Well today is the last day of the tour, I was not sure if I was going to ride today.  I really wanted to see the Cape of Good Hope but I don’t really feel like getting soaking wet again.  I went to breakfast and Thor and Jerry said they were definitely not going.  It wasn’t raining at the time but the forecast called for more rain during the day.  After talking to Tom and Federico I decided I would chance it and go for the ride, after all how many chances will I have to see the Cape.  So as we headed out there were patches of blue sky but also lots of clouds.  Claus chose a great route that went past all the nice beaches and up a cliff that had a great view of the ocean and the city.  We stopped near the top for a few minutes to get some pictures and relax before getting back on the bikes.  The next section has some nice twists and turns then went through some small towns and past some interesting stores.  I especially liked the ones that had stone carvings for the yard, I wish we could have stopped and checked them out.  

 

 

At about a quarter to 11:00 we reached the main gate for the Cape reserve area.  We paid out 55 Rand entry fee and proceeded down the long road to the Cape.  When we got to the Cape it was beautiful.  Of course there were tons of tourists from a bus walking around but the weather was nice, still cloudy but mainly blue sky and a strong breeze.  A few minutes after we got there the bus departed and we were pretty much alone.  We took a lot of pictures of us at the Cape of Good Hope sign, we also took a nice group picture but it was missing a bunch of people like Jerry, Thor, David and Claus. 

 

 

 

After we finished with the pictures a whole group of Harley Davidson riders, led by a Cape Town police bike came riding up.  In front of them were four ostriches that they were chasing down the road.  There must have been 50 or 60 bikes in all.  They all parked and started taking pictures so we decided to head out and go to the light house that was a few kilometers away, A few minutes after we got there the Harleys also came.  This is a nice spot with a few souvenir stores and a funicular that will take you up the hill.  It drops you off at another shop, of course, and you can walk up to the light house.  It was a little crowded as a woman had fallen and was sitting in the only path up.  The staff of the park didn’t want to move her until the ambulance got there so people going up and down had to make their way around her.  When we got to the lighthouse it was an amazing view of the sea, the cliffs and some of the rocks in the ocean that had caused shipwrecks over the years.  There is also a sign post at the top with arrows to Sydney at 11,642 kilometers away.  I was going to be there in a few days and it didn’t seem that far.

 

 

We took off from the light house and Cape of Good Hope and headed down the road to Boulder Bay and the penguin colony.  Lots of cute little penguins on the beach and the rocks, but then I heard that they have started wandering into near by yards to eat the dog food.  If there isn’t any food they seem to have a temper and will bite/peck the people before leaving.  Nice cute penguins, just don’t let them come close by. 

 

We went to a nice restaurant across the street called…you guessed it, the Penguin.  We opted for 2 sea food platters to share and what we got was an amazing amount of food.  Lobster, oysters, calamari, muscles, line fish, smoked salmon and some potatoes.  We ate well and felt great.  It still hadn’t rained and we were only about 80 kilometers from the end of the day.  The ride back to the hotel was quite nice, some good turns and nice views.  Before getting to the hotel we headed to Signal Hill and got some amazing views of Cape Town and the harbour.  Finally it was time to go so we headed back to the hotel and did the bike check in.  My final tally for the trip was 4,290 kilometers or approximately 2600 miles.  What an amazing way to see the country and meet people. 

 

 

We had a final farewell dinner of some traditional Malay influenced African food and a good quantity of beer, wine and schnapps.  The guides talked about how well our group got along and how much fun this tour had been for them.  Not a surprise as I doubt they paid for many of their beers or other drinks.  The Americans were always there trying to buy the drinks at each stop.  It was almost a game to see who could get the bill put on their room.  Not that it was really expensive, beer was about $1.10 per bottle. When they served dessert we got a slice of cake for Thor because his birthday was in a couple days.  We all sang and then sampled the cheese cake which was delicious.  After that the party pretty much broke off and everyone headed to their rooms for a nice relaxing night when we didn’t have to worry about getting up early for breakfast and the briefing.

 

That is it for the ride part of my tour.  I will post one more wrap up on South Africa and Cape Town then it is off to Sydney Australia. 

 

I do want to thank all my new friends from the ride.  It was Federico, Simona, Franco, Captain Dave, Jerry, Thor, Tom, Dieter and Marina that made the trip so much fun.  Of course we also had amazing guides.  I will definitely look forward to riding with Marcus and Claus again. 

 

 

All Done - Return to South Africa