Boogacres: Africa - Cape Town, Friday, March 3, 2017

First, I'd like to wish a huge Happy Birthday to my friends, Sharon and Jan! Wish ya'll could be here with us today. We're trying to have fun without you, but it's difficult ... as you can see.

Table Mountain. I borrowed this photo from a poster in the Cable Car wait station.

Check out the cable cars. They hold 65 people and the floor rotates so everybody gets a view of the entire area.

We started our morning with a cable car ride to the top of Table Mountain for a look a the city of Cape Town. I was told by my son that Cape Town is one of the most beautiful cities on earth. I must agree with him. It is truly gorgeous. And the best view of Cape Town and the surrounding area is from Table Mountain.

Table Mountain selfie.

Overlooking Cape Town.

Cape Town.

I was intrigued by this cloud sneaking around the mountain.

We were very lucky, as the morning was clear and sunny and the temperature was comfortable. I could have spent hours on the top of the mountain, but we had several stops today and had to rush on. But not before meeting several local critters. Rock Hyrax were abundant a the top of Table Mountain. I am told the nearest relative of the Rock Hyrax is the elephant, which is really interesting because there is a weight difference of several tons!! Some times, I think these "evolution folks" just don't get it. If this animal is a distant relative of the elephant, then I must be related to Bo Derek.

The Rock Hyrax looks more like a Marmot than an elephant!!

Anyway, after visiting the summit of Cable Mountain, we continued on to the Boulders Penguin Colony at Cable Mountain National Park. We arrived about the same time as three other bus loads of tourists. And we all together set off in search of the penguins. It didn't take long to spot our first "Jack Ass" Penguin and pretty easy to figure out how they became named, "Jack Ass" Penguins. They make a braying sound just like a Jack Ass. These penguins looks very much like the South American version that Jac and I met last March in Patagonia. The German tourists were a bit ... I take that back ... they were a LOT overwhelming, so it didn't take me long to check out the penguins and move on. It was crowded and almost impossible to get a photo of the unique birds. So I snapped a few shots and headed back to our coach.

If you look closely at the two penguins on the left, you'll see they are sitting on eggs. I didn't notice this until AFTER I took this photo and downloaded it to this blog.

Shortly, we headed off for Table Mountain National Park where we had a lovely lunch at Two Oceans Restaurant, a very touristy and crowded place, but the food was acceptable.

We were scheduled to take helicopters back to the hotel from here, but weather set in and the helicopter ride was cancelled. NatGeo had back up vans available (they think of everything!) to take us the one hour drive back to Cape Town. We made a quick turnaround and headed to the shops located next to the hotel for a little retail therapy. I found some really cool South African art to bring home. The first treasure, a beaded Leopard head. I absolutely love this piece. I'm not sure where I'll put it, but it's kind of like having a black outfit in one's closet, it goes with anything. I'm sure this beaded Leopard will go anywhere in the house.

I'm sure it will go somewhere.

Next purchase was "The Girls." Made of sculpted clay busts and palm frond skirts, these girls tell my 2016 story. Going from nurturing Mom ... to fighting for my life ... to kicking cancer's ASS! I love the last girl. She's strong and sassy! Anyway, I'll find an interesting place for these pieces, too.

These stand about 24 inches tall. Love the gal in the middle. She has attitude and is sassy!!

Shopping was fun, especially when Stevie and I stumbled upon a woman selling dookies, a headdress worn by African women. Of course we had to have one. We were walking through the mall area and two African women were so pleased with us, they wanted their photo made with us sporting our dookies. I'm sure they went home tonight telling their families about the three women who were acting like American Idiots.

Stevie gets her dook.

We surprised (rather ambushed) Lorri with a dook, too!

Dames with dooks!

Tonight, we did NOT have a buffet. We had dinner at Nobu, the same Japanese sushi restaurant that we have in Aspen, Matsuhisa. The food was great, if you're a sushi lover, but the Sakkatinis were better!! Vodka, Saki, and Cranberry juice. Yum.