Cape Town
One of the big pleasures in sailing is the slow, measured approach to a new port. Instead of jetting in and being suddenly exposed to a new place, you are able to observe the contours and details on the charts slowly become reality and arrive in the same manner that seamen have through the centuries. Our arrival into Cape Town in the early morning was a wonderful example of the more contemplative style of travelling. We had rounded Cape Point light house in the dark and as first light came, we motored our way passed the mountain range called the twelve Apostles, just south of Cape Town. The sun climbed over these peaks to reveal the iconic view of Table Mountain and Lions Head which tower impressively over Cape Town. What an amazing sight! In the sea, we passed seals languidly floating in the water with one flipper raised in the air. Was this a greeting or were they warming themselves in the first sun rays? Had they not heard of Great White Sharks? On the previous day Alejandro had been able to take some great photographs of whales breaching by the boat so we were truly blessed with marine life!
We entered the Victoria and Alfred Marina via two footbridges that were raised just for us and berthed easily with the crew of Luiton, kindly taking our lines. Most of the World ARC boats were already berthed so it was just like returning to the family! Roger immediately started organising repairs to the autohelm, a new boom and vang (he has decided to apply the precautionary principle and not trust the old boom), a haul out, and a host of small repairs that have built up over the last year. That left Alejandro and Michael time to go exploring the Marina area. Along the waterfront there is a massive restaurant and retail complex, affectionately known these days as a “Mall”. Miles of shopping and walking while ogling all the expensive boats tied up in the Marina, including the World ARC fleet and Free & Breasy! That night, Charlie and Cath, from Celebrate, very generously hosted a party to say goodbye to their crew, Peter, and we were able to catch up on the adventures of the fleet since Richards Bay. Whale sightings were high on the list of every boat and the fleet had obviously arrived in the right season.
A must on a visit to Cape Town is to go by minibus to the Cape of Good Hope. Previously called the “Cape of Storms” by Bartolomeu Dias in the 14th century, we were keen to pay our respects and thank Neptune for our peaceful rounding of the Cape. Cape Point is at the end of cliffs that jut out into the Atlantic Ocean and has tall wild cliffs that plunge down to a boiling cauldron where the sea pounds the rocks at the base of the cliffs. We noticed with concern some rocks well offshore and hoped we were nowhere near them when we serenely motored passed the flashing lighthouse at Cape Point! Around the corner is the Cape of Good Hope where we stopped to take the inevitable “I was here” photographs. In the rocks cute Rock Hyrax (Dassies) looking like earless rabbits, happily munched at the vegetation. On the way back a family of baboons calmly walked up the centre of road stopping the traffic and wild ostriches could be seen in the distance. Then it was back to Cape Town by the breathtaking coastal road that took us past familiar names like Llandudno, Scarborough, Clifton and Bantry Bay. The evening was finished off perfectly with a birthday party on NDS Darwin. Happy Birthday Lucia!
Michael was itching to climb a hill so the next day we made the short walk to the Civic Centre bus station and negotiated the excellent MyCiti bus system to the foothills 7 km from the city centre. We walked up the impressive Lions Head which dominates Cape Town and offers 360 degree views of the Cape town suburbs, beaches and the Table Mountain range. On the way back we explored down town Cape Town with the shops in Long Street interlaced with streets and market places where pedestrians can stroll through hundreds of stalls or take advantage of the restaurants and cafes to people watch. So we did, and enjoyed being in the heart of a beautiful busy city after the months of the solitude of sailing.
Then it was time to climb Maclears Beacon on Table Mountain. There are spectacular views from the top but while we were there a siren sounded and a young girl, who was keen to let us know that this was her 22nd visit to the Beacon, told us that the siren was to warn us that cloudy weather was approaching and the cable car would soon close. We looked at each other nervously as we had heard of fatalities when people fall off the mountain after losing their way in cloud that can rapidly envelope the whole mountain. However, there was no sign of cloud and we learnt later that the siren was to initiate two minutes silence to commemorate the anniversary of Nelson Mandela’s death.
The next night was a full moon and we joined thousands of people to climb Lions Head (again!) at sunset to see the moon rise over the city. A wonderful memory in the can, especially as we were given a lift back after missing the last bus in to town! Earlier in the day, Michael had walked to Sea Point to look at the geological strata that Charles Darwin visited on his circumnavigation. They looked like large boulders of granite being smashed up by the sea but the great man himself was paying homage to an earlier geologist who had observed the intrusion of volcanic rock into sedimentary layers some 530 million years, which, with the passage of time, had been revealed by the steady erosion of the sea.
Annabelle has flown in to Cape Town and will spend the festive season here with Roger. Michael flies back to the Scotland for three weeks, returning just before the next leg to St Helena. Cape Town is more than memories of a beautiful city. It marks the beginning of the last stage of our circumnavigation. In January we face the Atlantic Ocean and the 3000 plus mile passage to Brazil. Let’s hope Neptune was listening!