Cape Town, South Africa

We are now in Cape Town.  Cape Town is quite beautiful, with mountains very close to the water. Some suburbs are on the back sides of the mountains as well.

 We went for a short trip and a great Indian food lunch to "Camp's Bay", a suburb where we stayed on our last visit four years ago. It has a nice beach, and lots of beautiful homes built on the cliffs overlooking the water. 

The beach at Camp's Bay





We are staying in the wharf area in the center of Cape Town. They have done a very nice job developing this area with lots of good restaurants, street entertainers, and some interesting shops.

The Cape Town "Victoria and Alfred Wharf "
area outside our hotel. Cape Town's famous Table Mountain is in the background.



African dancers outside the trading post shop which has lots of original African art and sculpture.

A closer shot of the dancers.

The harbor boardwalk. Our hotel is the tall building on the far right with the blue roof. 

From the harbor it is possible to take several interesting boat trips. On our last visit we went to tour Robben Island which is about a half hour boat trip. This was the prison island where Nelson Mandela was confined for many years. Tours of the island are conducted by former prisoners, so it is quite moving to hear their personal experiences.

We board the ship again tomorrow morning. They have been having a lot of problems with their internet connections, making it very difficult to post updates to my blog, especially on days at sea.  I hope that some repairs have been done and communication improves on this trip!



 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon), Vietnam

Image
 Ho Chi Minh City is the largest city in Vietnam. Under the name Saigon, it was the capital of the French Colony of Cochin china and later the Independent Republic of South Vietnam from 1955-1975. On July 2, 1976, Saigon merged with the surrounding province and was officially named Ho  Chi Minh City.   In the years since the Vietnam War, the city has prospered. We have been very impressed with the cleanliness of the city, and all the modern amenities. There are now 100 million people in Vietnam, and ten million living in Ho Chi Minh City. The lovely view of downtown  Ho Chi Min City from the fifth floor outdoor dining deck area of our cruise ship. There are several passengers on the boat who were here serving in the military during the Vietnam War (known locally as the American War). There are many sights and museums dedicated to that period of  history. We have been told by other passengers that sadly, many of these  museums highlight the atrocities t...
Read more

Koh Ma Island, Thailand

Image
 We returned to drop anchor in the waters just outside Ko Samui Island again, but went by speedboat to a nearby island, Koh Ma Island to snorkel. There was some colorful coral and about a dozen species of colorful tropical fish. It was not good as snorkeling in the Maldives, bur was still a very fun day.  Ko Mah Island is pretty but quite hilly, with a lot of steep rugged rocks going down to the shoreline. We parked our boat on the beach and had a nice Thai curry lunch in a casual restaurant on  the beach. There were several small resorts on the sandy bay where we had lunch. Looks like a nice place to relax and look out over the bay. We are now headed to Cambodia.
Read more

Richard's Bay and Hluhluwe Game Reserve, South Arica

Image
 We arrived at the pretty harbor port of Richard's Bay, then immediately took an hour and a half bus ride to the Hluhluwe Game Reserve for our game drive. Richard's Bay is primarily an industrial shipping  port since it has a very deep harbor. Pulp and paper processing and metal smelting is done here, but there are not sightseeing city tours. The modern port just opened in the 1970's. Approaching Richard's Bay harbor. Our drive to the  reserve was pleasant, and the homes by the highway were much nicer in the countryside than those that we have seen in other African countries.  Most had sturdy modern construction and glass windows, with neat yards surrounding them.  The game reserve is very mountainous, and because it is the wet summer season, the vegetation was very pretty and green. We were lucky to see a good variety of animals up close, including the rare white rhino which is not actually white.  A herd of Cape Buffalo. These are very dangerous when the ...
Read more