During one of our last days in Cape Town, we spent time driving around the western coast of South Africa. We got to go to Simon’s Town, a naval town. The RSA navy has a fleet of 30 ships total and the only war they were ever in was WWII in support of the British fighting the allies.(as it was a British protectorate at that time). We stopped briefly at Hout’s Bay to see the swimming seals. We also got to see the lighthouse in South Africa, the Old Cape Point Lighthouse, built in 1860. We took the Flying Dutchman funicular railway to reach the lighthouse and see spectacular views and then walked the 20 minutes down. The lighthouse is really high up which makes it somewhat ineffective as a lighthouse. There are shipwrecks off the coast to prove that fact. We saw the African Penguin colony affectionately called the “jackass” penguins because they sound like braying donkeys. They mate for life and live 10-15 years. They typically hatch 2 chicks at a time and they are downy until they are about 2 months old where they shed their down feathers and grow their adult feathers. The penguins haven’t always been there. They showed up in 1983 and started laying eggs. There is now a 500-700 penguin population there. We also saw the 12 Apostles, a mountainous formation along the coast. We had the pleasure of going to the Cape of Good Hope, the most southwestern point of the continent of Africa. We also got to take a drive on Chapman’s Peak Drive, a 9 km coastal road from Noordhoek to Hout Bay. It has 114 curves and the Atlantic Ocean views are breathtaking. It is often considered one of the more photographed routes in the world. We saw baboons and ostriches along with the penguins. It was quite an eclectic group of animals on the Cape!
Here is where I talk a bit about the folks we traveled with. We had a group of 7 folks from Texas (3 from Houston and 4 from the Dallas/Fort Worth area – the 3 from Houston live just a couple of miles from my parents! Small world!) and we had a family of 4 adults from the Detroit area. These folks we fun to travel with and we became friends after traveling for 14 days together.
Just Nuisance a South African Great Dane who lived in Simon’s Town between 1937 and 1944. He befriended the Royal Navy and was honorably enlisted into the Royal Navy. He was often found watching over “his sailors”. He only lived 7 years when he died and was buried with full military honors. This statue was placed with love overlooking the bay in Simon’s Town, where he lived with his Navy friends. It is part of Jubilee Square downtown and is a highly photographed statue.
