March 30 Muizenberg

Quiet day today. I packed and left Brendon and Roxie's place and moved into a B& B. I am now closer to the main beach and central Muizenberg. The B & B is great....includes breakfast and has incredible views of the bay...outdoor life right inside. Graham who stays with Brendon and Roxie gave me a ride to the B and B, and we had lunch and sat on the lovely balcony looking at the sea. Tonight I went for a walk along the beachfront, as I'm much closer to the main area, and close to the grocery store. Heading for bed soon. Thanks for checking in.

 Pics taken from the balcony

March 29 Cape Town

Tommie and Kirsty dropped me off at the station, and I took the train to Cape Town. Right opposite the station was the Cape Town Castle. I toured the castle that was built somewhere after 1652/3 when Jan van Riebeeck needed fortification for the Dutch settlement at the Cape of Good Hope. It actually never was used in a battle! There is a lot of history here, and unfortunately two of the museums were closed as the entire complex was undergoing renovation. I did witness the firing of a small ancient cannon, and was taken around the battlements with a guide. We looked at the prisons, and the torture chamber, as well as one museum exhibit of paraphernalia of that time. It was interesting. We also saw soldiers marching in uniform

It was about lunchtime, so I went to the Eastern Bazaar close by. This is an interesting Indian eatery with very cheap and quality food. I ordered falafels, and enjoyed the meal.

After this,  I

 Above: entrance to the Castle

 Above: in the courtyard: the explanation of the cannon. Although small it made quite a bang!

 On the upper battlements

 The parade below

 All inside the courtyard

 Below: Cape Town city hall

 Below: in the Company Gardens I saw this albino squirrel....so unusual!

 Below: cactus flowers

 Below: ancient cycads grow so well here...they are fascinating.

Below: general pic of the huge trees, palms etc in the garden. Fewer flowers, more shrubs etc.

 went to see the Company Gardens in central Cape Town, and they were very close by. The gardens were very pleasant, and well maintained, and I enjoyed the visit. I hope you like the pics. Thanks for checking in!

March 28 Cape Town

Got a ride into town with Kirsty and Tommie. I bought my ticket on the blue bus, and spent an excellent day looking at the Cape Peninsula . It was possible to get on and off the bus, so I got off at the monkey and bird sanctuary. It was excellent. I toured all the displays of birds....so neat, as you could go inside the bird's cages, as they were so large. It was very impressive. I saw more birds than monkeys but it was such fun to be in a monkey enclosure and have the small yellow monkeys jump on you. I took hundreds of pics! After a small lunch I got on the bus to Hout Bay. Again the experience was spectacular. Everyone was eating fish and chips at the wharf but I went and checked out the fishing boats ( they were catching crayfish) and saw live wild seals at the wharf. Some locals had pieces of tuna to entice the seals, and a huge bull seal got out of the sea and right up onto the wharf. The guy was feeding him, and he actually took fish from the guy's mouth!!

I took lots of pics of the spectacular coastline from the bus, and hopped off at some of the places. This coastline beats anything I have seen anywhere!! I got off at Seaport, and Greenpoint to take pics, and then it dropped us off at the waterfront. From there I walked about the waterfront, and had a fish and chip meal and a beer. Then Uber home to Muizenberg as it is Easter Monday and the trains don't run as regularly. What a lovely day!! Thanks for checking in.

 This was fun!!

 Posing for a pic

 Ready for tuna....the big male

 He was docile, waiting for his treat, which he took from the guy's mouth!

 Spectacular scenery

 Below: Camps Bay

 Seaport Lighthouse...fantastic day

March 27 Muizenberg, Cape Town

Quiet day. I took Busta for a long walk, and he chased the seagulls, and had a great time. Then I went into Muizenberg, again along the beach, and had a lunch, bought a few groceries, and returned. I read my book, visited with Tommie and Kirsty, and that was March 27. Thanks for checking in.

 Above: Busta loves chasing seagulls. He disturbed hundreds of them. What fun! Buster below!!

March 26 Muizenberg

I had a good sleep in! It was a quiet day of reading, and relaxing. In the afternoon I took Bustaroo for a walk along the beach and went into Muizenberg to have cake and coffee at the Blond and Beard. Katy was there, and we chatted together. Busta was well behaved, and had a drink of water. I had kept him on the leash all the way. Today was very windy and the sand blew on the beach. Very few people were on the beach. On the return to the condo, I allowed Busta to run free on the beach. He loved it, and raced along. I put him back on the leash twice when other dogs were around as he loves to play with them and forgets the walk. It was lovely to be out despite the windy weather. No pics today, as it was a day to stay in, and read. Have a great day!!

March 25 Muizenberg/Cape Town

Brendon, Roxie, Bustaroo and I went for a long walk on the beach. Brendon did lots of obedience training with Mr. Busta. The sea air, sand, birds and fellow beach travellers all made for a great time. Busta got lots of exercise, which he needs.

Pretty soon Brendon and Roxie dropped me at Kirstenbosch on their way to the airport to East London area for a wedding. I spent the day at Kirstenbosch. When I arrived I came across a  special Bonzai exhibit. That was impressive, as some of my pics show. I was very tired and spent a lot of time sitting on the benches, and gazing into the distance. The gardens are rich in indigenous vegetation, from succulents to enormous African Mahogany trees, to Proteas, and local flowers and grasses. It is a world Heritage site, as the vegetation here is very specific to this part of the Cape Peninsula. I found the skywalk, canopy walkway, and was able to take pics of the treetops from there. The trees in Kirstenbosch are quite exotic, and very interesting. Energy was low, but it was good to just sit. I cancelled my plan to go to the Cape Town Aquarium. I had a great soup for lunch, and took lots of pics. At one stage I was serenaded by local African singers at my table, and I took a video of them. It was a good day, and Uber brought me back to Muizenberg. Then Kirsty, and her fiancee Tommie and I went out to dinner in Muizenberg. It was a great evening!

 Above: Protea, the national flower.

 Above: Bonzai, and below

 Below: Kirstenbosch is against Table Mountain, so a fair amount of climbing

 Below: Guinea Fowl, also prevalent in Zimbabwe

 Below: more Bonzai, miniature

 Below: Skywalk

 Below: pic of trees from skywalk

 Below: shaded avenue

 Below: Ducks around

 Succulents lovely shapes

 Cacti