A day at the Cape

21 April 2015

Today I was involved in the CoastGIS workshops but Sheila went to the Cape of Good Hope.

She travelled on a tour bus down the west coast of the Cape Peninsula to the Cape and back up the east coast. Down the west coast are some beautiful beaches like the one below.

They have been having real problems with forest / grass fires which have denuded the landscape and causes erosion since the 'fynbo' vegetation stabilizes the terrain. It does however rejuvenate the landscape since some of the plants need fire to reproduce. 

Below is Sheila and the Cape of Good Hope. The picture below that she thinks is also the Cape from a distance.

At the Cape were some baboons. One of them stole the baquette sandwich of one of the tour participants.

Also at the Cape was this antelope, species unknown to us.

At Simons Town is a sanctuary for African penguins. These are wild penguins but protected. Sheila took a lot of pictures of them but the one below is one of the best.

Finally, one her way back to Cape Town they stopped at the botanical gardens. Below is a picture of the proteas in the garden. The King Protea is the national flower.

Tonight was the opening reception of the CoastGIS conference. I met one of the organizers who promises to draw a special route for us to drive along the coast when we leave here on Saturday. Tomorrow, Wednesday, Sheila plans a local day and I will be involved in the conference sessions. On Thursday is the field trip to Table Mountain and Table Bay and the gala dinner. Stay tuned!