Day 8- First Full Day in Cape Town

Friday, April 7

Today was our first full day in Cape Town and we started off with a great breakfast at our hotel…

The kids were pretty happy with their food, and I LOVED the mimosa…..and it wasn’t even a Sunday morning brunch!:)

Then we were off to explore Table Mountain.  According to my info pamphlet from Table Mountain, “Table Mountain is at least 6 times older than the Himalayas.  It was formed under the sea about 600 million years ago.  Glaciers carved it flat, then the mountain gradually rose, thrust up by the tectonic forces( Geologists tell us this, and we believe them/,)  The mountain was originally an island until the sea receded.”

Table Mountain is on the left

It got it’s name because of its flat surface….

  As luck would have it, we didn’t have the best weather today…but it was going to be worse tomorrow…so we decided to make the best of it and go on up to the top anyway!:)

We went ahead and boarded the funicular car up to the top!:)

Cables disappeared into the clouds below us!:)

When we got to the top…there wasn’t a view of the ocean…but the view was certainly a wonderful surprise!  It was as if we were on top of giant pillows…the clouds looked so pretty and the sun was shining!:)

We were literally walking in the clouds.  This is called table Mountain’s famous tablecloth, a phenomenon that causes the clouds to tumble down the mountain slopes like billowing fabric.
(according to my information booklet for the Table Mountain park.):)

But, the kids were mostly interested in climbing around on the rocks…

We saw this cute little guy on the top of the mountain.  Its called a Rock Hyrax.  They look like rabbits but without the floppy ears..

Just as we were about to go down…the clouds started to clear away…

And we were off to head towards the Cape of Good Hope….

We drove about 2 hours to Slankoppunt Lighthouse…

But, it was under construction…so no visitors…but we did get to walk down the board walk and see the ocean!!!:)

And then we were back on the road to Cape town with some gorgeous scenery along the way!:)

And when we got back…we ended the day with some swimming in the heated pool at the hotel.  It was a great way to end our first day in  such a beautiful city!!