Day 23
I got up at 7.30am after another hot night in the dorm room with mosquitoes around in the room. I slept quite well considering the heat but still felt very tired when I woke up. I got a shower and had some cereal before packing my things and boarding the truck for our departure time of 9am. We had a relatively short drive into the wealthy suburbs of Cape Town with the huge clouded silhouette of Table Mountain dominating the skyline above the city.
We arrived at the busy and bustling Ashanti Gardens Lodge hostel. It was a well furnished hostel with a big reception area, bar/restaurant, communal kitchen and small pool. Lots of young travellers were moving around the corridors and sitting in the large patio area outside. We had arrived early after only an hour's drive with unexpectedly light traffic in the city. This meant that we had to wait for our dorm room to be made ready. We used the time by looking through the leaflets of activities and English Brian, Lauren and I booked for two days on the 'hop on and hop off' open top buses which take you on different tours around the city. As we readied to depart for the bus stop where the tour started, our dorm room became available and Monica, Phil, Bro, Lauren, Kristin, English Brian and I all claimed our bunk beds.
Then English Brian, Lauren and I all headed down through a local park and through city streets until we eventually found the ticket office and bus stop for the 'red route' of the 'hop on and off' bus tour. I sat in the front and plugged in the headphones for the informative audio tour which picked out sites and histories of the city. We headed up towards Table Mountain with Lion's Head mountain behind (so named because it looks remotely like a lion's head with a mane). Black maned lions once lived around the Cape Town area. These are stunning looking mountains with wonderful views over the city and deep blue bay. The bus stopped by where the cable cars take people to the top of the mountain. We then headed through very expensive real estate which is shielded from the strong winds that blow through the mountain corridors. We drove down and along the coastal bay areas with azure blue seas and sandy beaches. The coastal road had lots of fresh fish restaurants. We drove back towards the city, past a stadium built for the football world cup in Soith Africa. We reached the harbour and waterfront area and decided to get off to see a large arts and crafts shopping area and then on into the V & A food market where we chose between the many world food options for lunch. I had an Indian chicken tikka wrap which tasted a bit strange and wasn't my best choice. We then tried to take a harbour tour on a boat which was included for free on our ticket, but was cancelled due to the high winds that day. While we were there we watched lots of cape fur seals on a wooden platform. Their calls and behaviour, where the males vied for space, amused us and Lauren and I started 'communicating' through seal calls to each other which was a bit craziness that kept us entertained until we got back on the bus. The bus then returned through the inner city streets. It was interesting to hear that most of that part of the city had been reclaimed from the sea by the Dutch. We arrived back at the starting point and walked back up to the hostel.
I was able to get a shower and a short rest before it was time to meet for our group meal at Mama Africas to mark the official end of the journey for many of our fellow travellers. Sadly, Ian didn't make the meal from his hotel which was a shame as I was therefore unable to say goodbye and thank him for his kind and supportive conversation several days earlier. The restaurant was busy with a wonderful band playing African 'fusion' music. I enjoyed it so much that I drunkenly bought their CD at a somewhat exorbitant price. I ate a very enjoyable "catch of the dau" 'Derado'? fish with chips which was very nice indeed. I washed this down with rum mojitos and got quite drunk as a result. After the meal, we headed over to a loud bar where I drank more rum and coke and danced to the music with fellow travellers Lauren, Kristin and Vincent. We decided to head back to the hostel after an hour or so and it was time to say our goodbyes to fellow traveller Vincent as he took his leave. Back at the hostel, I fell asleep quickly thanks the large amount of alcohol in my system.Read more
