The morning of our second day in Cape Town started off a little hazy, but we had faith that by the time we returned to our ship we would have beautiful views of Table Mountain. As the South Africans say, “This is Cape Town” when referring to the weather.

After a quick coffee and muffin we headed down the gangway to the pier where our rather small tour bus was waiting.

Heading along the southern coast towards the Cape of Good Hope, the haze began to burn off and the sun was shining once again. Things were looking pretty hopeful. The countryside, especially along the coastal road, is breathtakingly beautiful.

Once we started to climb upwards, the roads seemed to cling to the sides of the mountains and we realized now why we had a rather small bus because there were times I thought we were going to scrape the inside corners along the cliffs.

Farther along the coast we could see the town of Macaroon––– only kidding. But the cloud formation above the peak is so macaroon looking it does not look real. I have come across images of this on the web, but never in person. Wow!

We stopped along the route at various observation poinst–– each more stunning than the one before. All of these towns have a high Zillow, moving there, lookup factor.

We passed beach after beach with the most perfect waves breaking and not a surfer in sight… wondering if along with the high Zillow factor of these beach towns were high Great White factors as well–– just waiting for me to move there.

Our next view point along the coastal road is iconic– Chapman’s Peak, with breathtaking views.

We entered the Cape Point Nature Reserve and drove along the winding road towards the Cape Of Good Hope.

Along the way we were treated to some amazing views and wildlife and were lucky to catch a glimpse of the long tailed, Sugar bird found along these parts as well as a family of Ostrich and two young ones taking in the views along with us.

We saw a lone baboon down along the coast and our guide said that there is a troop that feeds on shellfish and that might contribute to how they seem to be smarter than other inland troops. They have figured out how to open car doors. There are signs reminding humans to lock their cars.

There were rocks everywhere along the drive down to the point. Rocks that I first thought were painted by tourists, but then realized they were many different species of lichens. I am such a lichen freak, so this was a true treat for me–terrestrial seaweeds in my opinion.

Finally, we reached the Cape of Good Hope–– the most southern point of South Africa. However, that is not true. The southern most point is 150 km (90 miles) south, known as Cape Agulhas.

The reason for this misconception is that there are two currents which meet– one (Agulhas current) from the Indian Ocean and one from the Atlantic (Benguela Current) and their meeting point fluctuates between these two locations.

After spending time at the ‘almost’ most southern point of South Africa, taking in the salt air with the sound of the waves crashing into the rocks, where the spice of the seaweed tasted sweet against the back of the tongue, we traveled to the lighthouse.

We opted to take the funicular to the top then walk the rest of the way up to the lighthouse of which the views are a reminder of just how beautiful this planet is.

With a lot of walking up and down, our guide drove us to to a darling little restaurant along the coast where we had a nice, relaxing lunch and a couple of drinks before heading off again for our final stop.

The food was delicious as were the beers I had. A good thing I was not driving the winding cliff roads. Some of us opted to eat inside and some out.

Off to see the penguins.

Now it was time to head back to our ship, the bus quiet from a full day’s excursion, and all of us a little tired from the lunch (beers). When Meredith and I got back to our room, kicked off our shoes, our jaws dropped when we stepped out onto the balcony– there was Table Top Mountain in full view.

As promised… two dresses