If you read my blog, you'll know that
a) I recently went to Cape Town
b) I'm doing a 4-part review on my trip to Cape Town.
In accordance with point b), this is now Part 2 of my 4-part review of my trip to Cape Town - Table Mountain and the Cape of Good Hope.
As you will see in Part 3, I visited a fair number of places in Cape Town. After all, I was there for a good week or so. In fact, my itinerary was this:-
Day 1 - Go around downtown Cape Tour
Day 2 - Safari, overnight at the Reserve
Day 3 - Safari
Day 4 - Diving with Sharks (that's right, I chilled with Jaws) and Table Mountain
Day 5 - The Winelands
Day 6 - Driving along the Cape Peninsular
While each of the things I did were pretty fricking cool in their own right (Sharks!), there's a good reason I picked Table Mountain and the Cape of Good Hope as the focus points of Part 2. We'll start with Table Mountain. And by "we'll", I just mean "I'll".
To be as succinct as I can be, Table Mountain is breathtaking. To go up Table Mountain, you need ol' Ma Nature to behave herself. The cable car won't go up unless the winds are weak and the rains aren't heavy. For 5 of the 6 days that I was in Cape Town, this was the case. Fortunately, there was a day where the weather permitted a trip up to Table Mountain.
There's a neat little slogan at the top of Table Mountain I really liked - "One view point, a million viewpoints." It's really quite clever. Standing atop table mountain, you really did have the 360 degree panoramic view of Cape Town. And standing there, I obviously wanted to take pictures to try and express how I felt when I saw the scene I wanted to capture. I suppose that's kind of the point of photography - A good photo is really worth a thousand words. A photo is meant to express what the photographer is experiencing when that photographer is viewing that scene. I tried my best, but I cannot honestly say that
a) I am a good photographer
b) I managed to capture what I saw
Part a) is fairly straightforward. Part b) is a function of part a) and a function of the fact that what I saw led me to have many different thoughts. Take, for example, the following picture. Try to guess how I felt.
I'll wait for you to guess.
Waiting.
Twiddling my thumbs.
Drinking some water.
Okay. When I see the mist that surrounds the mountain, all I can think about are the Misty Mountains which, of course, the Fellowship of the Ring tried to cross (across Caradhras) but failed. In the end, they had to go to Moria which was, well hey, below the Misty Mountains! So, yes, it reminds me of the Fellowship as well as Dwarves in the Tolkein legendarium.
And, here's another picture:-
I just think this looks quite cool. Could be an album cover (laughs to myself). And it did make me think of doing a cost-benefit analysis of travelling alone (which comes in Part 3). I guess I just think that it's really nice to see people enjoying themselves in one of the most beautiful spots I've ever seen and building memories for themselves or with whoever they're with.
It's this sort of sentiment that came to me as I visited Cape Point and the Cape of Good Hope as well. Now, Cape Point is sort of the reserve park where the Cape of Good Hope is located. At the main rest-stop-ish area of Cape Point, where people have lunch and park their cars and all that, is a hill. And on top of that hill is a lighthouse. As someone who's always been fascinated by lighthouses since my days of reading the Famous Five and Spooksville (loved Watch, had a huge crush on girl-next-door Cindy), you can see how that appeals tremendously to me. Anyway, it's quite a climb to the lighthouse given that I was in my jeans and wearing loafers. Also, it was super misty (this time, I felt like a Fellowship member) and raining as well. Nonetheless, I trudged on onwards, convinced that it would be worth it. Apparently, from the lighthouse, the view of the Cape and the Peninsular was unmatched.
After a walk of about 20 minutes or so, I reached the Lighthouse. And guess what. I couldn't see the surrounding area. There was way too much mist and rain. Of course there was.
So, then, I walked back down the hill, had a leisurely lunch and when I was done, the sun was out.
Was there any mist left? Of course there wasn't.
Was it still raining? Of course it wasn't.
Would the view from the Lighthouse have been spectacular at that point? Of course it would.
I debated for about half a second on re-climbing the hill but decided, "Eff this."
After lunch, the tour guide fella drove us to the Cape of Good Hope, pretty much the highlight of my trip for 3 main reasons.
1. It's called the "Cape of Good Hope." There can hardly be a better name for any other place on Earth. This is super cheesy, but I did feel good vibes just from being in the area. More thoughts on this in Part 3 of my 4-part review.
2. It's the place where Bartholomew Diaz found and Vasco Da Gama rounded. There is just so much history tied to this place. So much historical significance, particularly during the age of expansion, which, as avid readers of my blog, you would know.
