Day 9: Table Mountain mist, and we say goodbye to two

It's going to be hard to top yesterday's shark adventure, but today we got up early (6:30 AM) because, sadly, today marked the end of our short trip to Cape Town. Our destination was Table Mountain, which I've already mentioned. Our guidebooks said that if you do only one thing in Cape Town make it to the top of Table Mountain. So we heeded that advice, and drove along the beautiful cliff-lined coast to the base of the Table Mountain Aerial Cableway. All the other Hamzey kids were annoyed that I wanted to get up early, but it ended up being a good call, because we got there right as it opened. We caught the tail end of the sunrise on the way over and it was sunny and drizzly when we went up. Even though it's winter here in the southern hemisphere the weather has been amazing--dry, sunny, and temperate. But when I caught a glimpse of the board displaying the temperature at the top of Table Mountain as simply "VERY COLD" I headed back to the car to pick up another layer of clothing.

We sat at the bottom of the mountain and watched as the very first cable car ascended and disappeared into the gray morning clouds. We caught the next cable car, and lined the windows of the rotating enclosure, but we really couldn't see anything except for the cable disappearing into the clouds a few feet in front of us. The mountain reappeared when the sheer vertical face came through the fog a few feet away from us, and we were at the top.

The fog was eerie and we had to play Marco Polo if
one of us got more than 50 feet away.

I was lucky I brought that extra layer of clothing, because Alli and Tiffany
are behind me attached at the hip to keep each other warm.

After a walk around the short route of the hiking trail we welcomed the warmth of the small cafe at the top. When we looked around to realize that the cafe had emptied, we noticed that the clouds we were in had burned off and the view opened just enough to catch some of the spectacular views.

Irish coffee, hot chocolate, and a shield from the cold.
This cafe was a much needed stop.


The 'zeys (minus dad who's taking the picture) once the clouds
burned away.

The clouds are known for billowing off of the top of Table Mountain just like a table cloth, and we could see the clouds rolling over the crest of the mountain right in front of us. Actually, the mountain guest guide who stopped to tell us this interesting fact was also armed with a great story for the Americans whose accents he had probably picked out while we were arguing nearby. Derek, was older and had that weathered face that's full of wisdom. That face, together with the an accent that sounded like it leaned more toward an English one than the harder South African accent (a la shark boat skipper) drew me right into his story.

He started off by asking us if we knew that an American Civil War casualty had occurred in South Africa. The story as Derek told it was about a Confederate ship, the CSS Alabama, under orders to capture Union ships, got lost in pursuit of one. The ship found its way to Cape Town to restock, and the Cape people, known for their hospitality, ordered a celebratory hunt. During that hunt Lt. Simeon W. Cummings was killed by an accidentally discharged gun. The Confederate daughters of America bought a plot of land for burial and still return to South Africa to tend to the grave. Here's a slightly different account. After Derek charmed us a little more we did the short hike again to take some more pictures now that we could see the scenery, and headed down. When we got to the bottom, we realized the line was huge. Rami--1 point for advocating an early start to the day.

A soccer ball vending machine! This was even cooler than the Best Buy
one. Near the elevators on the way down from Table Mountain.

This is where the story gets sad. After Table Mountain, we headed to the airport to say our sad farewells to the beautiful city. Tragically the trip to the city we loved turned out to be just a fling as Jo'burg was calling us back. We like the thrills that come with signs that say hijacking hotspot. And for that, Jozi's the place to go. What can I say, it has more of that dangerous sexiness. The sadder part is that this is where we were going to part ways with Alli and Tiffany, who at this point still had no definite plans for anything over then next two and a half weeks of backpacking that they still have left to do. On the way to the airport, they finally got in touch with a contact they had in South Africa who offered them a place to stay, which made us feel better about leaving them alone in South Africa with no plans. We said our goodbyes, caught the flight back to to Johannesburg, and the car ride back to our house in Nigel felt a little more empty with our now 6-person party. Two more days before we depart. It's coming too fast.