Cape Peninsula in Pictures

May 27, 2011

Cape Peninsula in Pictures

Flowers at Cape Point, South Africa. April 2011.

I’m working late tonight running samples on the mass spectrometer. I’ve been in lab since 8:30am and really should go home, but I’ve decided it’s better to stay up all night and run samples. Okay, maybe not all night. But probably until 2am or 3am. Actually, I’m happy about this long lab day. I spent a good four hours tuning the machine (which is a bit tempestuous, like many mass spectrometers) this morning, and the mass spectrometer is running beautifully right now. The machine is very stable, and the data quality is very high. So, rather than shut the machine down and return in the morning, I’m going to run as many samples as possible. As many of you know, I’m sure, mass spectrometers are usually happiest when they’re constantly being run. So, I don’t want to risk coming in tomorrow and losing all of the tuning and stability. Besides, I’ve been working on difficult chemistry for months, and the mass spectrometry is the final step. With every passing minute I am gathering more data that can be used in my thesis. Very exciting! I can sleep tomorrow.

Fortunately, now that the machine is tuned and running I only need to keep an eye on it and change something every few minutes. So, I have some time to post some more pictures of my recent trip to South Africa.

A few weeks ago I blogged about some interesting sandstone weathering that my fiance and I observed at Cape Point, South Africa. Below are some more pictures from our day visit to the Cape Peninsula. If you’re ever in the Cape Town area, I highly recommend visiting the national park located on the Cape Peninsula. The area is gorgeous, and you’re likely to see several different types of wild animals. You can also visit two lighthouses, take a picture next to a sign proclaiming the southwestern-most point of the African continent, see giant white crosses commemorating the voyages of famous explorers, and walk along a beach to a shipwreck. There are also some beautiful visitor centers (or centres, to be properly South African) that have some interesting displays about the history of the peninsula and about some of the local flora and fauna.

Before moving on to my pictures, here is an amazing satellite image of the Cape Peninsula:

Cape Point Satellite Image. Courtesy of NASA. Taken from wikipedia commons here.

And here’s a nice map showing the location of Cape Point and the Cape of Good Hope (which are both on the Cape Peninsula) relative to each other and the city of Cape Town:


Map showing the Cape Peninsula and surrounding areas. Taken from Wikipedia Commons here.

Now, on to my own pictures of the Cape Peninsula. First, some pictures of Cape Point:

View walking up to the lighthouse. Cape Point, South Africa, April 2011.

View looking out from the lighthouse. Cape Point, South Africa, April 2011.

Looking back on the old lighthouse. Cape Point, South Africa, April 2011.

Lookout point. Cape Point, South Africa, April 2011.

Lookout point and lighthouse. Cape Point, South Africa, April 2011.

Old WWII bunker. Cape Point, South Africa, April 2011.

Ruins of WWII bunkers. Cape Point, South Africa, April 2011.

My fiance made fun of me for taking the two pictures below, but they’re cooler than they look. I promise! The waves are splashing just offshore of Cape Point because of an igneous intrusion (granite, I believe), which is a harder rock that doesn’t erode as much as the rest of the seafloor. This particular underwater igneous intrusion is called “Bellows Rock” and is responsible for at least one shipwreck (probably several). Most famously, in 1911 a ship named the Luisitania ran aground on Bellows Rock because the ship’s crew could not see the lighthouse in the fog. There are actually two lighthouses at Cape Point. The old lighthouse (on top of the cliffs in the previous photos and built in1860) is located on higher ground than the new lighthouse. The new lighthouse (low down on the very tip of the point and thus difficult to photograph) was built because the old lighthouse was too high up and often obscured by fog. The new lighthouse was built shortly after the wreck of the Luisitania on Bellows Rock and still guides ships navigating the dangerous waters around Cape Point.

Bellows Rock 1. Cape Point, South Africa, April 2011.

Bellows Rock 2. Cape Point, South Africa, April 2011.

After hiking to the old and new lighthouses, we had lunch at the fancy visitor center (centre) near the Cape Point parking lot.We made some animal friends during lunch: a baboon statue, a bird, and a mouse. Actually, the bird was not our friend. The bird swooped in and– I kid you not– took off with a significant chunk of my fiance’s sandwich, which was in his hand at the time. The bird then perched on a rock near us and glared at us as we finished our lunch in a guarded fashion. As I was making a fool of myself trying to take a picture of the bird thief with tuna (from the sandwich) on his beak, I noticed an adorable little mouse eating crumbs underneath our table. I thought the mouse was cute, but some of the tourists around us did not share the same opinion when I excitedly pointed the mouse out to them.

