Day 3- Again through Cape Town

Today we embarked on another day through the cape.  Today started with a city tour.  Our guide picked up us at 8:30 intending to take us to the top of Table Mountain- oops.  Luckily signal hill also has great views, and we started the day there with a mediocre picture (I found 3 more of these frames throughout the day).  Signal Hill actually has a cannon go off at noon every day- we even heard it later on in the morning.

View over Cape Town from Signal Hill

  

Next up we headed over to Camp's Bay.  Just as beautiful from the ground as from the abseil.  I hadn't seen anyone exercising yet in the trip- apparently all the fitness types stay in Camp's Bay.  Our tour guide showed us some photos of waves crashing all the way up tot he road we were on, apparently it gets quite windy here.

Find Dad

As we left the ritzy section, we stopped through a diamond wholesaler, who gave us Mimosas and told us about diamond cutting, historic diamonds, how diamonds are assessed, and tried to sell me a $1900 tanzanite bracelet ("a great investment").  There was even  window you could look through and watch diamond cutters shaving down diamonds.

We headed to the caste next, which had a moat.  We didn't spent too much time out of the car, and there isn't much to say about the caste except that it was originally on the coast and now completely is not.

Next up we returned to Company's Garden (apparently company is Dutch East India Company)- the squirrels were even more fat and pushy today, but I got a great picture of one lounging like it owned the place.

Lounging Squirrel

From there we headed to Bo Kaap, a small community filled with brightly colored houses.  It had history that he explained, but his accent was strong sometimes so I missed it.  Anyway, its currently mostly Malay.

"If it's curly it's early, if it's straight it's late"

From there he dropped us off at Victoria and Alfred Waterfront ("the most popular tourist destination in Africa").  After lunch at a food mart, we boarded the boat to Robben Island.  Well first we waited in line for a while, and Dad regaled the American foreign exchange students with Statue of Liberty facts.

The boat ride to Robben Island (where Nelson mandela spent 8 years of his sentence) left me near puking- the Cape has swells to spare.  And a lot of kelp.  From there we boarded a bus to travel around the island and see the sights (the quarry, etc).  After the bus ride, we toured the maximum security prison with an ex-prisoner (who had a very thick accent, so regretfully I did not learn a ton).  Anyway, we saw cells and courtyards, it was all prison like.

Keeping on a strictly regimented, prison like time schedule, we were almost immediately shuffled straight back onto the boat.  Dad and I (rebels) went off to spy some Black Cormorants before heading back to the boat.  Once again, I felt sick during the 45 minute journey (slow boat).  Dad was looking out for the green flash, I don't have sunglasses so I was hiding my eyes while trying to look at the horizon line.

For some reason when we docked there's a little seal platform.  This one was photogenic and has me excited for seal island tomorrow.

A giant beaded elephant

We wandered some more around the water front, got dinner (and again left just as live music was starting).  Tomorrow it is off to the Cape of Good Hope, with penguins, seals, a lighthouse, and apparently a wine tasting on the return.