Day 15 of tour - second day in Cape Town

The stunning visual beauty continued this morning as we drove along the Atlantic Ocean to Cape Point, the  "Cape of Good Hope" where we were all taught that the Indian Ocean and Atlantic oceans meet.  The true meeting of the oceans occurs at Cape Agulhas, 200 miles east.  The Cape Point Nature Reserve offers breath taking views of the crashing surf, blue water, the unique fynbos (an Afrikaner word that means "fine bush") landscapes of small shrubs and wild flowers, and vicious baboons, wild ostriches, and small antelopes.

Lunch at a seafood restaurant was a treat.  The ubiquitous hake is the fish served in every restaurant and this time it was served as large chunks wrapped with bacon and grilled on long skewers.

Returning to Cape Town, we stopped at Boulders Beach to see the African penguins. These small penguins are unique to South Africa and were once called the "jack-ass penguin" because it's call sounds like a donkey braying. It's one of the things "to do", but we were a bit disappointed - not many penguins, they were not very active, and the place was swarming with tourists.  I guess we would have thought we were missing something if we hadn't gone there.

Our last stop today was an open air market.  All the souvenir markets that we have seen sell the same junky statues, jewelry, and trinkets.  Our guide told us that it's all made in Zimbabwe, so it is made in Africa, but very poor quality and the same whereever you look.

We plan to skip tomorrow's drive to a winery in Stellenbosch and tour Cape Town on our own.  There are a few museums that should be interesting, including the Jewish Museum of South Africa, and we will check out the new waterfront development in hopes of finding a few more upscale shops.  Tomorrow night is the farewell dinner and Tuesday we fly to Johannesburg to begin our journey home.  We will leave Johannesburg on Wednesday, change planes in Ethiopia, fly to Washington DC, and then on to Chicago.  I'll update the blog as time and wifi availability allow.