Part III: The Fairest Cape on The Earth
Next day, I spent the whole day in the Cape Peninsula. A peninsula used to be thought as the southernmost area of African Continent. (though the real southernmot point is at Cape Agulhas, almost 200 km southeast of Cape Town)
Driving along the valley between Table Mountain (still covered by "Tablecloth this morning) and Lion Peak, we left City Bowl and reached the Atlantic Shore. Passing several affluent seaside communities, with some lovely names such as Camp Bay, Llandudno, and Sandy Bay, we also passed by some of the most majestic masions in South Africa. The scenery, which combined the Atlantic coastline and mountains, is spetacular. The beaches are mostly sandy, but I heard it is better for sunbathing rather than swimming due to the cold Atlantic curent. however, we saw few people on the beaches. Maybe because of the chilling winds, I guess. It is in the depth of winter. This area also reminded me of Palm Beach in Florida and Cote d'Azure in South France.
At the end of this series of "XX Bays", we arrived at Hout Bay where we boarded a small boat to see seals. Watching seals is fine (They seemed not too excited to see us :-<) , but I was more looking forward to see another kind of marine animals - Penguins.
We had to drive to the other side of the Peninsula to see these cute birds. There are so many of them on the Boulders Beach. Because South Africa is still a long way from the Antarctica, penguins here are smaller than those I've ever seen in zoos' polar animal sections. [The rule: the further north you go (or closer to the equator you go), the smaller the penguins, a rule possibly applies to human beings too] Standing less than 60 cm (about 2'3") tall, these African penguins are the smallest penguins in the world. Just watching them walking around swinging with their little wings is funny enough. But you can only watch them from the broadwalk. Even when there are some penguins jumping up on the broadwal, we shouldn't pet them or even feed them.
Penguins and seals are not the only interesting aninals on the Peninsula (even Cape Town Area does not have much wild fauna, compated to other parts of South Africa- it has been over-developed in the past 350 plus years), there are many baboons (狒狒) playing along the road onto the tip of the Peninsula (but don't feed those baboons, they bite!); There are also some elands (某種羚羊吧，我猜) and ostriches (鴕鳥), though the ostriches are most likely domesticated. Driving all the way south to the tip of the Cape Peninsula, we entered the Cape of Good Hope Nature Reserve.
Cape of Good Hope" (好望角), a place I have heard about so many times since I was a little kid, now I was about to visit it! Francis Drake (不要問我他是誰，大概是有名的英國探險家吧！) described the Cape of Good Hope as "the fairest cape on the earth"(世界上最美好的岬角). It was named so by the Portugese navigator Dias in 1487 even the Cape itself is stormy very often and bad for navigation (I think good name brings better luck, just like the Chinese beliefs). To this date, it becomes a very popular tourist spot. Almost every tourist to the Cape Town area comes here and take pictures in front of the signpost:"Cape of Good Hope: The South-westmost Point of the African Continent. I had a picture of my own too. The scenery is dramatic with rugged cliffs and unique stone formation. Some of the famous Cape Peninsula flora can also be seen around here. It would be nice to have a picnic here and watch the ocean and sky changing colors. But we don't really have that much time staying behind (Mmm....參加台灣旅行團的壞處). After enjoying the beautiful view for a while, we head to the 'real' tip of Cape Peninsula - Cape Point.
Cape of Good Hope was discovered first and thought as the end of Africa. However, slightly south and just behind CGP, Cape Point in indeed the southmost point of the Cape Peninsula. It even used to be identified as the beginnig of Indian Ocean. But since the Cape Point is not really the southmost point of Africa (that should be Cape Agulha), the waterbody east of the Peninsula was renamed as False Bay (falsely identified as Indian Ocean?). It would be exciting to go to an endpoint of a landmass and discover that you are facing the end of one great ocean and the beginning of another.
Getting off the bus at the end of the driveway, I took a montain tram to the lighthouse at the top of Cape Point. I looked ahead, with Atlantic Ocean on my right and False Bay (just let me imagine it is a part of Indian Ocean) on my left. I found myself really at the end of the world. There is nothing between me and the Antacticas.