Baboon statue. Cape Point, South Africa, April 2011.


Lunch thief. Cape Point, South Africa, April 2011.


Crumb-eating mouse. Cape Point, South Africa, April 2011.

After lunch, we drove the short distance from Cape Point to the Cape of Good Hope (see above map). We took the obligatory picture next to the “South-Western Point of the African Continent” sign. We also encountered some rather naive (idiotic maybe?) Asian tourists on the drive. Part of the road was blocked by wild ostriches. We observed the ostriches safely from our car and patiently waited for the “ostrich jam” to pass. However, several Asian tourists emerged from their vehicles and started chasing the ostriches to take pictures of them. This is not a good idea. Ostriches, especially wild ones (there are also domesticated ostriches in South Africa; ostrich meat is delicious by the way), are dangerous animals. Ostriches can easily hurt or kill you with a peck or kick. A mighty ostrich kick can knock you senseless or rip your chest open. Fortunately, a park ranger came along and told the Asian tourists to return to their vehicles and leave the ostriches alone.

Jackie and I at the South-Western Point of Africa, April 2011.

Ostrich jam. And idiotic Asian tourists. Cape of Good Hope, South Africa, April 2011.

Tourists way too close to the ostriches. Cape of Good Hope, South Africa, April 2011.

Male and female ostrich, Cape of Good Hope, South Africa, April 2011.

Male ostrich. Cape of Good Hope, South Africa, April 2011.

Another ostrich, Cape of Good Hope, South Africa, April 2011.


Ostrich portrait 1, taken safely from the car. Cape of Good Hope, South Africa, April 2011.

Ostrich portrait 2, Cape of Good Hope, South Africa, April 2011.

After visiting the Cape of Good Hope, we drove to a place called Venus Pools. Actually, we walked part of the way to the pools since the road on the map we had is no longer maintained. We enjoyed walking, though, and the pools were deserted except for us. At both Cape Point and the Cape of Good Hope there are usually large, noisy groups of tourists. The Venus Pools were lovely and quiet, except for the crashes of waves and subsequent rushes of water in the pools. We almost expected to catch a glimpse of Venus herself bathing there.

Male and female ostrich near Venus Pools. South Africa, April 2011.

Old, abandoned parking area near Venus Pools. South Africa, April 2011.

Venus Pools 1, South Africa, April 2011.

Venus Pools 2, South Africa, April 2011.

Venus Pools 3, South Africa, April 2011.

Venus Pools 4, South Africa, April 2011.

Venus Pools 5, South Africa, April 2011.

Venus Pools 6, South Africa, April 2011.

Venus Pools 7, South Africa, April 2011.

Interesting sandstone weathering at Venus Pools, South Africa, April 2011.

Next, we drove over to a beach where we took a walk to a shipwreck. On the drive, we saw some adorable bokkies.

Bokkie near the road 1, Cape Peninsula, South Africa, April 2011.

Bokkie near the road 2, Cape Peninsula, South Africa, April 2011.

Many bokkies, Cape Peninsula, South Africa, April 2011.

Scattered shipwreck, Cape Peninsula, South Africa, April 2011.

Jackie on a bleached whale bone, Cape Peninsula, South Africa, April 2011.

Rowboat mini-shipwreck, Cape Peninsula, South Africa, April 2011.

We also went to another visitor center (centre) with a view of one of the giant white crosses. Inside the center were several cases of beautiful stuffed birds. I think I will become a birder when I move to South Africa later this year. I really like the birds with the long tail feathers and the black birds with the bright orange heads. I once spent about an hour taking pictures of one of those orange-headed birds that was hanging out in a shrub Jackie’s parents’ yard. Jackie’s family thought I was crazy. I guess I can understand why they thought I was crazy. The first time Jackie visited me in America, he very excitedly told me to come to the window as there was “the most beautiful bird” outside. There was a blue jay in a tree outside. Blue jays are beautiful, I must admit, but I see them all the time so they seem quite ordinary to me.