This day, we will start with the rental car and the idea is
that, as soon as we have it, we go out to explore the Cape Peninsula
and as much as we can of the points of interest outside of Cape Town.
The spots marked at map are:
0- Urba Oasis
1- Camps Bay
2- Hout Bay
3- Cape of Good Hope
4- Boulders Beach
5- Muizenberg Beach
6- Film Studios
7- Dolphin's Beach
After
This morning it's time to pick up the rental car so, after
having the same breakfast as yesterday, Eva goes to her spa session
that she booked yesterday for 9:30AM, while I go to the Avis office.
It takes me a while to find it although I reach Stradt
Street
straight away, but it's a very busy area with the main train and bus
stations in Cape Town and I end up asking as I can't follow the street
numbers.
The procedure to pick up the car is fast and I use our parking space on
the sixth floor of the apartment building for the first time. Then I
walk to meet Eva to come back to the apartment to get what we want to
take on today's trip.
We leave the city heading south as our destination is the
Cape
of Good Hope, and soon we reach Fish Hoek, where we can join the M4,
which is the road that runs along the eastern coast of the peninsula.
The path to the park gate runs through constant coastal
landscapes and pretty fishing villages.
We join one of the car lines at the entrance of the park to
show
the Wild card and access without paying the 370R per person of the
ticket. Although a sign already warns that the funicular is out of
service.
We first stop at a small lookout point to enjoy the views,
it is
the Smitswinkel Bay Viewpoint, and then we drive through this peculiar
landscape of low vegetation in the direction of the visitor center.
The Visitor Center is open but no one is in there. We explored it
completely alone and took the opportunity to use the bathroom.
We continue driving towards the end of the Peninsula, where all the
people seems to be. We park and go to the funicular terminal, where
there is also a restaurant and a gift shop.
As we are not going to walk up to the lighthouse and we are
not
going to eat at the restaurant either because it only offers sandwiches
and pizzas, we start our way back after taking some photos.
We follow our plan and stop at Boulders Beach, known for its
colony of penguins. It's 2PM and their restaurant is closed.
The first place we enter, after showing the Wild card, is a
small beach where there are some people swiming and a penguin looking
at us from behind a rock. It's a beautiful view, but it's not the place
we're looking for.
We ask at the ticket box and they point us a path that leads to the
wooden platforms. All along that path, which is outside the payment
sites, we can see penguins continuously. This seems to be a nesting
area and some are with their chicks.
Upon arrival at the other ticket box, we show the Wild card too to
access, and we see the huge colony of penguins on the beautiful beach
they have chosen for their home.
There's also a path through the vegetation that goes through
the
same nesting area as the one we just walked through outside.
We ask where to eat at this time, since it's past 3:30PM,
and we
drive to the restaurant we've got directions for: Fran's Place, where
we have generous portions of pork ribs and lasagna, both with salad. We
paid 300R for that and a piece of cheesecake and the drinks.
We take the R310 road that goes through Muizenberg Beach and
we stop at the famous beach with its colorful huts.
Then we continue along the same road, which connects with Highway 2,
crossing an area with kilometers of barracks, as far as the eye can
see. It's like an alternative city to Cape Town.
This city reaches the highway, but we don't join just yet because we
want to go through until the movie studios, where I can take some
photos of the boats used in the filming of the One Piece live action.
But when I get out of the car to take a selfie, a security guard
arrives with his car to tell me that we can't take any photos and
basically asking us to leave.
We arrive at the parking slot of the apartment at dusk and
wanting to rest.
