Cape Town Day Two

Today consisted primarily of travel down the western coast of the Western Cape to the Cape of Good Hope National Park -- described as the most southwestern part of Africa.  (Now...think about that one...it isn't the western-most part of Africa, nor is it the southern-most part of Africa...but somehow has been christened the most southwestern part.  Likely by the local Chamber of Commerce.)  The weather cooperated wonderfully!

One of our early stops was at Camps Bay, which has a lovely beach and a view of the mountains known as the Twelve Apostles:

The plants and other foliage that we saw on our trip today were pretty incredible...but don't ask me what they were...I only photograph them!

There were some wild critters that we saw along the way:

We stopped for a late morning snack in one of the many small towns we passed through.  This is a traditional food that the Malaysian slaves (brought to South Africa by the Dutch) made to eat.

And here's the proof that we actually made it to the southwestern-most part of Africa:

Since proper etiquette requires regular eating while on vacation, a late lunch stop at a harbor-side restaurant in Kalk Bay followed.  This was the second course, following oysters on the half-shell  (eat your heart out Gary and Sarah!).

After lunch, we saw a sign that doesn't appear much around Kentucky or Indiana:

And shortly after that sign, there were about a gazillion non-bashful penguins laying around the coastline on the rocks:

Another sign that we don't see much around our place:

PS - We did look!

The last stop before heading back to the hotel was Table Mountain, which overlooks the city of Cape Town.  The hike up the mountain (the top is approximately 3,600 feet above sea level) is grueling, which is why we opted for the cable car.  Much easier!  The cable cars have a rotating floor, so you get a 360 degree panoramic view as you travel each way.

When we first arrived at the top, an African choir group was waiting in line to come down, and apparently liked to pass the time singing...why waste a moment!  Here's a snippet of their song:

The views from the top of Table Mountain were great, although haze in the air impacted photos from the top.  Here's just a piece of Cape Town:

I was amused to note that nobody pays any attention to signage in South Africa either:

 After freshening up a bit, and indecision as to whether we could even take in any more food today, we opted for another restaurant close to our hotel, Emily's.  It bills itself as the premier restaurant for South African cuisine, and has many awards on display to prove it.  I would best describe it as a teaching restaurant, as all the people there are in school, and all are learning to do many jobs, including food preparation, service, and business.  The young people working there were great, and the food was one of the better meals we've enjoyed here.  They get an A+!