Victoria's Voyage

My heart melted as I fell more and more in love. The penguins were plentiful and just as precious as I’d expected. But I’m getting a little ahead of myself. Day 2 of my tour of Southern Africa saw us rising early once again and taking the scenic drive down to Cape Point, right at the most south-westerly tip of the continent.

Our first stop was a lookout point by an edge of Table Mountain National Park known as the Twelve Apostles (though it is widely debated how many peaks there actually are). From there, we meandered through a gorgeous area down a road called Chapman’s Peak.

The views from the window were nothing short of stunning, and we even encountered an ostrich farm and a group of wild baboons along the way. Then finally, there we were. The Cape of Good Hope, renamed from its initial title of the Cape of Storms so as to appeal more to passing trade. Storms was a more accurate description though…

The lighthouse at Cape Point can be reached by first walking an uphill track from the car park or by taking a funicular (the option I chose – obviously!) From there it’s a set of large stone steps to complete the journey to the summit. Well, all of this was much easier said than done. The wind literally almost took me off my feet at one point and I had to scrabble to rescue my headband which had detached itself from behind my ears in an attempt at freedom. Each step was taken one at a time, each and every gust battering me in the face and threatening to take my breath away.  Still, I climbed and climbed until eventually there it was. The lighthouse. Not that I hardly had a chance to take in the incredible 360 degree vista, as my hair would not relent from blocking my vision.

Back down on slightly less treacherous ground, we can now get back to the penguin colony of Boulder’s Beach, which was our next stop after a brief lunch at a coastal seafood restaurant.

Yes, we had a whole hour with my favourite animals – such a treat! It was interesting to see that penguins like to either completely loaf or try and wide the approaching tides. There were two boardwalks designed for penguin viewing. The first led to the actual beach, the other through a more wooded area where more little surprises awaited us. We passed numerous small burrows, one of which had an actual egg sitting neatly at its centre. We also discovered a hatchling sheltering beneath the plank walkway, guarded closely by its mother who stood at the edge threatening to nip at the ankles of anyone who might dare disturb it. This visit only reaffirmed what I already knew – Penguins are amazing!

Last stop on our way back into town was a South African vineyard called Groot Constantia with wine tasting on offer, which wrapped up our day at the coast neatly. Sadly, we still could not travel up Table Mountain – despite another last-ditch attempt to make up for the day before – but honestly the looming threat of an early hours flight to Johannesburg tomorrow was enough to make everyone retire back early to their rooms anyway.

Cape Town has been truly magical, and become one of my favourite cities. I’ll be sad to leave it behind, but also super excited to see what comes next when we reach Kruger National Park. Now, sleep.