After breakfast in our self catering apartment, we went into Cape Town. We were headed for Observatory, a neighborhood that has a less the perfect reputation. Our goal was Mnandi Textiles, a shop that specializes in hand made cotton clothing. We were looking forward to meeting Ilse, the proprietor, since we had some items from her shop that Tim & Venessa had brought back for us on previous trips. She greeted us warmly at the door, and spoke well of Tim and of Seamus, who gets all his shirts from her. After looking around the shop, we each picked out a shirt. (I'm wearing it as I write this.) I almost ordered another one which Tim & Venessa would pick up and bring home, but decided to buy only one. Like the wine, these are very reasonable items, especially considering they are hand made.
We then headed for The Waterfront, an area of shops, restaurants, and hotels on the waterfront. There is still some shipping and ship building activity in the area. It also affords good views of Lion's Head and Table Mountain, and is the departure point for tours of Robben Island. We bought our tickets for the next day's tour of Robben Island and had lunch. There was a group of 12 men providing entertainment of song and dance. I think they are there often. It was fun to hear them. There was also a marimba band at another spot. All in all, a lively place.
From there we headed across town to Table Mountain, a large flat-topped mountain in the city. It is a large national park, including much land down Cape Peninsula. There are often clouds on the top of the mountain and flowing down the side a bit, known as the "tablecloth effect." It was clear the day we were there with no clouds around. After parking the car and getting a card from the car guard on duty, we headed to the cableway station for the ride to the top. The cars are round and make one full revolution as they go to the top of the mountain.
At the top there are several Km of trails, as well as the usual gift shops and restaurant. It is the largest flat area at the top of a mountain that we have visited, I believe. Very interesting, and wonderful views of Cape Town and the surrounding region. In one direction there is a series of mountain tops heading into the distance toward Cape Peninsula known as the Twelve Apostles. On another side two girls were getting instructions and help as they were about to Abseil (like rappelling) down the side of the mountain. We walked a large loop over a little less than half the top of the mountain. It was an interesting experience.
After a refreshing snack, we took the cableway to the bottom, rather than hiking down. The car guard had done his duty, and our car was still there, unscathed. We headed back to Kalk Bay for a relaxing evening at "home."
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