Photos while in Pretoria and Cape Town as Traveller

The second week that I was in South Africa provided a chance
to visit places like the cities of Durban, Pretoria and Cape Town.
The last was where I a "tourist", someone who spends some
time exploring a country's beautiful and famed tourist sites.
With the help of the Carmelite Sisters and their friends Patsy
and Ron, Sr. Carmela and Elizabeth toured me around these
tourist sites.

We saw parts of Simon Town where the Filipinos of a century
came built a stone church which still stands today and is
used for regular Masses. Around and nearby this church
lived these Filipino fisherfolk and their descendants. However,
as this place has a view of the harbor, real estate value has
gone up and the rich have taken over.


















We went to this place where tourists can look at hundreds of penguins.
Fortunately, the penguins are left to themselves and thus the place
is conducive for their breeding purposes. Penguins can be such
lovable creatures, quite awkward while walking on land but are
such charming creatures while swimming in the sea. As I watched
them, I remembered the Oscar-winning film on Penguins.
A Pinay from Barangas, an OFW working with an Arab family,
was glad to see fellow Pinoys during her vacation.










At one of the tip of the Cape one encounters
a reminder that Vasco de Gama passed
this way in 1525 on his way to the Indies.
Further away from this spot, still along the
coast, is the signboard declaring that we
were in the Cape of Good Hope. It brought
memories of history lessons in high school.













The Cape Point is truly a magical place in South Africa.
If one were lucky (and we were on this particular winter
day as the weather cooperated), one could see awesome
sights like the meeting of sea and cliffs, the natural
flowers on the hills and the variety of changing
landscapes.










The waterfront of the cape is also a site
to behold, although this is the man-made
section with the port, a mall that has
interesting design and filled with all
kinds of stores selling various crafts
throughout Africa.

But the jewel of the cape is the visit to
the Table Mountain. One takes a ride
around the cove, then climb up to the
base of the mountain, take the cable
car and spend time on top of this
mountain where one can see the
glorious sights of the Lion's Head, the
Devil's Peak and the other hills adjacent to this mountain. It is truly an awesome
tourist site.





















These are photos of my short visit to
Pretoria City. On top of its highest
spot, one gets a good view of the city.
Naturally, these are places where
vendors sell handicrafts for tourists,
which are mainly wood and stone
carvings.