Cape Town

Friday, February 18, 2011
We finally arrived in Cape Town about 11:00 AM. We were greeted by lots of seals, birds, red jelly fish and lots of white jelly fish and garbage floating in the port. We were supposed to get here yesterday morning at 8:00 AM. However, the winds were howling and the swells were huge so we had to wait for clearance to get into port. The port has a very narrow opening and the winds can make a huge difference of getting in safely. So we rocked and rocked in the ocean all day yesterday and all night waiting for the swells and wind to die down. Finally this morning we were able to make it in and we are all very happy to be here. Several trips had to be cancelled but luckily we didn’t have much planned for yesterday or today so it worked out for us. Carol, John and I hired a cab today and we went to Simeon to see the penguins along the beach of the Indian Ocean. It is a beautiful town with Table Mountain in the background. Clouds keep rolling over the top of the mountain looking like a table cloth. Tomorrow we are hiring a driver again and going bicycling in the wine country. Dave stayed in town today. There is a bookstore right across from our ship so you can guess where he went. Finally he was able to get a current newspaper and he was in heaven. Tomorrow he will go with us. We will probably take the cable car up to Table Mountain if the wind isn’t blowing too hard.