From desert to penguins - South Africa 2016

[Guidoriccio11]

- DAY 11 -

 

We wake up not extremely early and have breakfast in the nice restaurant.

It is 8 o'clock but we are the very first guests. And also the service is really slow. Another couple showed up after 30 min. ehehehh. We are not in a safari park anymore! And here people look like more in a relax vacation more focused on braai and some hike.

Anyway we leave the camp and again we meet a Namibian-style landscape until Sprinbok, where we have the B&B for the night. But we don't stop and go straight to the Namaqua NP. Slowly on the border of the road start to appear flowers, mostly orange. Luckly the weather is the best, with a great sun!

 

 

We meet a gravel road that leads into the center of the park. NOTE: this road was full of tortoises!!! SO be aware not to kill them!

For all the road we sow some flowers, but still nothing extreme. To be honest, we are not at the peak of the season, which is 2 or 3 weeks later.

BUT... Once found the sign of the park, like a magic the flowers showed up! And from the first hill we could look the landscape paved by an orange carpet!

 

Cape Bunting

 

Finally we find also the park office, where we got the map of the place. Basically the park in itself is not that big. It can be easly visited by a circular road by car and then with a perfect walk within the flowers.

 

By car we could climb another hill, with a really good landscape of the whole area. Then, coming back to the entrance, the icing on the cake! A family of meercats surrounded by the orange flowers!

 

 

We spent 2 hours in the park, and I can say it was enough. The flower carpet was incredible, but still I think in 2 weeks would be even better. Good thing: we were almost alone. For some reasons this area is out of the usual touristic tours. The other few visitors were south africans.

 

 

We come back to Sprinbok. If I can find a mistake, it is the hotel position choice. The park is 1h far, and we had to go and back on the same route. Plus the day after we followed the very same route to go to Cape Town. Since the park can be visited in 2 hours, there was time to go a bit southern to get closer to Cape Town, or at least to avoid the same way the day after.

Anyway the B&B in Sprinbok was really nice! In a colonial style, the old english owner seemed to come back from another epoc. And there was this friendly and fluffy resident cat! ahahahah

 

 

It was still not too late, so we could get a little rest before dinner and watch some bird in the garden.

 

Black-fronted Bulbul

 

For dinner we went in the most famous steak-place in town. We had a delicious T-bone steak, with a perfect red wine.

Then, the city had nothing more to offer, so we come back to bed quite early.

[Guidoriccio11]

- DAY 12 and 13 -

 

Breakfast at the Annie's Cottage was really awesome and a kind of colonial style. We had the best omelette of the trip!

Well, we woke up early since today we have the "worst" journey of the trip: a looooong drive from Sprinbok to Cape Town (that's why in my opinion it would be better to stop the day before a bit further south). Anyway the plan is this: to stop in Lambert's Bay to watch the Bird Island with the Cape Gannet colony (and have lunch there) and then slowly reach Cape Town.

 

BUT

 

We didn't consider 2 events:

1- The road between Sprinbok and Clanwilliam was cutted by road works which forced us to stop for at least 15-20 minutes at each check-point (the road sectors were 1 way alternate). And we met 5 of these check points!!!!

2- Already in Sprinbok, driving I felt a weird behaviour of the tyres. Check... and BLOWN TYRE!!! Luckly I remembered a fuel station close to the Namaqua NP, so driving at 50 km/h we arrived at the station and the nice guys helped us (in total 1 h including the road)

 

So we were really late and we choose to cancel the deviation to Lambert's Bay... :-(

 

After Clanwilliam we found open road finally. So we drove in a boring trip for 5 hours with the only interesting sightseen of nice new kind of flowers.

 

 

Finally we met the seaside and, in front of us, the Table Mountain! We are close!

BUT... We arrive in the center city exactly at 5 pm, when the people is getting out from work. NEVER SEEN SUCH A TRAFFIC!

We were completely stuck. Not even in Milan I sow such a mess. With people on the walkside crossing not caring at the cars, traffic lights completely unuseful and traffic officers causing even more mess instead organize the flux...