3. It is the meeting point, arguably, of the South Atlantic Ocean and the Indian Ocean. First of all, how fricking cool is that? Second of all, it does give it a mythical sort of feel to it.
So, for lack of a better word, Table Mountain and the Cape of Good Hope were really 'magical.' There was just a deeper quality to the 2 places that invoked some feelings of wonder and awe in me that the other places definitely didn't. Would I go back there again? Absolutely. More on this in Part 3.
a) I recently went to Cape Town
b) I'm doing a 4-part review on my trip to Cape Town.
In accordance with point b), this is now Part 2 of my 4-part review of my trip to Cape Town - Table Mountain and the Cape of Good Hope.
As you will see in Part 3, I visited a fair number of places in Cape Town. After all, I was there for a good week or so. In fact, my itinerary was this:-
Day 1 - Go around downtown Cape Tour
Day 2 - Safari, overnight at the Reserve
Day 3 - Safari
Day 4 - Diving with Sharks (that's right, I chilled with Jaws) and Table Mountain
Day 5 - The Winelands
Day 6 - Driving along the Cape Peninsular
While each of the things I did were pretty fricking cool in their own right (Sharks!), there's a good reason I picked Table Mountain and the Cape of Good Hope as the focus points of Part 2. We'll start with Table Mountain. And by "we'll", I just mean "I'll".
 |
| The view from the top of Table Mountain |
 |
| I could have hiked but dude, the mountain is tall. |
a) I am a good photographer
b) I managed to capture what I saw
Part a) is fairly straightforward. Part b) is a function of part a) and a function of the fact that what I saw led me to have many different thoughts. Take, for example, the following picture. Try to guess how I felt.
 |
| Hint: It is related to a movie that's coming out in December |
Waiting.
Twiddling my thumbs.
Drinking some water.
Okay. When I see the mist that surrounds the mountain, all I can think about are the Misty Mountains which, of course, the Fellowship of the Ring tried to cross (across Caradhras) but failed. In the end, they had to go to Moria which was, well hey, below the Misty Mountains! So, yes, it reminds me of the Fellowship as well as Dwarves in the Tolkein legendarium.
And, here's another picture:-
 |
It's this sort of sentiment that came to me as I visited Cape Point and the Cape of Good Hope as well. Now, Cape Point is sort of the reserve park where the Cape of Good Hope is located. At the main rest-stop-ish area of Cape Point, where people have lunch and park their cars and all that, is a hill. And on top of that hill is a lighthouse. As someone who's always been fascinated by lighthouses since my days of reading the Famous Five and Spooksville (loved Watch, had a huge crush on girl-next-door Cindy), you can see how that appeals tremendously to me. Anyway, it's quite a climb to the lighthouse given that I was in my jeans and wearing loafers. Also, it was super misty (this time, I felt like a Fellowship member) and raining as well. Nonetheless, I trudged on onwards, convinced that it would be worth it. Apparently, from the lighthouse, the view of the Cape and the Peninsular was unmatched.
 |
| No Architect inside, I checked. |
After a walk of about 20 minutes or so, I reached the Lighthouse. And guess what. I couldn't see the surrounding area. There was way too much mist and rain. Of course there was.
So, then, I walked back down the hill, had a leisurely lunch and when I was done, the sun was out.
Was there any mist left? Of course there wasn't.
Was it still raining? Of course it wasn't.
Would the view from the Lighthouse have been spectacular at that point? Of course it would.
I debated for about half a second on re-climbing the hill but decided, "Eff this."
 |
| Cape Point, where ol' Ma Nature screws with you |
1. It's called the "Cape of Good Hope." There can hardly be a better name for any other place on Earth. This is super cheesy, but I did feel good vibes just from being in the area. More thoughts on this in Part 3 of my 4-part review.
2. It's the place where Bartholomew Diaz found and Vasco Da Gama rounded. There is just so much history tied to this place. So much historical significance, particularly during the age of expansion, which, as avid readers of my blog, you would know.
3. It is the meeting point, arguably, of the South Atlantic Ocean and the Indian Ocean. First of all, how fricking cool is that? Second of all, it does give it a mythical sort of feel to it.
 |
| Gratuitous self picture. In my defense, it's the Cape of Good Hope. |
 |
| The waves just beating the crap out of the rocks. God, I love geology. I would consider being a Geologist if I had to do it all over again. |
 |
| Another gratuitous picture. In my defense, this is where the Indian Ocean and the South Atlantic Ocean supposedly meet. |
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