When you have all those at the same time at the same place, something is bound to happen. This weekend it happened to be that England choked, and that I wasn't able to find affordable accommodation in town. As such, I rented a car to escape the Cape Town free-market economy.
So here I am, sitting on the hood of the car watching sunset at the seashore.
This is the life on the road...
Let's backtrack a bit.
Saturday morning I picked up the car from the rental place two blocks up from Long St. My original plan was to head straight to the West Coast National Park, make my way through the vineyards on day 2 and drive around the southern peninsula to the Cape of Good Hope. However, not realizing I had reserved a car with a MANUAL transmission, I had to first teach myself how to drive the darn thing. As a side note, downtown Cape Town is NOT a good place to learn to drive! I was stopped by the police three times for impeding traffic. Fortunately each time I was able to charm my way out of a traffic ticket and a substantial fine.
Numerous "stalling in the middle of the road" later, I found myself on a parking lot right beside the beach. From there on, I gained confidence of driving. The only downside is: it is now middle of the afternoon, and I went in the opposite direction of where I am supposed to go.
The coastal drive was pleasant. I was accompanied by beautiful African nature reserves along the way. There weren't many cars on the one-lane highway. Once in a while you can see a bit of wild life. I had my windows open, the air couldn't have been more refreshing.
The R27 highway from Cape Town to Langebaan doesn't go through small towns. With a bit of speeding, it only took me an hour and a half to get to my destination. It was near sunset when I reached Langebaan. After checking out the small town, I parked in front of a beach, and watched the sun go down.
*****
Sunday
I woke up in my car before sunrise and drove the car around the parking lot to review my driving skills. Feeling ready, I made my way to West Coast National Park - about 15km away. The West Coast National Park is gorgeous and only costs R36 ($5) to enter. The park is situated on a barrier island that forms a blue water lagoon with the main land. As you continue the drive through the front gate, you have water on both sides of the road; the Atlantic Ocean to the left, the Lagoon on the right. Beautiful.
The park features many trails with ranging lengths and difficulties. I didn't have time for that, but I did drive to the tip of the barrier island where the lagoon meets the ocean (80km in length). The seashore features sharp rocks and rich aqua-life hidden underneath the deep-blue water. From the description, the park is especially during the spring (Oct-Nov) with flowers covering the whole island. Too bad I am only half a year too late.
Early in the afternoon, the West Coast National Park was in my rear view mirror. I headed south on a different route to go through historical towns of Darling, Mamre, and Atlantis. To my disappointment, not much was open in these places on a Sunday. However, Atlantis was worth the detour. Atlantis is a place with high-level of poverty, which I had been warned by the travel guide to not go through it. I ended up driving through it anyways.
Down the main road in Atlantis, the two sides are enclosed by high walls and barbed wires. Behind the walls are people's homes. What I found interesting was that despite Atlantis being described as "very high level of poverty", the living condition was much better than the Khayelitsha township. The crime rate here is abnormally high, hence I did not get out of my car to snap pictures.
From Atlantis, I turned back onto R27 heading towards Cape Town. En-route, I stopped at coastal towns of Milnerton, which is a very nice area on the opposite side of Cape Town. The beaches are very nice, the houses are big and elegant. So here I am, sitting on the hood of the car watching sunset at the seashore.
This is the life on the road...
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