Cape Peninsula in One Day

Cape Peninsula is a rocky peninsula that juts out into the the Atlantic Ocean. Cape Town, South Africa and Table Mountain are on the northern end of the peninsula..At its southern end is the Cape of Good Hope, the most south western point on the continent of Africa..The Cape of Good Hope, formerly the Cape of Storms was named for the hope engendered by opening up an eastern route to India. 

Cape Town & Table Mountain with "Table Cloth"
Best view I got, as weather quickly closed in.

Satellite image of Cape Peninsula
courtesy of Wikipedia

How was I to see this peninsula? Drive myself on winding roads on the left-hand side..um..no..Take a standard tour in a minivan and not be able to stop for pictures when I wanted to, no, not that either. With luck I found James Gradwell, a South African native who guides personal photo tours..Voila! Perfect! 

James Gradwell, photo guide extraordinaire http://www.photographytours.co.za/about.php

We drove along the western coast & False Bay.. .and stopped at three village "suburbs" of Cape Town.  False Bay is a true bay, but not Table Bay, and sailors sometimes got confused.

The beach huts at Muizenberg..everybody photographs these,
you've probably seen them before

I would have liked to stay awhile..

Next stop Kalk Bay, a fishing village

Where the Eared Seals lounge in wait for fish scraps

On to Simontown and Boulder Beach, famous for its colony of Jackass Penguins.The first area we stopped at is where most view the penguins..

I am not a jackass, I just bray like a donkey
..and my eyes are closed

It's beautiful where I live..

I have lots of friends..

Keeping an egg warm

From the main beach, we walked to Boulder Beach...

Spying Rock Hyrax along the way
..thanks to Jame's keen eye

You can see why it's called Boulder Beach

Time to say goodbye

We had been racing the weather all day, tho' the blue skies don't make it seem that way, and after lunch the clouds were closing in..Time to head to the Cape of Good Hope

We stop for Dolphins! Those are Cormorants on the rock

And beautiful views, 'Dolphin Rock' in the far distance

We finally reached the Cape Point portion of Table Mountain National Park, a wild and rocky promontory covered with endemic Cape Fynbos, or native heath/shrub land. It is home to wildlife such as Baboons, Ostriches and Zebra. I saw Ostriches, but did not get a clear picture..

Why did the baboon cross the road?

To eat some heather

Heading off for the evening

The day was ending, and Cape Point was fogged in, so rather than continue to the very point, James and I opted to stop at the Cape of Good Hope & then take cloudy sunset pictures of the wild and rocky coast. 

I practiced a technique James had taught me
and took my first "silky water" shots.

A beautiful end to an exhilarating day.
Look in the far left corner, to see James at work

The Bird of Time has but a little way

To fly..and Lo! the Bird is on the Wing ~ Omar Khayyam-Rubaiyat