Hike 32: Two oceans, one president & many wives' tales

Good Hope from Lighthouse

Editor taking it all in
Point of Cape of Good Hope

Hi All,

February 10th

Having the answers might not be as critical as knowing the right questions to ask. For years, we have been practising our ‘questions’. Today, we think we have the right question to ask. Here goes: If a person loves the beauty of the mountain ranges, the oceans and the wonder of a great coastline, why would such a person live in Johannesburg? What were we thinking? Were we in fact thinking? There you have another two questions—we’re on a ‘roll’.

Some symmetry

We spent an incredible day at Cape Point Nature Reserve. What an exquisite place. We walked to the original lighthouse then down to Cape Point, near the new beacon and across to the Cape of Good Hope. The Atlantic and Indian oceans are reputed to meet at the Point. It is also the southern extremity of the African continent, if not also the most beautiful. When it came time to leave, we decided to play on the rocks for another hour or so. The cliffs are quite daring and caused the adrenaline to flow a little…too much. At one stage, we lay with our heads over the cliff edge and watched the bird life. They were very active, the little feathered creatures, flying this way and that while appearing to chirp and jabber with each other. For a while, they made us feel guilty because of our inactivity. Fortunately, we got over it rather quickly—such is our power of recovery.

Bird watching...yeah right.
Sitting on the dock of the bay

On our return to the mother city, we were stuck in a major traffic ‘jam’—parliament was about to open. In fact, a fellow by the name of Jake Zuma was going to give a state of the republic address to the nation. Apparently, when this happens, they close roads, planes fly overhead, cannons are fired and ‘life is great’. This pomp and ceremony is all very well but what about those poor sods stuck in their cars. From the positive side, it enabled us to see more of Cape Town as we ‘ducked and dived’ all over the place. We think our editor ducked when she heard the cannons sound but we’re not sure. Let’s listen to the speech, we thought, we might get a taste of ‘wisdom’ from the political class. Well, for the first ten minutes, the president identified all the dignitaries. At one stage, we thought he might mention each citizen of the country by name, including all the illegal Nigerians.

Hello...C'mon over

Two points struck us before we had to switch off the radio with great relief…er reluctance—we had arrived at our apartment, not a moment too soon. The first was that the murder rate was 8.3% down over last year. Is that a good number? The other was the announcement of the arrival of the first lady by the radio commentator. That struck a chord. We feel for the president. We would not like to be in his shoes. What was he going to say to his second, third, fourth…lady? We know his many talents are only exceeded by the number of his wives and girlfriends. It’s not easy being a president, especially having to placate so many women. And we thought the Mormon men lived dangerously.

We were a little tired after the day’s activities, particularly the drive. However, we were enchanted by the beauty of the Cape at mountain level or from high elevations. The climbs, the rock scrambling, the vistas…are stunning; they give one an amazing perspective of both the natural wonders, which are paramount for us and the towns and cities nestled between mountains, ocean and bays. It is an awe-inspiring position. Tomorrow, we are hiking up Chapman’s Peak, something we expect to be breathtaking.
What's the 'Point'

See you at the bottom on our return.

Cheers,

Jenni and Jeffrey