Day 2 in Cape Town

Alas, this blog was inoperative for a day; Google shut down my email and blog because of "suspicious activity;" and has asked for my phone number to send a text to for verification purposes. I don't know the correct phone number for South Africa; I typed in what I thought it was, but it didn't "take."  I finally got my account back today - I'm happy Google is so security conscious, but I wish there had been a way for me to simply warn them ahead of time! Oh, well, glad to be back in bidness! Yesterday was a WONDERFUL day in South Africa, though; since it was to be very hot, we decided to tour the southern part of the Cape by air-conditioned auto. We drove down to the Cape of Good Hope via Simon's Town, that is, via the Eastern side of the pennisula. Along the way, we stopped to see the African Penguins (also known as the "Jackass Penguins" because of their braying!). They have a very small roosting area, contained along the southern coast of South Africa. Fortunately, there has been a movement to bring the population back from an endangered level; we saw many numbered plastic "burrows" individual people had purchased to provide a safe burrow for the penguins.  And... they are sooo cute!  At this preserve, we also learned about the "fynbos" floral kingdom, one of the world's 6 distinct kingdoms(fynbos being the smallest). Most of the plants are evergreen, hard-leaved or needled plants, but the flowers are beautiful - some tubular, some like pincushions. One of the plants we was is "sour fig"; looks a lot like an "ice plant," with a large yellow flower; a woman on the trail explained to me that the fruits of this plant are gathered and sold in the Cape Town farmers' markets, and that a sour jam is made from the fruit as well.  A view of the Cape of Good Hope, viewed from Cape Point  We proceeded to the Cape of Good Hope, the southwesternmost point in Africa, and its craggy sister, Cape Point (Dias Point). You can walk or take a funicular up to the top of Cape Point (we walked!), and can walk out on the point almost to the end. It was so windy I had to hold onto my hat, but it was incredibly beautiful; we were up high, an; all around were the craggy peaks of South Africa jutting out into the Indian Ocean, and the ocean itself was an aquamarine color; black cormorants resting on the far rocks. The drive home took us on the Chapman Peak drive, which is on the Western (Atlantic) side; we wound around yet more cliffs; a narrow road with many pulloffs for magnificent views; it ends at Hout Bay, 20 minutes from Cape Town. On the way home, we stopped at a grocery store and bought veggies, rice, and meat for a stir-fry, as well as wine (soooo cheap here!). After a pleasant meal, we lounged in the back, enjoying the balmy breezes on the patio in back of the hostel. We have high hopes for the temperature today ( it was 84 yestoday; every day this week the temperature is supposed to drop a little); our fifth member, Monika, from Switzerland, arrives today. We plan to go into the city itself and ride the gondola up Table Mountain.