The best kept secret in the universe has to be that Capetown is the world’s most beautiful city. San Francisco and Sydney are impressive, but this South African jewel is simply stunning, so stunning that I think I may have to move here. Over the past week we’ve done a great job of exploring the city’s natural environs, mostly on our own steam and once with Oprah’s people. We leave tonight and I am reluctant to go. There is so much left to explore, so much left to discover.
We first approached Capetown from the north as the sun was setting. Table Mountain sat stolidly in the distance and loomed over the gleaming city like a protective parent. Having grown up in a Rocky Mountain valley, Tom contends there is comfort in the mountains, that they have a cradling effect which lends a sense of peace and safety to the soul. Personally, I find my peace in the ocean, but now, in this place where mountain meets sea, I’ve begun to understand what he means.
The home we chose for the week, SaltyCrax Backpackers/Surf Lodge, is located in the suburb of Table View, which as the name implies, boasts a spectacular view of the mountain. Every time we emerge from our little neighborhood and the mountain appears on the horizon, Kieran shouts, “There’s the Table Mountain. They call it that because it looks like a table, right?” as if each new view is the first time he has seen it. This is Capetown in a nutshell: a surprise around every turn, beauty from every angle.
On our first venture down the peninsula, we took the famed Chapman’s Peak drive, which scales the western edge of the mountain and then crossed from the Atlantic to Indian Ocean side. We battled the crowds that had gathered in Simon’s Town for the Naval Festival and made our way to Boulders Beach, home to one of the world’s few mainland penguin colonies. The small, noisy birds were once known as jackass penguins because of the distinct “hee haw” noise they make but were recently given the more delicate name of African penguin. After spending some time with them, the kids decided the former name is more accurate. Eager to play with the flightless avians, they approached them with the usual sweet talk and extended hands, but in return got only pecks (McKane bled) and retreat. We reminded the kids that they were after all wild animals, not pets, but there was no changing their minds, “Nope, they call them jacka…es because they’re stupid.” Far more cuddly yet equally hard to pin down were the rock dassies that scampered in and out of the shrubbery they shared with the penguins. We had told Kieran that these overgrown guinea pigs are the closest living relative of the elephant, but once we learned why, we decided to keep the reason to ourselves. If you’re really interested and over 18, you can do a little research of your own.
The following day we drove back down the Boulders side of the cape all the way to the National Park that covers the southern tip. My heart skips a beat as Read the rest of this entry »
