Cape Town Celebrates Boxing Day

26 December 2011 --- Today is Boxing Day and I took the "hop-on, hop-off" double-decker bus around Cape Town and south along the western Cape to Hout Bay.

I first hopped off at Kirstenbosch National Botanical Gardens. Click here for a slide show.

Then I hopped off at the World of Birds. There were birds from all over the world, some of the most colourful parrots being from South America. Sacred ibis and flamingoes were gathered there, but not in cages, presumably because they were well fed. Although the birds well cared for, I got tired of seeing birds in cages, so I hurried through. I did get some close up photos of birds I had seen in Chobe National Park, but couldn't get good photos with my camera. Here's a slide show of birds.

Back on the bus, on the top deck, I got a great view of how Cape Town and the area celebrates Boxing Day. They go to the beach. You will notice in the photos that while the beach is crowded, no one is in the water. This is the Atlantic and the water is actually colder in the summer because of currents from the Antarctic. I was told if I wanted to go swimming in the ocean, I should do it in Durban, which is on the west coast where the Indian Ocean is much warmer. But, more's the pity, I had no time for the beach in Durban.

We saw Hout Bay with its massive sand dunes, and, on the way back to Cape town, the rocky shores and the Twelve Apostles, rocky mountains that form the Cape continuing south of Table Mountain to Cape Point, or the Cape of Good Hope.