Capetown SOUTH AFRICA

An early morning shuttle to Amsterdam Schiphol Airport ... very little road traffic, quiet airport, easy processing, moderately full plane, wheels-up on schedule, a mostly turbulence free flight.

Our KLM Boeing 777-300ER departed Amsterdam at 09:30 am CET on March 12 and touched down in Capetown SOUTH AFRICA at 08:15 pm CET (09:15 pm SAST) on March 12; a flight duration of 10 hours 45 minutes.

Below: The final approach to Capetown. 

We arrived in full darkness with heavy cloud cover; I've included a stock photo of a daytime view.

Stock Photo

Capetown SOUTH AFRICA has been voted 'Best City on Earth', 6 times in a row!

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For the Readers

Click on the links for more information.

You can just skip all the text I've written and double click on any photo to launch a gallery of all photos; which you can then scroll (<>) through.

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SOUTH AFRICA

Mar 12 - 17

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Our Accommodation

Overlooking Table Mountain 

... a flat-topped mountain forming a prominent landmark, overlooking the city of Cape Town in South Africa.

We stayed at Kensington Place while in Capetown. 

Cafe Paradiso ... 

Top (Helen): ostrich, gravy, mashed, potatoes, mushrooms, micro greens, beans, cucumber 

Bottom (Dann): seared yellowtail tuna, poached egg, cocktail tomatoes, raw onion, micro greens, mustard aioli, beans, cucumber

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Cape Peninsula Tour

Itinerary:

Chapman's Peak Drive, the Cape of Good Hope Nature Reserve, the Cape Point, Simon's Town, Boulders Beach Penguin Colony and Kirstenbosch National Botanical Gardens.

Chacma Baboon (alpha male)

Chacmas are unusual among baboons in that neither males nor females form strong relationships with members of the same sex. Instead, the strongest social bonds are often between unrelated adult males and females. Infanticide is much more common among Chacmas compared to most other baboon species, as newly dominant males will often kill infants or young baboons sired by the previously dominant male.

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Table Mountain National Park 

Is previously known as Cape Peninsula National Park. It is a national park in Cape Town, South Africa, for the purpose of protecting the natural environment of the Table Mountain chain, and in particular the rare fynbos vegetation. The park is managed by South African National Parks. The property is included as part of the UNESCO Cape Floral Region World Heritage Site.

The park contains two well-known landmarks: Table Mountain, for which the park is named; and the Cape of Good Hope, the most southwestern extremity of AFRICA. 

Cape Point is a promontory at the southeast corner of the Cape Peninsula, a mountainous and scenic landform that runs north-south for about 30 kilometres at the extreme southwestern tip of the African continent in South Africa. The cape is located at 34°21′26″S 18°29′51″E.

The southernmost point of the mainland of AFRICA; Cape Agulhas, is approximately 150 kilometres (93 mi) to the east-southeast; the final headland on the right (orange circle) at the above photos horizon line. 

Cape Agulhas is the 'geographic southern tip of AFRICA' and the beginning of the traditional dividing line between the Atlantic (west) and Indian (east) oceans according to the International Hydrographic Organization.

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Boulder's Beach Penguin Colony

Capetown Penguin

For those who wonder, penguins are classified as 'specialized marine birds', that have adapted to living at sea. They have a black stripe and black spots on the chest. The pattern is unique to each penguin, like human fingerprints. 

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Kirstenbosch National Botanical Gardens 

A botanical garden nestled at the eastern foot of Table Mountain in Cape Town. The garden is one of 10 National Botanical Gardens covering five of South Africa's six different biomes and administered by the South African National Biodiversity Institute (SANBI). Prior to 1 September 2004, the institute was known as the National Botanical Institute.

A few photos from our walk ...

Our personable, knowlegeable guide Ken with Helen

The South African Yellowwood tree in the above 2 photos is a centenarian and the national tree of SOUTH AFRICA.

This wooden mask represents the image used to carve what is called a passport mask. This particular image is unique to South African peoples. They were originally and traditionally carried around by the Dan People, kept in a leather pouch and are often miniature copies of a family mask, which used to be used as a form of identification. 

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Table Mountain / Cape Winelands Tour

Itinerary: Table Mountain, a visit to the Stellenbosch and Franschhoek wineries. 

Table Mountain was under heavy cloud coverage and we only had time for a visit to the Stellenbosch Vineyard with a very nice lunch and drive; still a great day.

The work of the craftspeople who created these stone and rock pathways is quite remarkeable.

While a popular belief associates pomegranates with 613 seeds, representing the 613 commandments in the Torah, it's a misconception; pomegranates typically contain between 200 and 1400 seeds, not exactly 613. 

Craftspeople have created an elobarate pathway in the image of a puff adder snake; this is the tails end. It's very difficult to capture the complete image beacuse it stretches out over several path intersections

Amaryllis belladonna

Leopard Tortoise ... this would be a juvenile.

The Jordan Stellenbosch restaurant.

 Views are ... from our table, the entrance and the exit.

Pinotage is a grape variety that was created in South Africa in 1924 by Abraham Izak Perold, the first Professor of Viticulture at Stellenbosch University. Perold was attempting to combine the best qualities of the robust Hermitage with Pinot Noir, a grape that makes great wine but can be difficult to grow. 

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Where To Next ? ... 

... a couple of safaris in BOTSWANA.

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Our complete photography gallery for Trip168 (including *-1 >*-4), comprises the countries of NETHERLANDS, SOUTH AFRICA, BOTSWANA and ZIMBABWE.

Our Cameras

NIKON Coolpix P1000

iPhone 16

Unless credited, all photo content is by LOAFin Around  

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