Sunday – April 26, 2026 – Cape Town
Today’s featured photo shows a group of high school students who have assembled in a parking lot near Cape Town to dance and sing for us. They performed in the rain and cold. They performed for a number of excursion buses – probably for at least an hour. I chose the word for this post to emphasize the trait they have shown by performing for us in bad weather.
We arrived at Cape Town in the dark. There is a time lapse sail in video included in today’s gallery. As we had been approaching Cape Town since leaving Reunion Island we have been checking the weather to determine what to expect. The forecasts had shown rain for at least the first day of our stay. The forecasts were correct – it was rainy when we assembled to leave on our excursion.
Today a face-to-face immigration check was required by the South African authorities. For some reason it didn’t appear they were prepared to handle the number of passengers who wanted to get off the ship. We didn’t clear the immigration check until an hour and a half after our excursion was to begin. The guide acknowledged this when the bus was loaded and said our tour would be cut short in order to get us back to the ship by the time the tour company had dictated. This meant we would have each stop on the tour shortened or cut out completely.
The first stop on this tour was the Castle of Good Hope. This fort is the oldest existing building in South Africa. There is a photo of a model of the fort in the gallery. You can see it is in the shape of a pentagon. Due to the shortened time at the fort we were only able to see a portion of one of the 5 sections. We talked with friends who took the same excursion on a different bus at a later time after we returned from our excursion. They showed us photos from sections of the fort that we did not see – wish they didn’t shorten our tour. The history of the fort is interesting – click the link above to find out more about the castle.
It was raining – not sprinkling – when we left the castle to walk to our bus. After boarding, we drove through the central business district of Cape Town and several residential areas. Due to the rain, we were unable to see any of the mountains near us and the points on interest on them. We couldn’t see Table Mountain either – an iconic point of interest in Cape Town. We drove along the coast and turned into a parking area for what would normally be a place to view Table Mountain and the Twelve Apostles (mountains near Table). We were the first bus to enter the parking lot and as we did, boys and girls got out of vehicles and “formed up” to present dances and singing for us. It was raining harder now so I stayed in the bus to capture what stills and video I could. These kids braved the bad weather and put on smiles to entertain the tourists as more and more buses arrived and parked.
Next stop on the excursion was Hout Bay which is a bit further South from Cape Town. Rain was still coming down so again I took photos from inside the bus. We were cautioned by the guide that there would be a seal here that could be photographed but there was also a man who considered the seal “his”. Therefore, if we took photos of the seal, we may be required to pay a fee. The seal really isn’t owned by this man but those who don’t challenge his ownership pay the fee.
After leaving the Hout Bay area we passed a couple interesting areas. One was an “informal settlement”. This is an area where migrants live without formal infrastructure (water, sewage, construction regulations, etc.). Once an area reaches a certain population the government brings in port-o-potties and there were plenty in evidence with this one. There is a photo of the informal settlement in the gallery. These areas have sprung up because many of the migrants cannot afford other housing.
The next item of interest was prompted by a road sign you’ll find in the gallery for “Ladies Mile Road”. I could try to explain the historical significance of this road, but my notes are incomplete and my writing was unsteady (the bus ride was bumpy). So your best choice is to click the link for the history of this road.
The area in which we were driving is known as wine country. We passed vineyards which, when named, meant nothing to me but apparently are world-renowned. There is a type of grape from this area that also was foreign to me – Pinotage. We didn’t have an opportunity to try any wines made with Pinotage. If I remember I’ll ask the vintner at our favorite local winery his opinion of that grape.
We continued driving along the coast toward the town of Muizenberg. Didn’t stop in the town but as we drove by it looked like there is a nice long beach that is protected from high waves. Our guide said that the beach area is being improved to attract tourists. With the other attractions in the area, this could be a nice destination.
As we returned to the ship we drove by Groote Schuur Hospital where Dr. Christiaan Barnard performed the first human to human heart transplant in December of 1967. Table Mountain was on our left but clouds still covered it so the peak was not visible. The majority of Cape Town was free of rain by now but clouds covered much of the sky – so no beams of sunlight to illuminate the city. Overall our guide gave us lots of information during this excursion – too bad we didn’t have the time to stop and experience many of the places we saw through the windows of the bus.
This evening we were entertained in the theater by a group of musicians and dancers with a program named Ingoma. The stills in the gallery include explanations of the dance/music that were presented during that portion of the show. As you’ll see from the video clips, this was a high-energy show and I left smiling.
Here are the photos and videos from today.