Tuesday – April 3, 2018
Well here we are in Cape
Town. Well almost. While I was walking before sunrise, I could see the
freighters anchored and the port in the distance. After Alice and I got ready
for breakfast we went out to view our arrival. Wait a minute. I could still see
the anchorage with the port in the distance. I told Alice we were going in
circles. Incredulous!
Just a short time later
the captain made an announcement that there was a ship in our dock that had not
departed on time. He was working with the port authorities to learn when we
would be allowed in. We would circle seven miles outside the port until then. A
follow up announcement disclosed that the ship would not be leaving, and that
it was intruding into our space by about 250 feet. They were working on moving
it for us. Several announcements kept us apprised of the progress. Finally we
learned that tugs had moved the freighter, and we started toward our dock. Slowly
the captain inched us in between two large freighters. We docked with just a
few feet to spare. Alice and I had watched the process from up on the bow. The
seaman who advised the bridge as to clearance from the bow said this was one of
the closer dockings he had managed.
We were now several
hours late. The shore excursions staff was working diligently to reschedule
overland tours that would leave the ship here.
Once we docked we had to
endure the immigration process. This involved a face-to-face interview. To
facilitate this process the ship had assigned passengers to groups. The first
group was for the overland excursions. Others followed. We were in group15. At
11:30 we went to lunch. Finally at 12:30 we were called along with eight other
groups. All this meant was that we could walk off the ship and into the
terminal where we joined a long line waiting to be seen. We boarded the shuttle
bus shortly after 1:00
The shuttle took us to
Victoria Wharf. This is a large retail center with hundreds of shops,
restaurants and service providers. We were in search of Tourist Information. To
get there we had to traverse the full length of the mall, exit, turn right and
walk another bock and a half. This placed us at the information office in the
center of the huge complex. The helpful attendant provided a map of the Hop On
routes and told us how to get to their ticket office. It was another three
blocks away.
We had decided that we
would get a two-day Hop On pass and perhaps take their tour to the Cape of Good
Hope because we will be here for 3 days. The ticket agent gave us the bad news
that we could not take their day tour in the middle of the two-day pass. We
would need a one-day pass for today and another for Thursday. When we learned
the schedule for the Cape tour, we decided to omit it and get the two-day
ticket.
We immediately boarded
the bus for the red route. This would take us through downtown before heading
to the cable stop at Table Mountain. This iconic landmark towers over the city.
It can be accessed by gondola on the cable system. It was after 2:00 when we
arrived. We opted to stay on the bus for the ride past the northern beaches
back to the first stop. Once there we boarded the bus for the blue route just
as it prepared to leave. It was 3:00, and this was the last run of the day.
With traffic it took us over
two hours to complete this route. It was a terrific ride. After passing through
downtown we headed through the suburbs and into the countryside. The botanical
gardens stop was in a nicely wooded area. Because this was the last trip we
stayed on the bus in order to get back to the wharf. After driving past a
valley where several vineyards are located the bus stopped at a winery just to
pick up passengers from earlier runs. Now we went way north to an outlying
beach before turning back toward the city.
On our way back we
passed an informal village. This was a tin shanty community that we would know
as a slum. The shacks bumped right up to each other with narrow lanes in front.
There were people everywhere. This demonstrated the contrasts between the
“haves” in the city and the “have-nots”. It was striking.
The bus continued along
the waterfront into the luxury apartment district. Here there are buildings
that go down 10 stories from the road level to the beaches below. All have
pools because the beaches here are rocky and not good for swimming.
We returned to the Hop
On office near the wharf at about 5:30. This had been a glorious day. The sun
was shining, the weather was clear, the sky was blue and almost
As we made our way
slowly toward the shuttle stop, we stopped first at the Water Shed. This large
building houses many individual vendors’ shops. The wares range from small
carvings to beadwork, stone carving, beautiful fabrics, jewelry, and original
art. We found this to be a treasure trove. We had only enough time to do some cursory
shopping. The building closed at 7:00.
Now we did a
surveillance walk of Victoria Wharf Mall on our way to the bus. We met Sandy
and Roger as we were leaving the mall. They had just returned from their
three-day safari.
Dinner in the dining
room was a restful event. Refreshing wine and excellent food prepared us well
for a restful evening.
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