We are watching Spain v. Honduras. Our day yesterday was spent driving and hiking to t
he end of the Cape of Good Hope, a distance of about 60 miles by car. First stop was Hout Bay, where we took a boat to a small rocky island that was covered in seals. We watched them waddle around and swim, and then headed back to the the minibus to continue our trip.
Our bus went to the Two Oceans restaurant, almost at the tip of the Cape. Tom ran into a friend from Beloit College. We heard a voice say, "Tom, what are you doing here?" His friend, Andrew Reich, was not even a soccer player, but he and his father were here for world cup. Small world.
We took a 45-minute hike over uneven rocky ground high above the ocean to the tip of the Cape. It was hard to imagine Bartholomew Dias rounding the cape over 500 years ago, and declaring it to be one of good hope. The walk was beautiful. In places, rough trail; in places boardwalk with steps; and in places native cobblestone. We saw some small marmot-like animals that we later learned were rock hyrax. We passed a narrow, isolated cove with a beautiful beach, 150 feet below the trail. A soccer fan had written "USA" in seaweed on the white sand below.
Once at the tip of the cape, Abby took a seat in the bus, while Sam, Tom and I walked ov
er big rocks and past tide pools to get as far out on the cape as we could. The tide pools were teeming with minnows, barnacles, cockles and mussels. Under water, the rocks were multicolored and beautiful.
On the way back, we passed a troop of baboons by the side of the road. About 300 baboons live on the cape, and are protected by law because they are the only baboons that eat shellfish. We stopped at the penguin colony on Boulder Beach (all boulders, no beach). The black and white penguins seemed to tolerate the
human presence surprisingly well. We are tolerating South Africa quite well, but are already looking forward to our return home.
he end of the Cape of Good Hope, a distance of about 60 miles by car. First stop was Hout Bay, where we took a boat to a small rocky island that was covered in seals. We watched them waddle around and swim, and then headed back to the the minibus to continue our trip.Our bus went to the Two Oceans restaurant, almost at the tip of the Cape. Tom ran into a friend from Beloit College. We heard a voice say, "Tom, what are you doing here?" His friend, Andrew Reich, was not even a soccer player, but he and his father were here for world cup. Small world.
We took a 45-minute hike over uneven rocky ground high above the ocean to the tip of the Cape. It was hard to imagine Bartholomew Dias rounding the cape over 500 years ago, and declaring it to be one of good hope. The walk was beautiful. In places, rough trail; in places boardwalk with steps; and in places native cobblestone. We saw some small marmot-like animals that we later learned were rock hyrax. We passed a narrow, isolated cove with a beautiful beach, 150 feet below the trail. A soccer fan had written "USA" in seaweed on the white sand below.
Once at the tip of the cape, Abby took a seat in the bus, while Sam, Tom and I walked ov
er big rocks and past tide pools to get as far out on the cape as we could. The tide pools were teeming with minnows, barnacles, cockles and mussels. Under water, the rocks were multicolored and beautiful.On the way back, we passed a troop of baboons by the side of the road. About 300 baboons live on the cape, and are protected by law because they are the only baboons that eat shellfish. We stopped at the penguin colony on Boulder Beach (all boulders, no beach). The black and white penguins seemed to tolerate the
human presence surprisingly well. We are tolerating South Africa quite well, but are already looking forward to our return home.
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