Early Morning Airport Pickup
Good day, March 1st. It’s going to be a very long day. This morning Ron and Chris were arriving from the Netherlands at about 6:10 AM, which meant Gert-Jan and I had to leave around 5:30 in the morning to be there in time. No big deal though – every day is a beautiful day.
We made it in time and found that the relatively simple airport had some disruption because of a fire in the arrival hall. We didn’t see any damage, but everything was diverted around it, so we ended up walking a lot more than normal. Ron and Chris showed up seeming a little tired from the flight, but happy to arrive.
Breakfast and Settling In at Melkbosstrand
We took them back to Melkbos Strand and first went for a bite to eat at that bakery I’d been going to. Bakeries always work, they always work. Then we took them to their new place for the night. We already had one night there, so we had one more night, and they were happy with that. They didn’t want to stay there longer, but explore more. With 8 days to go, that was a really good plan.
Cape Peninsula Adventure
We explored a little bit in Melkbosstrand and decided we were going to eat at that same restaurant in the evening. Then we went back to Cape Town to do a tour and try to get as close to Cape of Good Hope as we could. We drove around Lion’s Head and Signal Hill after going through town. Every time we drive through town, it seems like we come past the Dutch consulate.
We made it to a place called Kommetjie, and the scenery is just absolutely breathtaking all the time. I was really hoping for a Kommetjie soup, but that’s just a Dutch thing, and that didn’t work out because we ended up at a fish and chips place. We enjoyed all that.
Smitswinkel Bay and Wildlife Encounters
We went further south on the peninsula and made it to Smitswinkel Bay. Just before that we could have turned right, but we weren’t really aware that there was more to see, or that we hadn’t yet made it to the Cape of Good Hope, or that we could even get there. So that didn’t happen that day, but we came really, really close.
On the way back north on the east side of the peninsula, we ran into some baboons, or bobejans as they call them in South Africa. But those baboons were in the wrong place – they had tackled some garbage cans and were picking things out of them. There was also a place for boulder watching, but that was like a tourist trap, so we didn’t really stop there and just enjoyed the scenery.
Farewell Dinner and Airport Goodbye
We made it back to Melkbosstrand in a roundabout way, then went to the trattoria again for Gert-Jan’s last meal with us because he needed to get to the airport in time to fly out close to midnight. We all joined him and took him to the airport. No use joining him at the airport except for saying goodbye because we know how that goes – you just have to go through security, and it’s easiest for whoever is flying to do that alone.
It was the conclusion of an amazing time – 2 weeks of focus time driving through Namibia and South Africa. Lots of stories to tell, and I appreciated Gert-Jan’s participation big time. Thanks for coming along.