Incredibly we succeded to reach the Rental Car Office at 6pm, so at closure. And we could leave the Hilux and get a more useful small city car...

Then, tired, we reached our hotel, that was really close to the waterfront. It is a huge tower in a western-city style. So different from the past accomodtions! But it was good.

For dinner we cancelled the booking at a restaurant in Waterfront (too tired) and we preferred to eat at the hotel restaurant (good but too slow).

 

Then early to bed! Tomorrow morning we have to wake up at 4.30 am for the Shark Caging adventure at Simon's Town.

 

The alarm rings and we eat something in the room, then jump on the car and we crossed in the dark the desert city. We arrived at the Shark Caging Office perfectly on time. We payed, met the crew and the other guests and, at the pier, we proceeded to sea.

 

 

First lights showed up, and, as welcome, a big whale jumped out right in front of us!

 

We reached the Seal Island in the False Bay and we started to wait, eating something on the boat. With the sun more up we could have a 360° sightseen of the coast until the Cape Point.

 

The crew preparred the chum to attract the sharks and obviously the boat was sorrounded by gulls.

 

 

We waited at least 1 hour, with other boats coming. Then the shark showed up! And not as anyone thought from far away with the fin out from the water, but from the abyss. So we sow this 5-meters fish appear slowly with the mouth open!!!! Really scaring!

 

The captain called the people to wear the wet suit and jump into the cage. Well... it was so cold... So I decided to skip it and I remained on the deck trying to take pics.

In 2 hours we sow only 1 other shark. Defenetly not a good luck...

 

 

I have to say that I am happy to have done this experience. I mean, South Africa is one of the very few places where to spot white sharks, but we spent 4 hours on the water to spot only 2 sharks for few seconds... Maybe in Gansbaai sharks are smaller but as I heard the sightseens are better and longer...

 

Back on the coast we took the car and we didn't move to much: we went to the fabolous Boulder's Beach!

Ok, this place is probably the most touristic in the whole Cape Town area. Only here we met large groups of people and a lot of souvenir seller. Also the price to enter was not exactly in line with the other attraction. A lot expansive!

 

 

Anyway, even if you have to fight with the crowd, the penguins are awesome, funny and fluffy. Once out of the beach (and payement area), we followed the walking street through the gardens south of the beach... and... it is full of penguins also here (and for free ahahah). Don't know why people go in mass into the beach and skip this street (we were alone!)

 

Then back to Cape Town. Enter in the city was easier than last day. Our direction was not the hotel, but the waterfront. In fact we booked the elicopter tour of the city! And with no clouds in the sky, this day is perfect.

First time of my life on elicopter, and it was defenetly fine. I felt really worse in Turkey on hot air baloons!!!

We took off and it needed few meters high to change completely the sightseen. All the city from above, as well as the Table Mountain! And the tour went around the mountain. We could see toward the Cape Point. And then all the outskirts of the city.

I have to admit: one of the best things of the trip. If you are in CT during a sunny day, DO IT!!! Absolutely!

And, when we could even do WHALEWATCHING from there!

 

 

It was just perfect. Completely satisfied we went back to the hotel, and then, thanks to the free shuttle we reached the Waterfront, where we ate in a good Belgian-style restaurant.

[optig]

@Guidoriccio I love your photos of the Cape fox, the penguins and all of the rest of the birds. Thanks for giving me the idea of taking a helicopter ride because I'll be in Cape Town later this year.

Of course I'll also be going whale watching.

Edited January 8, 2017 by optig

[Guidoriccio11]

@@optig defenetly the helicopter is a MUST. It worths every penny (considering also it is not expansive compating with similar flights in USA or Europe).

[optig]

@@Guidoriccio11 I'll be going on my first helicopter flight ever in February when I'll be doing a transfer from Ol Malo camp to Sarara Lodge in Kenya; needless to say I'm quite excited. Yes, I know very well that South Africa is quite a bargain with tourists

now.

