Day two was an opportunity to take in and appreciate the sights of southern Cape Town. We started the day off with a delicious breakfast which consisted of eggs, ‘macon’ and chips. We left District Six guest house at 8:30am and headed South to explore Cape Town.

Our first stop was at Hout Bay, where we caught a charter boat out to Seal Island. We saw a number of seals resting in their natural habitat. One seal had been domesticated by a local and could be seen enjoying some hand fed fish!

We then drove from Hout Bay to Simon’s Town. One thing we noticed was the different living conditions in Cape Town – from the luxurious houses on the coast, to the shanty housing just across the road. In Simon’s Town, we witnessed hundreds of penguins located at the penguin sanctuary. The sanctuary allowed us to walk on the boardwalk and view the penguins.

We then began the long drive to the southern most point of South Africa, the Cape Of Good Hope. We trekked up the mountain to a lighthouse, seeing a number of cheeky baboons. One even stole some food from the store and ran off with it! From there, we began the decent down the mountain and hiked alongside the cliffside to the Cape Of Good Hope. It was extremely windy which encouraged us to think about the difficulties early settlers might have faced.

After taking in the sights, we drove two hours to get back to Cape Town and had the challenge of spending only 50 rand ($5), on anything we wanted for dinner. This allowed us to understand and be aware of the struggles many families encounter on a daily basis. We learned that the average adult earns 3500 rand($350) a week, which made us appreciate how lucky we are, being able to buy things without having to worry our next meal.

Overall, today was an opportunity to be a true tourist, taking in all the amazing sights. 

By Darcie and Emma Cooke