Heat, wind and two oceans

Phew. Just had a cold shower but the cooling effect only lasted for ten minutes. It’s hot today in Cape Town, at least 31°C in the shade. That didn’t stop us from driving down to Cape Point and Cape of Good Hope to enjoy the landscape and the views of two oceans at the same time. The wind was literarily howling, they measured 45 knots in the gusts (23 meter/second). But that’s OK, a mythical rock is entitled to some posturing.

We looked in vain for whales, dolphins, otters and sharks, but the upset sea didn’t make it easy. We did see ostriches, elan, bontebok, baboons and a number of birds. Add to that some brave wind surfers and kite surfers that braved the waves.

‘On the way back we stopped to say hello to the penguins at Boulders Beach. The poor little creatures were completely swarmed with tourists and locals – it is the peak of the summer season down here.

South Africa is an amazing country – despite us not going for safari we have seen so many wild animals. Turtles, flamingos, eagles of different kinds (and lots of other birds of prey), mongoose, snakes, lizards, ibises, squirrels, giant grasshoppers, klipdassies and a hole bunch of other animals I can’t remember now.

And then we haven’t even started with the urban creatures you see down here. After returning the rental car this afternoon, we remembered that Royale Eatery on Long Street has some kind of happy hour on weekday afternoons. Eight – we had delicious deluxe burgers and two beers each and paid 100 rand (about €10 or 100 SEK) in total. For the both of us.  Outside, a parade of funny, cool or ridiculous dudes were passing by. Very entertaining.

Now we are languishing in the heat, but I have a special treat waiting for me – a new book I picked up on the way home J. I can recommend the one I finished yesterday night about Cicero (Lustrum by Ben Harris) as a good read, both amusing and educational. 

The Atlantic to the left, the Indian Ocean to the right.