This weekend was beyond sufficiently awesome and confirms for me that South Africa is the most beautiful place in the whole world. For the weekend, we rented another car (which I might add cost less than $35 a person for the whole weekend since we split it four ways). On Friday night, Tim, Raji, Giselle, Njabulo, and I went to the IRB juniors rugby championship in Cape Town at the DHL stadium. The game was between the South Africa Springboks (Bokkies) and New Zealand All Blacks, so you can guess who we were rooting for. :) The stadium was sold out and was splattered with green and yellow jerseys, gear, flags, signs, and face paint. The atmosphere was awesome. South Africa won the game 22-16, becoming the 2012 IRB WORLD CHAMPIONS. Super epic.
South Africa preparing to champ New Zealand and push them over in a scrum (I think that is the right terminology, haha).
Victory! The junior bokkies lined up to receive their championship gold medals!
On Saturday, Tim, Raji, Giselle and I embarked on an epic journey throughout Cape Town. First, we drove through Simon's Town and the False Bay area and went to Boulder's Beach, a designation within the Table Mountain National Park purview, where the African penguins nest. This time of year is mating season for the mature penguins and molting season for some of the younger penguins. As the name implies, Boulder's Beach is covered with huge boulders as well as some African brush that grows along the beach and rocks. We walked along a boardwalk down to the shoreline, and all along the boardwalk, we could see penguins sleeping or waddling under the brush, which was pretty adorable. And, although I did not witness them in the act, we could hear pairs of penguins mating deep in the brush. (Sidenote: I learned that penguins "moan" very loudly during mating, and their intimate moment does not last very long--only a few seconds...or at least that is what I assumed since the "moaning" only lasted a few seconds).
Since Boulder's Beach is a known mating ground for penguins in South Africa, the people who run the national park had created small hut enclosures under the brush for the penguins to sleep and nest in to protect themselves and their eggs. We were all super excited about how cute the few penguins were that we saw under the brush along the boardwalk, but once we got to the shoreline, we were ecstatic! There was a large group of penguins lounging on the beach, with many of them snuggled together. They were so cute!
The African penguin. :)
Hehe. Don't worry, Raji got on her stomach and checked under our vehicle :)
The brush, the boulders, and the beautiful ocean.
Eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee! Penguins are adorable!
But this penguin...he wanted to eat me!
A mother and her baby.
Adorable. Motherly love.
We love penguins. :) (Raji is in the middle, Giselle is on the right)
Penguin hangout.
Awwwwwww. So cute!
Penguin sleeping in the upper hut. Unhatched egg in the lower hut.
After saying goodbye to our penguin friends, we made our way toward Cape Point. We continued along the coastal-mountain roads, winding upward toward Cape Point. When we passed through the False Bay area, a popular surfing destination, we drove by the "Shark Watcher". This was a person stationed on the mountain roadside above the beach searching for sharks. When a shark was spotted, he would ring the shark alarm to alert the surfers. :) We also drove by some wild baboons. The babies were pretty cute, but there was one VERY large, anrgy-looking mama baboon, who we did not want to mess with! When we eventually got to Cape Point, we walked up the pathway to the Cape Point lighthouse, where we could see the vast oceans to both the left and the right. It was beyond stunning! We also went to the Cape of Good Hope, which is a cape bay area just beside Cape Point that is considered the most south-west point of the African continent.
Driving in Cape Town is beautiful!
I want this house. So much.
Wow.
The signs said that it takes about 1.5 hours to walk to that secluded beach and back. It is called Dias Beach, and we saw it in a surfing magazine as a secluded and idyllic location :)
The pointed edge of Cape Point.
New York is that-a-way!
I love that the mountains above these beautiful oceans is deserty.
The waves at the Cape of Good Hope.
I was soaking in the good hope :)
Another beach we popped by...not sure what this one is called though!
