Chatham Hall in South Africa 2008

Today we saw a completely different side of South Africa. We started off going on the cable car up to Table Mountain. Miraculously, there was almost no wind or clouds today, which made the view even more spectacular. This magnificent view of Cape Town and the surrounding area had many different effects on people; Rebecca Schwartz wanted to fly (because of the height and refreshing breezes) and Amanda Stewart wanted to do yoga (because the top of the mountain was so peaceful and natural).

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Next we went to the local market at Hout Bay where we haggled and bargained with the locals. It was a great way to learn more about their culture and at the same time buy souvenirs. Among the items purchased were bracelets, bowls, hats, and even a giraffe (made of wood)!

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PENGUINS! They were so adorable that we all just wanted to take them home with us!

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The last stop of the day was Cape Point where we felt like we were at the most southern point of South Africa. We went up in the lighthouse, where we almost got blown away. Literally! We had to hold Min A, Lina, Rebecca Smith and Kaitlin down. On the way back to the city we all felt ebullient when we saw baboons in the fields. There were babies, mothers, and a “baboss” watching the group.

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Continuing our trip back, we passed farms of ostriches and saw a couple of wild deer. We made it back to the hotel a few hours later, ready to sleep.

Old People Annotations

• We were very fortunate today to have no strong wind or clouds on Table Mountain. The mountain had been closed for three days because of high winds and a “tablecloth” on the mountain (amazing stratus cloud cover that literally “falls” off the side of the mountain).
• The cable cars themselves were very interesting – the interiors rotated so that everyone got a decent view!
• The plant biome featured in the Western Cape Province is the smallest and most diverse of the world’s six floral kingdoms. Many different varieties of the shrub plants that make up the fynbos, or “fine bush,” greeted us on top of the mountain.
• The name “Haut Bay” means “Wood Bay” and was named such because the Dutch settlers found good wood for building ships in the region.
• On the road from Haut Bay to Chapman’s Point, buses are only allowed to travel in one direction because the roads are too narrow for them to pass each other on opposite sides. In addition, this stretch of road contains overhanging fences for catching falling rocks, each of which can support a tremendous amount of weight.
• We learned quite a bit about penguins today, but the best part was seeing them in action. They wandered around the dune shrubs paying relatively little curious attention to tourists, swam and “body-surfed” in the water when they needed a cool-down, and made sounds resembling that of a braying mule!
• Several of the adults found Cape Point and the Cape of Good Hope the best part of the day. For one, as the girls have said, the winds were phenomenally strong, and sustained! Our own Sherry Slayman enjoyed the “wind tunnel” effect at the top of the lighthouse so much she kept walking through the windiest part! At the top lighthouse area, there was also a sign which told us that the distance from our location to New York City was over 12,000 km (almost 7,500 miles).
• Three intrepid chaperones (Ms. Slayman, Mr. Kahuda, and Mr. T) made a mad dash from the lighthouse to the Cape of Good Hope, covering the descent from Cape Point and the round-trip on the trail to the Cape of Good Hope in less than 1 hour. We really hoofed it! The winds were just as bad on the promontory at the Cape of Good Hope, but we can say that in one sense, we’ve been to the “Bottom of the World!”
• The baboon group leader is not really called a “baboss” – that was a Mr. Kahuda funny.

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