January 5th - Bus Tour of the Cape!

It rained in the morning (very unusual in summer months, but a lot of rain is common in the fall). We first watched a brief powerpoint presentation in the EGS department, pertaining to what we would be seeing that day on our tour of the Cape. Our first bus stop was at Simons Town, which has a naval base that was occupied by the British until 1955. We checked out Boulders where the only continental African penguins are found. They were the cutest things ever! These species are greatly endangered and mostly live on islands off of South Africa and Namibia.

Afterwards, we went to a quaint public beach. Next we took the bus down to the end of the Cape, and got off and hiked to Cape Hope, the most southwestern point of the African continent. Along the way we hiked down to this gorgeous beach. The views from the beach and from the highest peak at Cape Hope were stunning.

Throughout the day saw some baboons (they like to climb on cars and steal food), antelope, ostrich, and dussy. Wonderful day in all except for getting sunburned; I swear I covered my body in sunscreen but the sun is vicious here!