First Few Days in the Western Cape

Arrived in Cape Town and my friend was too ill to meet having only been out of hospital less than a week.
I also was feeling a bit lacking in energy but not so much that I wasn't constantly marvelling at the heat and the light and general contrast with gloomy England.

On Friday morning I jogged down the mile to the beach at Glencairn but as I was the only person on the beach I was too intimidated to have a good swim because of the fear of sharks. My safety rules are 1) Never be the furthest person on the beach 2) Swim nearest the person who looks most like a seal. Neither of these rules are helpful when there is no-one else on the beach. I invented a new rule .... don't go further than chest deep.
But the beach is lovely, sandy, and the water cool when you first go in and then just right for swimming.Glen

Later on we called in on the other main attraction in Glen Cairn which seems to be the Southern Right Hotel. In the basement they have a deli which sells very nice coffee and pastries booked on the premises.

Saturday morning I jogged up the hill having realised there was a path onto the fynbos through the sports club, .. and I thought I could get high enough up the hill to get a view of the Atlantic Ocean (Glen Cairn is on the Indian Ocean). Unfortunately it was so early they hadn't unlocked the gates at the sports club so I continued up the road until I got to the end and found a path onto the hill through the fynbos at da gama park. I had been reading about snakes in the area particular the puff adder which causes most problems because they don't move when they hear you coming! My concentrated attention on the next step I was taking rather spoilt my ability to enjoy the plants and the view.

My firiend has been too ill to cycle for over a month and so after we called into the Green Bean cafe in West Lake where the SuperCycling club start their weekly ride from the Cycle Lab bike shop and meet afterwards at the Green Beans Cafe which served the best muffin I have ever had. (yes I think it may be even better than the Caracoli muffin available in Alresford)

After we went to see my friends nephew play base ball at the local club.