YDP offers all its volunteers a day trip of their choice so we picked a Cape Peninsula tour. After weeks of travelling everywhere in the most clapped-out vehicles imaginable, it seemed luxurious to be in a van with comfortable seats, seat belts & air conditioning. The tour was good too!
Our 1st stop was the picturesque Hout Bay, where a boat took us out to Duikers Island to watch hundreds of Cape Fur Seals perform their acrobatics in the sea - any "seal trips" we've taken in the past consisted of looking at sleeping bodies on rocks with the occasional head bobbing about in the water, but these seals were incredibly boisterous. We definitely got our money's worth!
Then we drove on over the Chapman's Peak Road, which has only recently re-opened. It suffers from the wild weather prevalent on the Cape which frequently causes rockfalls. We were lucky that there was hardly a breath of wind. Usually we are constantly buffeted by the south-easterly wind, known as the Cape Doctor on its gentler days. It does help to keep us cool, but sometimes it's been a battle to walk upright in a straight line & our hairstyles have been wilder than usual.
Once we reached False Bay, on the Indian Ocean side of the Cape, we stopped at Boulders to make the acquaintance of the African penguins, otherwise known as Jackass penguins because of the braying call they make. There were hundreds of them! Some were splashing on the water's edge, paddling & swimming. Others stood over a single egg each, laid in shallow dips scraped out of the sand higher up on the open beach or under bushes & trees. It was obviously hot work - they all stood with their heads back, beaks agape, panting in the relentless sun. However, a shift system seemed to be in operation. The males & females take turns standing over the eggs & we saw a "changing of the guard" while we were there.
Our final destination for the day was the Cape of Good Hope National Park. We stopped briefly on the way to watch a troop of baboons meandering along the roadside. One young male was missing one of its front paws - cut off at the wrist by traditional medicine men. A frequent occurrence apparently - sad. When we got to the Park, we left the van to cycle for a few miles to Buffels Bay for a picnic lunch & a quick dip in the sea. Actually, only the Scots ventured into the water (there were 3 of us - John from Larkhall swelled the Scottish contingent for the day). A gentleman from Korea was very taken with Howard's body hair - he kept stroking Howard while exclaiming "It is lovely, so lovely"!! Can't wait till we get to Asia!!
Suitably refreshed, we then slogged up the path to the Cape Point lighthouse where we could look out over the ocean towards the Antartic & be cooled by a very stiff breeze. We had great views, too, of the Cape of Good Hope - & the line of parked cars along the roadside! We had always pictured it as a remote, wild, storm-tossed place. It came as a surprise that it turned out to be a tourist hotspot & that we were there on a perfect summer's day. Maybe we'll come back mid-winter? No. perhaps not!
It was a beautiful spot & we enjoyed the walk out to the tip, along the top of the cliffs. On the way we saw Ostriches, Dassies (Rock Hyrax, closest living relation of elephants) & the rare Cape Zebras, which are more subdued in their colouring than the more common zebras. We were lucky to see them but you'll just have to take our word for it since the photo didn't work out!
