Circumnavigating Table Mountain

After sleeping for nearly eleven hours, we rose, had a leisurely breakfast and decided that taking the Hop On - Hop Off bus would be a good way to see some of the area.  We opted for the Blue Route that went completely around Table Mountain.  Going around it was preferable to going up it because "the table cloth" was spread.  This is what the locals call the clouds that shroud the top of Table Mountain in certain weather. 

"The Table Cloth"

The bus departed from a station less than five minutes walk from our hotel. 

The trip through downtown Cape Town was not particularly interesting, but improved as we rolled out of the city and we began our clock-wise circumnavigation of the mountain.

Although the weather was breezy, we opted to ride on the open section of the upper deck of the bus.  How breezy was it?  Too breezy to operate the windmill we passed.

The wind was gusting well over 30 knots, Particularly when added to the forward motion the of the bus, it necessitated hanging on to or removing our hats.  We also got sandblasted, but I am getting ahead of myself. 

About 45 minutes into the trip we hopped off at Kirstenbosch.  We had visited these gardens briefly on our last trip and wanted to explore them further.  Entering the gardens, we headed for the canopy walk thinking it would be fun to do having been on the newly opened one at the Holden Arboretum in Cleveland, Ohio last summer. The walkway looked inviting. Yes, it was uphill, but only until it connected with the first cross-path.

The sculpture at the beginning of the walkway in hindsight was prophetic. 

When we got to the cross-path it was closed as part of a concert venue.  The 'detour' directions instructed us to follow the path we were on to the top, then turn right.  The instructions having not specified "at the top of this section of the path", we took them literally and kept following the path up...and up...and up.  We eventually realized we had no idea of where we were on one of the worst maps ever printed for a network of poorly identified trails.  The good news was that from where we were all paths lead downhill!

As we regained our breath we remembered that we had come to enjoy the park, not do an endurance test.  We began to look around.

We proceeded downhill, abandoning our quest for the canopy walk in favor of getting back to the bus stop to continue on our ride.  With the help of the aforementioned map and volunteered guidance from a friendly local, we made our way to the visitors center.  Ah, if only it had been the right visitors center.  Thankfully getting from there to the correct one was fairly straightforward both literally and figuratively, so it only took us about ten minutes.  The bus pulled up just as we arrived, so on we got, up to the second deck we went and then, oh what a relief it was, we sat down.

The bus drove along the edge of the Constantia Valley vineyards that have grown up on the moist side of Table Mountain. 

Working our way towards the coast, we transitioned from shanty towns like Imizami Yethu to affluent homes to mega-abodes

It was fun to pass the fishing community of Hout Bay where Pam (for a fee) got to sit astride a live sea lion the last time we were here.  On the road into Hout Bay we drove past some sand dunes.  The wind was blowing the sand up in the air directly in the path of the bus, so we got sandblasted.  Fortunately we had spotted it ahead and had ducked down in our seats, protecting our eyes and my camera.

We continued along the coast while going around the mountain, past Camps Bay and along St. John's Road.  We had crashing seas on one side of the bus and mountains rising into the  clouds on the other. 

The crashing waves were indicative on the sea running offshore.  Note the list ('leaning to one side' for landlubbers) on the cargo ship at anchor.  We watched it roll back and forth, no doubt making life uncomfortable for its crew.

As we returned to the city, we passed its famous Green Point Lighthouse.  Soon thereafter we disembarked and walked back to our hotel having really enjoyed the tour.

After getting cleaned up and relaxing for a while, we headed out to dinner at Cape Town Fish Market.

For Dark-n-Stormy lovers, a Coca-Cola product.

Sushi on a conveyor belt - grab what you want as it goes by.

We went to bed relaxed and well-fed, hoping the wind would drop during the night as we have tickets for a boat trip to Robben Island tomorrow.