[Atravelynn]

Up to Namaqua National Park. You would think those gorgeous flowers would bring lots of visitors. Oh well, now nice to have the flora to yourself. Those fierce little cheetah faces never get old.

[optig]

@Guidoriccio You and Atravelynn have sold me on Kgalagadi National Park. I would love to visit with a number of fellow safaritalkers. I'd like to be guided by Natasha.

[Guidoriccio11]

- DAY 14 and 15 - END OF THE TRIP

 

After the usual great breakfast in the hotel, we left Cape Town towards east. Today the weather has got worse: it is a bit raining and the Table mountain completely disappeard under the clouds. Yesterday we were superlucky!!!!!

First destination is Stony Point. A small village where there is another penguin colony. We drive along the costal road, and the rocky seaside combinated with the cloudy weather give use the feeling to be in some north european country, like Scotland. It has its charme anyway.

 

 

Arrived in Stony Point we didn't find easly the penguin beach. We asked several times to the nice hinabitants of the area.

Finally we reached the small parking place and we entered the site. Here we discovered that, first of all it is a lot cheaper (only 10 ZAR!) and then that only few people come here. We were alone, and after some minutes joined us only few couples. And, more... The colony is far better than Boulder's Beach! It is bigger, and the penguins come even more close. Only better thing of Boulder's Beach is the landscape with the white beach and the blue water, but here the rocky landscape makes everything more "dramatic".

So, great choice to come here, and as always, great penguin shots!

 

On the same beach there is also a colony of Cape Cormorans, which share the space sometimes with little arguments...

 

Really happy about the visit, sadly it starts to rain stronger, so we took the car (after expelling a penguin which decided to stay under it) and we followed the road far into the east towards Hermanus.

We decided since from the beginning not to whalewatching, so we just took a look at the town and its seaside. Maybe looking for whales from there...

Obviously no whales, but we liked this peaceful town.

 

Starling

 

Then we only come back to Cape Town. In the evening we have dinner in a winery of Stellenbosh, so we have to take a shower and (for the first time) wear some decent clothes. Then we reached the city already in the dark, so we just took a small tour by car into its streets in order to visit some colonial architecture...

 

The winery we choose (the Delaire Graff) was huge. I mean, we are from Italy, so we are quite used to wineries, but not with these dimension... And the restaurant, was absolutely luxurious. We had 3 waiters only for us. And obviously...great wine!

 

Back to the hotel we went to sleep. The day after is sadly the last one!

 

Today it is the Cape Point day. And it is also saturday. So, even if we didn't wake up early, we didn't find many people around. Just someone jogging or riding bikes. The weather got a bit better. Still clouds, but no rain and sometimes the sun show off...

 

To reach the Cape, we followed the Chapman's Peak Drive, which is really nice. We stopped several times for the landscapes...

 

 

Once into the park we stopped first at the Cape of Good Hope, even if we didn't take the classical picture at the sign because of a long queue of tourists waiting for it!!!!

 

African Sacred ibis

Also Cape Point was quite crowded but the sun shined finally and it was awesome.

 

 

Sadly we left this place back to the hotel. We relaxed for some hours before going to the Waterfront, where we had our last dinner at the restaurant of the Cape Grace Hotel: awesome!

 

The trip ended in this way. The day after we took the plane with no problems.

It was a great trip. About wildlife for sure the best one. With a great variety of landascapes.

For sure Namibia is anyway the best in comparison, but South Africa for sure is that kind of country where you can go also for 1 week just to have a safari trip, and for sure I'll do something like that in the future.

Of course our best stay was the Kgalagadi. That's why our next african trip must be Botswana. But not next year!

Next year we'll have a 3 weeks in Far West of USA. So, not exactly a wildlife destination, but maybe some birding spots or mammals will occur. If we see something big, I will for sure let you know here!

 

Thanks for reading, and sorry if I took a lot of time to end the report!

 

 

[xelas]

@Guidoriccio , that was an awesome trip, that has finalised in an excellent trip report! Thanks for sharing all those moments. I will be here when you will post the Far West report!