get the drinks? Should we scream and run like poorly paid actors in a B horror Hollywood flick? Finally, we decided to walk quietly past (and we were ready to throw our Cokes in case it approached us). Once we were a little distance away, we ran. hahaha. Shameless cowards, I know. One of the more unfortunate vehicle owners had a baboon sitting contentedly on top of their car. I wonder how they will manage to drive away .

We were going to try to catch the sunset again at the waterfront, but once again, we failed and we had to content ourselves with the stars twinkling in the distance. We ate at Spurs (this restaurant which serves the best chicken and beef kebabs). It was Paui's favorite resto and would explain the considerable increase in his girth so nagbigay pugay kami dun. I had my favorite Savannah Dry (kaya sarap tulog ko. hehe).

It was a perfect day. We had the beautiful scenery, exotic animals (baboon included) and of course, spending it with my man. ;)