To finish off our amazing beachy Saturday, we crossed over the mountain and drove along the other bays and winding mountain roads to catch the sunset. This was absolutely stunning. After we crested over the top of the mountain to the other side, we drove along a highway called Chapman's Peak Pass. The road gripped the edge of the mountain and winded along the bay, which was amazing. We stopped by Chapman's Peak and looked across Hout Bay to the town of Hout Bay, which was stunning. To the left of the town was Devil's Peak, so-called because this is where most of the steamy clouds that rest over Table Mountain begin. We then continued down to Camp's Bay, which is a very luxurious town with bars, restaurants, clubs, and stunning houses for the rich. The drive along these bays was incredible at dusk. :)
The view of Hout Bay and Devil's Peak from the Chapman's Peak Pass.
The mountain was smothered by heavy fog.
An ominous sunset. So beautiful!
The mountain, the bay, and the clouds.
Devil's Peak at dusk.
The mountain roads literally winded along the edge of the mountain about the ocean. It was amazing!
Our wonderful Saturday was followed by a stellar Sunday! First, we went to a facility called the Cheetah Outreach in Somerset West. This is a reserve that raises cheetahs and protects them. The cheetahs that are raised and kept in the reserve are ambassadors for their species and are used to educate people about the endangerment of the cheetah population and other wild animals. Visitors to the Outreach can have a cheetah encounter and the cheetahs are brought to school groups and other functions for educational ambassadorships. Besides Cheetah, the Outreach also houses other wild animals that are sometimes harmed by farmers to further educate visitors about protecting these creatures.
Besides cheetah, the Outreach had two servals and a caracul. The caracul are often killed by farmers because they kill the sheep and eat them. When the caracul have cubs, they kill vast amounts of livestock to train the cubs how to hunt. Unfortunately, the extreme killing of livestock during this training is for sport and not for food, so it is excessive, and the farmers often kill the caracul to prevent the damage. The servals, although not a direct harm to the livestock, are sometimes killed by the farmers as well; the farmers often mistake the servals for caracul, or incorrectly assume the servals will be just as devastating to their livestock.
There were also black-backed jackals at the Outreach, which are beautiful omnivores. Although they do typically feed on invertebrates, they
can also strike a herd of small sheep. Sometimes farmers kill them to prevent damage to
the livestock or the crop. :(
The Outreach also had three bat-eared foxes. The bat-eared fox is adorable and eats only insects. The bat-shaped ears can hear insects from very far away, even underground. These foxes are sometimes killed by farmers because they mistake them for the jackal or assume they are dangerous to their livestock, which they are not.
But, the most exciting part of visiting the Cheetah Outreach was getting to encounter a full-grown cheetah! The Outreach had 9 adult cheetahs on site, 7 male and 2 female. All of these cheetah were born and raised by the Outreach. The Outreach also a few newly-born cheetah cubs, but these were being raised off-site for a few months in another location because their immune systems are very weak when the cubs are young, and they are susceptible to illness if around too many people or other animals. The cheetah that we were able to encounter was named Joseph. He is their "movie star" cat because Joseph has been in a few movies and has met several famous people (like Usher and Arnold Schwarzenegger). Joseph is the eldest male cheetah at the Outreach, at ten-years-old, so he was very mellow and relaxed during our encounter. Unlike the cubs that we played with at the Seaview Game Park, we were instructed to only pet the Joseph's side and back because he is ticklish on his belly, paws, and ears. :)
Tim's half smile indicates to me that he very much likes big cats :)
The Canadian intern (on the left) was explaining the history of Joseph to Tim and Giselle.
Raji and I are super happy.
I am beyond happy, but Raji is pre-occupied contemplating if the cheetah really has over 2,000 spots like the intern told us...
What big paws he has!
So majestic.
Awwwwww. Just like a house cat, hey?
After we left the Cheetah Outreach, we went to Stellenbosch, which is the wine country of Cape Town. We went to a winery estate called Spier for a wine tasting and lunch. We ate lunch at a the estate's farm-to-table restaurant, called Eight, and it was amazing food! Then we went for a wine tasting, and we were able to taste a variety of delicious South African wines. We ordered a cheese board and it was very delightful!
Cheese and wine are proof that God loves us and wants us to be happy. :)
To cap off our amazing weekend, we drove down to the Waterfront and walked around the mall. I splurged and decided it was time to start buying souvenirs...and let me just say, I bought ALL OF THE THINGS! Well, at least it felt like it, haha.
With love,
Kaity
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