Sunday, March 27, 2011

Cape Town, South Africa 2011

Beach Days

The weather cleared, the sun shone, the surf was up and the beach was calling... We spent the last two days at Camp's Bay beach. Day one was great, a little bit windy, but overall wonderful. Today was even better because there was no wind and it was a little warmer. We all enjoyed lounging, wading, digging and just plain having fun.




Check out that wave!

Lucas in his sand tomb.

Beautiful beach shot.

Charlotte having great fun burying her brother.

The Twelve Apostles looking down at all the beach goers.


The last pic of the day... on the walk up to the car.



Cape Town, South Africa 2011

Saturday, March 26, 2011

Cape Town, South Africa 2011

Speed Boat ride

After a fun morning at Table Mountain we headed back to the apartment to relax for a bit, then headed out for lunch at the Waterfront. Following lunch, we made a snap decision to ride the zodiac speed boat... oh my... what fun!!

View of Lion's Head peak from the sea.

Lion's Head and Table Mountain, from the sea.

Lucas, the little guy, holding on for dear life!

View toward Camp's Bay and the Twelve Apostles.

Returning to the Waterfront, Table Mountain in the background.





Cape Town, South Africa 2011


Table Mountain

Finally, a clear day... which is the only type of day worth going to Table Mountain as the main reason to go is to see the view, and boy, what a view! Unfortunately, we made our way up the mountain with about 2,000 cruise ship travelers which made the lines pretty long. Still, we only waited about an hour and a half total and we met some nice folks in line. The cable car was great. It had a revolving floor so that you got to see all angles on the way up. Once at the top, it was COLD... but the views were amazing.


Lion's Head peak.


Looking up toward Table Mountain.

The Table Mountain cable car. There are two of these that go up and down the mountain carrying 65 people each. It takes about a minute to get from the lower station to the upper station.

View from the cable car, looking down over Cape Town.


The rock formation of Table Mountain.

View heading up to the upper station.

From the top, looking down over our favorite beach, Camp's Bay.

This is looking out towards Cape Point.

The view that goes on forever...

The upper station area of Table Mountain.


Another view of Cape Town.

Here you can see the angle of the cables.


Charlotte forgot her jacket and spent our time at the top freezing.


Cape Town, South Africa 2011

Western beaches...

We went off in a different direction today... away from Cape Town and the peninsula and north west toward, well, not exactly sure, but what we found was amazing! If deserted beaches that go on for miles and miles is your thing, this is your place.

View of Table Mountain from across the bay.

Looking up the beach... barely any people at all.

The kids love playing in the surf. The water is ICE cold... but somehow they don't mind.

An artsy beach shot.

And another, the light was amazing.

This is looking toward Cape Town.

Another beach shot...

Can you see the three wind kites in the sky?

Lucas enjoying his time in the surf.

At the beach with Table Mountain in the background.

This was a little further up the coast... there were no other people there and it went on forever.





Cape Town, South Africa 2011


More seals...

These guys sun themselves on the docks everyday. They are so graceful and light in the water and so, well, not on the land.








Thursday, March 24, 2011

Cape Town, South Africa 2011

After many days of sightseeing, today we opted for a quiet day at the Waterfront. A lazy sleep in, followed by some homework time for Charlotte, then off to the movies, real movies... where we saw Tangled in 3D. We all loved it and following the movie had a wonderful thai/sushi lunch. Back to the apartment for some more lazing around. Ed and Lucas went off to discover a golf course and Charlotte and I enjoyed more lazy time. Dinner at the ever popular McDonald's rounded out a great day. Oh and we saw these guys enjoying a lazy time of it as well.





Cape Town, South Africa 2011

The Sun!!

On the way back, as we were reaching Camp's Bay, the sun shone through and the kids got some beach time. Ed and I enjoyed a lovely stroll along the white sands beach. Such a beautiful place.

View from one of the many lookout points along the way.

Camp's Bay beach, a lovely expanse of white sands and breaking waves.

As the sun warmed things up, more and more folks showed up to enjoy the beach.


The clouds were not far off though... the white stream of clouds is covering up the twelve apostles land formation. Hopefully we will make it back on a clearer day so we can see them.

A couple of happy kids.