After an extremely early flight from Muscat, we landed on our next continent–Africa!–in Cape Town. We stayed in Strand, a beach town about 45 minutes away from the downtown area of Cape Town. Happy to be in a country where we could wear shorts, we spent time at the beach near our house.

Because we were a bit of a drive from downtown, we only hit the main tourist attractions. Table Mountain was absolutely breathtaking. We were literally in and above the clouds. The top is covered in little shrubs and flowers, lizards and the guinea pig-like creatures called “dassies”. We walked around one of the paths, enjoying the crisp air and our picnic for a while.

That same day, we had a quick stop in historical neighborhood of Bo-Kaap to see the colorful homes.

Driving to and from Cape Town, we would pass the townships that still exist after apartheid (the systematic separation of blacks and whites). We were alarmed by the size of the townships and that the tin-roofed shacks seemed to stretch into the horizon.

On the waterfront, our Robben Island tour was cancelled due to rough seas. So, instead, we went to the Two Oceans Aquarium (named for being located where the Indian and Atlantic Oceans meet) which was really great! It’s well organized, doable with little kids, and they have animal feedings on display twice a day. There were posters and exhibits explaining the problems we have with plastic in the ocean and companies that can help including Ecobrick and 5 Gyres. The Springbok Museum was also great, especially if you love rugby! Since we visited the museum, it has unfortunately closed permanently. Right by the museum in the artsy Watershed building, we ate delicious toasted sandwiches at Cooked.

The Robben Island (where Nelson Mandela was held for 18 years) tour took us on a bus around the island, where a prior inmate of the prison showed us around the main part of the prison. It was somber and serious yet very interesting.

For K’s birthday, she elected to see African penguins! At Boulders Beach, we saw tons of them! It was a bit crowded on the sand when we went because of the high tide but it was very cool to be so close to the penguins. We abided by the “no touch” rule! While there, we enjoyed engaging with a Danish school group. At the end of the day, they surprised us by serenading K by singing Happy Birthday in Danish to her. If you make the effort to climb over the boulders (very hard to do while carrying a camera) there are even more penguins to see.

H had been begging to go shark cage diving since the very beginning of our trip. So, before dawn one morning, Dad and I drove H to Simons Town Pier. He didn’t get to see great whites, but still got to see a few cow sharks and loved the experience. While he was in that cold water, Dad and I went to Cape Point–not quite the southern most part of Africa. It was SO FOGGY and windy! We couldn’t see anything but it was eerily beautiful! We’d been warned to watch out for the baboons, but we didn’t see any.

Next stop–Namibia!