Cape Town and Cape of Good Hope: end of Africa!
Cape Town, Table Mountains, Cape of Good Hope and penguins! Yes, penguins in Africa. This is the end of Africa (geographically and for us)
The end of the road for us. After some 5 000km on the road (1 400km out of those in bus) we arrived to our final destination: Cape Town.
You probably heard that Cape Town is supposed to be one of the world’s most beautiful towns. In my view, the city itself is nice but nothing extra special, but the geography of the place is mind blowing. The famous Cape of Good Hope, known for its historic and geographic importance, should in reality be known for its natural beauty. Like a long worm jutting into the ocean, its cliffs and views and the feeling of end of the world deeply touched even such a hardened traveler as me.
The similarly famous Table Mountain needs no extra description. It is just as amazing as you would expect it to be.
Downtown Cape Town brings all the rich – poor, black – white divisions right to the surface. Apartheid might be long gone, but the aftertaste still lingers. And though after India few pictures of poverty surprise me, here in Cape Town I was deeply saddened by seeing a young woman who was standing at a traffic lights (or at robot, as they call the traffic lights here!) and she was collecting rubbish from the cars stopping at the junction – empty bottles, foam food boxes and all sort of small trash, in hope of finding something recyclable and bringing it into recycling center. Barefoot, dirty, dressed in rags, she spends her life in petrol exhausts, collecting trash from people in flashy SUVs. I gave her some spare change (she didn’t actually ask for it, unlike almost everyone else in Cape Town). Should you ever think that your job sucks, or complain about your working conditions because the coffee machine is broken, remember this girl’s job. I do remember her often…
The very last part of our road trip was to Cape of Good Hope, probably the world’s most legendary cape. Centuries ago, when the Portuguese rounded it they opened a sailing route to India and jumped-forward to their riches. While actually not being the Africa’s southernmost point (Cape Agulhas lies few kms to the east and reaches a bit more southern then Cape of Good Hope), its significant importance and natural beauty are surely Africa’s (if not world’s) #1.
When baboons rob you 3 times, you know you are in Africa! Our last baboon robbery happened right there, on majestically beautiful Cape of Good Hope and it was an act of barbarism! The baboon which robbed us at Cape of Good Hope stole our whole picnic and even stole our precious White Rock Cheese With Figs (which we bought in a winery on cheese / wine tasting), and the ignorant fucker barbarically swallowed the whole thing at once and didn't even down it with a glass of Chenin Blanc wine, perfectly matched to that cheese! Fucking baboons have no culture whatsoever!
Well, another trip is over!
It was a different trip. No endless hours in crappy and chaotic public transport – we rented a car, no need to choose the least dirty room in Indian guesthouse without toilets – the rooms were mostly nice or we camped out, no need to deal with unknown languages – everyone speaks English. It was quite relaxing, First World road trip. And while I generally prefer rougher types of trips, it was soooo refreshing to have a sort of easy, yet nice and exotic piece of travel.
South Africa – highly recommended for fans of epic road trips, wildlife, surfing and wine, all of that for reasonable money!
