What, What. . .here we are on the ground in Fish Hoek, South Africa, a former fishing hamlet on False Bay, situated 45 minutes from the bottom of continental Africa, or very close, anyway.  The actual southern-most part of Africa is a bit west of here.

After landing in Cape Town on a blazingly sunny Sunday morning, our hosts, Toni and Alan Beardon, met us at the airport where we picked up our rental car, a Renault Clio. . .roomy enough, but a bit anemic under the hood. . .ah, bonnet.

Since driving here requires use of the left lanes as in the United Kingdom, Alan drove us to their apartment, er. . .flat, perched on a mountainside above Fish Hoek Bay.  Remarkably, through the wall of window in their living room you can see the Atlantic Ocean, and by turning your head oh, so slightly, you can view an expanse of the Indian Ocean on the right.  Between the seas is an incredible vista of cloud-shrouded mountains and the comfy village the Beardons call home for six months each year. “Retired” professors from Cambridge University, this pair of mathematics savants are volunteers at A.I.M.S., an innovative incubator for advanced mathematics instruction for teachers from across Africa.

We unpacked while Toni prepared lunch, which we enjoyed in their “stoop,” a sort of sitting room with a magnificent window of their adopted, part-time homeland. Then, after a shower and change of clothes, we were off on our first tour– a 45-minute drive to the Cape of Good Hope and Point Cape in the Table Mountain National Park (“A Park For All, Forever).

But first, we stopped at Boulders Beach, a refuge for a rare breed known as the African Peguin where a colony of 3,000 animals has sprung from a single breeding pair in 1982.  At one time, some 1.5 million penguins lived in South Africa, but the number was reduced to 10% of that by the end of the 20th century, when the breed was decimated because of uncontrolled harvesting of their eggs.

Not a bad life these penguins enjoy, lazing in the sand during what is now breeding season.  They are protected and unmolested when they search for the plentiful food in False Bay.  If you are lucky you might encounter penguins on an adjacent beach were humans are permitted.

The mass of water surrounding the peninsula is an angry cauldron.  I cannot imagine boating much less swimming anywhere because of the crushing waves and what appears to be a very nasty undertow.  False Bay, when viewed from above, is a long line of crashing surf.

This is the place where two oceans intersect–collide more succinctly–and each appears to seek dominance over the other.  What magnifies the intensity and vibrance of the Cape is the wind–unrelenting and massive during our visit.  At the bottom of the world are two spits of land–on the right is the Cape of Good Hope, on the left Cape Point, the taller of the two and studded with a lighthouse–a beacon to vessels warning of the danger lurking near this desolate but alluring site.  To reach the lighthouse, we rode up in a funicular, summiting another several hundred feet on foot.  All the way we battled punishing winds, sufficient to blow your eyelgasses off your head, and quite possibly, a lightweight soul over the fencing to the rocks below.

After climbing to the top, my first instinct was to do an immediate about-face and head back down.  There was a stone wall perimeter, but no railing to grab ahold.  For me, it was very uncomfortable, so after just a few minutes, I headed back down.

Back at the bottom, we saw a hand-written sign posted in a window:  “21-1-11  Winds 44 to 47 Knots.”  Now they tell us.

All along our route in and out of the national park, we encountered a variety of animals–mostly baboons looking for handouts on the edge of the road.  These animals walk along the road and cross at will, oblivious to traffic, almost staring drivers down. . .”Go ahead, buddy, hit me.”  We saw a single, giant ostrich feeding in the rocks near the ocean and five deer-like animals that Alan spied expertly in the distance.

After dinner in a restaurant on the edge of False Bed, we went home and quickly to bed.   The demanding travel itinerary and a full day with out taking a breath had taken a toll on Ellen and me both.  We’ve got a full program planned so we need to pace ourselves.  Wednesday we’re off for four nights to visit wildlife sanctuaries and we’re hoping to make a few wineries before we depart.

Next time:  A visit to Constantia; we introduce the i-Pad to South Africa.