While Ted was off photographing more of South Africa’s majestic wildlife, I spent the morning doing the included tour of South Africa’s “Mother City” and the afternoon atop the “Spine” of Cape Peninsula.

This morning our tour group was taken by motor coach into heart of Cape Town.

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Our bus made a stop so that we could get out and photograph the statue of Nelson Mandela on the balcony of the Cape Town City Hall.

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Our tour guide offered to take a photo of me on the balcony; weirdly, I felt more like Eva Peron than Mandela.

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Our next stop was to get out and enjoy a stroll through The Company’s Garden – “Company” refers to the Dutch East India Company, for whom this was originally a provisioning garden.

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In the intersection where the garden entrance was located, we also saw (top to bottom below): a slave house (warehouse) that is now a museum, the red and white South African Houses of Parliament, some early Dutch architecture featuring Roman themes, a statue of Jan Smuts (a South African military leader and pre-apartheid prime minister), and got a passing glimpse of the church where Archbishop Desmond Tutu preached.

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Surrounded by government buildings, the high court, museums, places of worship and an art gallery, the garden is also home to statues, memorials, and a rose garden built in 1929. 

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Behind a wrought iron gate was the gardens’ “Tool Shed”, which is now the Cape Town residence of the President (his other is in Pretoria).

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I was excited about spotting an albino squirrel!

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Also in the gardens was the Cape Town Labour Corps Memorial, honouring over 1700 service personnel who died in Africa or at sea serving with South African labour units during the First World War (1914-1918) and were not previously commemorated elsewhere.

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From the gardens, we took a short detour to walk past the Civil Annes of the South African High Court and see the sad reminders of apartheid’s legacy.

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We returned to our coach and travelled through wealthy neighbourhoods and past stunning rocky beaches, stopping for photos at Maiden’s Beach.

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Everything we visited was against the backdrop of Cape Town’s magnificent mountain range.

Then, we visited the famed Victoria & Alfred Waterfront, a complex of shops, restaurants, hotels, and entertainment venues, plus a promenade.

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Instead of free time to explore independently our guide snagged us a short visit to the Diamond Museum. It was interesting because we were able to learn a bit about the history of the diamond industry in South Africa, and watch diamonds being cut and polished.

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Then it was a quick return to our ship for a bite to eat, and off again,

What attracted me to the late afternoon/early evening excursion was the opportunity to enjoy the sunset from Signal Hill at the opposite end of the earth from where we usually live and travel.

We travelled up Kloof Nek, located between Table Mountain and Lion’s Head, to the Lower Cableway Station to ascend to the summit.

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The cable cars are unique: the FLOOR slowly rotates 360° (we were warned not to try holding on to,the exterior railings) which affords panoramic views; there is no need to jockey for position since everyone gets to see in every direction. The cable car ascends almost a full kilometre!

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Table Mountain gets its name from its flat-topped central massif.

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This protected area, which stretches from Signal Hill to Cape Point, has a high concentration of endemic plant and animal species – more than 2,285 plant species alone. I think our entire group was pleasantly surprised when we realized that there was a huge area to explore at the top. Unlike many cable car rides that lead to just one or two viewpoints, here there is an entire mountain-top to walk!

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Standing 2300 feet above sea level on top of an approximately 500-million-year-old rocky formation it’s amazing just to stop and  reflect on nature’s enduring power and majesty.

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Every direction offered a different but equally stunning view.

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Then, we drove to Signal Hill via Kloof Nek for an opportunity to watch the sunset.

What a treat to arrive at the summit to be greeted by tables spread with gorgeous canapés (sushi, cheeses and crackers, butternut squash tartlets, smoked salmon on shredded potato cakes, roasted cherry tomato crostini, and springbok venison on toast rounds), plus champagne (called méthode cap classique here) from South Africa’s Robertson Winery in the Breede River Valley.

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After our delicious treat, we walked to the sunset viewing area. the view here is so popular that the ground has actually been covered with a layer of “seating” to allow people to watch the sunset seated without getting dirty!

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I knew that my cellphone pictures would not do the area justice, so I booked Ted on an excursion to Table Mountain tomorrow, although sadly it won’t be at sunset since it was only offered in the morning on our last day here.

Our excursion ran late due to evening traffic, so I made it back to the ship just in time for the destination performance Viking had arranged for us.

Called “Under Our Table” (as in Table Mountain), it featured an absolutely inspiring youth choir, and an energetic and wonderful African Xhosa marimba band. We were all on our feet at the end.

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