Place: Cape town
Tunes: None
The bike ready to go for the last trip.
You can be sure that without Peter this trip would have been less eventful.
This was our steed for the day. Boring but practical.
A village on the coast with some warships. Get your ostrich eggs here!
Scenery from the coastal road.
Cliffs and scenery.
More nice scenery, cliffs and little aeroplanes.
The cape of good hope (on the beach).
Everywhere you look, there are a lot of sea birds.
Teijo spotted a new Peugeot model that's not yet available in Finland. Cheap thrills.
Today we packed the bikes for the last time and took care of the last bit of ”official” business as we took them away to the shipping agent - in the usual manner of course. Well, almost in the usual manner as no-one ran out of fuel. There was still some space left in the panniers and definitely in the container for big and heavy souvenirs and wine crates that we did not have time to shop.
The rest of the day was spent doing the usual tourist activities, such as shopping for big and heavy things. This tourism thing we have reluctantly become accustomed to. The Waterfront in Cape town is the tourist center of the city and there are more shops selling wooden hippos than anyone could ever need. The prices are also what you can expect from such a place. Never ever buy anything from this place. They also had a brewery there and life was good. We even spotted a turbocharged Hayabusa! That was one manly bike, except the paint job was pretty tasteless.
My main objective in Cape town shopping-wise was to find a pair of kudu antlers (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kudu), but no luck at all. The tinternet might help in finding a pair but no bike anymore, so sod it.
Day 2
Sightseeing at the Cape of Good Hope was on the menu today. We found some more souvenirs with a fraction of the price they were at the Waterfront from this coastal town between Cape town and the cape. Never buy anything in the Waterfront shops! Also we found some very very nice beach roads and it seems that the coast around here is full of them. Some amateur motorcyclists on rented BMW’s passed us at some point. Us pro’s take our own bikes to SAA!
The only interesting South African we met today was an ostrich that acted like a lion amongst the cars. No fear nor common sense, just complete disregard, arrogance and stupidity. Actually, forget the lion, but compare it to a fat Egyptian man crossing the road anywhere south of Luxor. I find it difficult to find a difference, except the ostrich can run.
At the cape, there was not that much to see. Many desolate fields of rocks and steep cliffs. It could have been in Norway. Or maybe my head has been saturated with too many great scenic views of the coast. Maybe this is a sign that it is time to go home and reset. We found a couple of shops selling rocks for Pekka and promptly some rocks were purchased. Perfect for air travel, big and heavy. I am sure there is room in Peter’s suitcase.
The evening was spent strolling around in the centre looking at people riding bicycles on their heads. The “proper” centre looks ok and the restaurants and bars etc are nice, but on the street there are plenty of beggars, pimps, drug-dealers, obvious criminals and other hangers around. No police to be seen.
After the last ostrich steak and on the way back to the hotel, the streets had turned very noisy and there was definitely a party atmosphere. The number of criminals had also multiplied and there was a definite tension in the air as well that you better watch out if you get a bit tipsy. The problem we have every day on this trip is that you have a meal in the evening and when there is a good time to party you are tired and falling asleep. This also happened today, so no parties and we simply went back to the hotel. What a bunch of old men.
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