Afrique 2 – WAY TO CAP TOWN

 Cape Town

Unfortunately, the plane is two hours late, so we arrive at one o clock, and then with the time to pick up the luggage and to build up the bicycles, it is already half past four. So after a talk with the tourist information, we decide to go to the neighbour hotel, nearly in front the airport. Well we turn on left getting off the airport, we go in a parking which looks like the entrance of an hotel, but this one is closed. So we misunterstand and believe the only thing to do is going till the next town, Muizenberg. But after a few km the road ends. So we go back and 500m after the cross with the airport we see the gazoline station and an hotel, the good one in fact. We take a room, and we go to eat a chicken ship, 3$, at the gazoline station.
On Sunday it is cloudy, but anyway we follow the plan, which is to go way to Cape point by the East coast. First we ask the way at the desk of the hotel. On the map it looks we would take the road M10. Well it is easy, just go straight till the bridge, climb it to join the N2 and turn on right on the M10. From the bridge we see a township and a slum, along the railway. Then the M10 goes along the railway, which means along the township and the slum. After one or two km, a drivr in a minibus makes us a sign to stop, tells us it is a very dangerous road, blacks would stop us and rob the bicycles, and an other driver stops and confirms. As the minibus driver proposes to bring us and the bicycles to a neighbour and safe road, we quickly accept. So he drives us to the road M17, road we could take following a bit more on the N2. The hotel should have told us the right way.
The road M17 goes by farmland, vegtables, and districts with houses, till the sea, in Strandfontein. I suppose we could ask to camp in these farms and avoid the hotel last night. At the sea we make a short stop to listen the wawes.
Then the road follows the coast, at the foot of dunes covered with succulents and dry soil grasses. Then we enters in the town, from Muizenberg till Fishhoek and Simons Town. The road still follows the coast, but it is busy, downtown, with surfers and tourist shops and restaurants. It is all at the foot of the mountains, falling by cliffs in the sea, it is spectacular. Infortunatly it starts to rain and to be cloudy. We make some shopping in Simon Town, where the shop seller tries to convince us to stop at the neighbour cabins campsite, which makes a very good price, and impressinG us telling tomorrow it would rain again. I decide that we continue. The rain stops aftr a short while, and the trafic too. The road follows climbing between sea and cliffs, with forest. Near the cross to go to Cape Point we feed our bottles of water in a farm, and then as we dont havee enough time, we dont go to the cape, but turn on right way to Scarborought. We are looking for a place to camp. first we stop in a campsite, but it cost 55$ forget it. Then Martine proposes we camp along the road behind trees, but I dont very like the site. The road is nice, going by fields and free landscape with schrubs. We see a family of babbuns in the trees which rounded the road. and we have tale wind so it is very easy. We continue a bit, and we see a couple of cyclists, white skin, waiting along the road. We start chatting, they are waiting some help because they just found a dead dog in the little brook. Well fortunatly they live in Scareborought, and they agree we camp in the courtyard. Well first Babeth indicates us the lawn, then the galery, and quickly the dining room, to sleep. Th house is very small, just a room a small corner for the kitchen and an other for the shower, and an other room upstairs. In in live 2 big dogs, and 2 very small, all nice. Georges makes the cooking, while Martine and Babeth chatt together. Georges is a musician player, drums and flute, for the navy, and a very good chef cooker. In the end they found too a matress for us. In the morning I play 2 songs with the mandolin, we take breakfast, and Georges drives us to a luthier, a friend of him, to repair the bridge of the mandolin, while Babeth explains the road to Martine.
We go by farmland and town districts till the home of the luthier. Bill was an ingenieur, but then he presently makes copies of small organs, clavicords, harsicords, and all these very old keyboards instruments. He repairs too violin family instruments, and gives baroc music concerts with a local band. His house is an old one, all in stone large walls, high cellings, wooden beams, chimney, it looks like a 19 century farm in Europ in the mountains. After a long chat, we let the mandolin and continue the road.
The next step is Chapmans drive, which is 6 km climbing by a road hollowed in the cliff which falls in the sea. First we can see a large bay with a long sandy beach, and then in front is the peak of Hout bay. Chapman peak is upper. We go down slowly, as it is very windy, and we pass Hout bay by Princess road, which follows the sea. Babeth tells us that the main road crosses unsafe districts. The get out is a steep and long and straight climbing, with a marvellous view on a valley rounded by high cliffs and mountains, were there glaciars here 10.000 years before?
After the downhill, again windy, we see in the distance the town of Cape town. The road follows along the sea, at the foot of the twelve apostoles, which are high cliffs like vertical waves. Then it joins the suburbs,, and for 10km we cycle in town, first along the beach and then along main streets, till the lodging.