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12.18.2012

South Africa TravelBlogue (Part 5 - Cape of Good Hope)




MONDAY 11/19 Our last day in Cape Town!

CAPE POINT & THE CAPE OF GOOD HOPE (http://www.capepoint.co.za/)

 It was such a bummer knowing that Monday was our last day in Cape Town. (Mondays are just kind of like that, aren’t they?) My mom and I once again got into our trusty rental car and headed out for an awesome day. We drove toward the Cape of Good Hope (“the most south-western point of the African continent”) and we took time to stop at a lookout before going into Table Mountain National Park. At this point in the trip the name of the game was “taking time to smell the roses.” The time was passing so quickly and we wanted to wrap up our time in Cape Town at a comfortable pace. Plus we wanted to find baboons!



Once we got to the Cape of Good Hope Entrance Gate we stopped in at the Buffelsfontein Visitor Centre. We reviewed the map and decided to head for the lighthouse on Cape Point. We knew we could either take the Flying Dutchman Funicular or walk to the top. We walked. It took a while but we finally made it up to the lighthouse.






Once we got back down from the lighthouse picked up lunch at the nearby café and then drove over to the Cape of Good Hope for a short hike. We spotted ostriches hanging out near the beach looking for food.




After paying our respects to both capes it was time to search for baboons. We were sure we would have seen them by now. My mom asked a parking attendant where we could find baboons and he told us to go to Buffels Bay. We drove there next but we only saw people around. My mom asked a police/security guard if he knew where the baboons were and he pointed us in another direction. We pulled out of the parking lot and were headed back to the main road when we saw several puffs of golden brown fur pop out of the bushes. They saw us, we saw them, and my mom stopped the engine.

Eureka!
There were about 12-15 baboons of various ages. The young ones were the most excited to see the car and they didn’t hesitate hopping onto the hood. They chased each other and tried to bite each other as they scrambled up and over the car.


They moved so fast that it was nearly impossible to get a decent picture of them. Their hands and feet immediately dirtied up the windshield so taking pictures through it became pointless. By the time the slower-moving adults came over I could only take pictures through the other car windows. Thank heavens I did because in that instant I took my most favorite photo of the entire trip:


This picture never fails to make me smile. I still can’t believe I got it considering the chaos that was happening all around us. 

Once we were sure the baboons were off the car and out of danger we started back up and headed out of the park.


When we got back to the B&B it was hard to bring ourselves to pack. Luckily we still had five days left in our trip and we were going to be on safari the next day!

TO BE CONTINUED!

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