The Cape of Good Hopeand penguins

The fourth chapter of the South Africa trip. We had planned this tour for another day, but our driver’s car broke down. He managed to borrow a friend’s car, we swapped the days around, and headed to the south of the peninsula.

Ham

Our driver’s name is Ham. He lives in Cape Town, though he’s not from South Africa himself. A very pleasant, kind and friendly person. We’re glad we found him. We chatted with him about all sorts of things the whole way, and it was great fun. Ham speaks English, so you’ll need at least basic English to arrange a trip with him. He isn’t on Instagram, so if you need his contact, message me.

A rose farm and Rondevlei Nature Reserve

We started at the rose farm Chart Farm. We didn’t stay long, but it was a lovely start to the day.

On the way we stopped at Rondevlei Nature Reserve. People come here to watch birds, and hippos live here too, which was the reason we stopped. But there were no hippos in sight that day.

Scarborough

Then we drove towards the Cape of Good Hope and stopped on the way in Scarborough, a small town by the ocean. We looked at the beach and saw the town itself from the car window: it doesn’t look any different from other towns. The scenery around it, though, is truly beautiful.

We wanted to have lunch at The Scone Shack, a café on the road to the Cape that we’d read a lot about. But it turned out to be closed, so we ate somewhere else, also with a lovely view. A tip: check opening hours in advance.

The Cape of Good Hope and Cape Point

The Cape of Good Hope is the place everyone knows. You have to walk up a little, and from above an enormous ocean opens up. A very grand and beautiful sight.

By the way, the southernmost point of Africa isn’t here but at Cape Agulhas, a couple of hundred kilometres to the south-east.

Then we drove on to Cape Point, to the lighthouse. You can get up there on foot or by funicular. We were short on time to walk, so we took the funicular. The views are incredible. We walked up to the lighthouse, looked around and came back.

Penguins on Boulders Beach

Next: Boulders Beach, where penguins live. You can also meet dassies there.

The penguins went straight to my heart 🥹 It was the first time I’d seen penguins in the wild rather than in an aquarium. Small and really cool. We even saw a penguin hop up some steps.

There are two entrances to the beach. On the left is the official one, with a viewing platform, but you can’t get close to the penguins from there. On the right is the entrance to the beach itself, and there you can get closer to them.

You must not touch the penguins. I’ve heard different opinions on this, but I stick to a simple rule: if they say you can’t touch, then don’t.

Chapman’s Peak at sunset

On the way back we took Chapman’s Peak Drive, a road that winds along cliffs above the ocean. We hit it just at sunset. A wonderful experience.