"Cape to Cairo."
A catchy name, though apparently coined in the 19th century by Cecil Rhodes in an unsuccessful attempt to link the British colonies via a trade route. Now, it describes a popular – and epic – overland tourist journey across Africa: from Cape Town, South Africa to Cairo, Egypt.
Knowing that it existed and that people had done it gave me just enough confidence in my haphazard plan. Though, due to the crisis in Sudan, and given that I started in the middle of South Africa's winter, I made the decision to kick off the journey in Uganda and work my way down.
Starting in Uganda and ending in Cape Town had its own bookend for me beyond being alliterative: hiking. As I moved out of East Africa into the flat landscape of Zambia, Botswana, and Namibia, I found myself longing for the days spent walking through my thoughts. I did my best thinking while hiking and by the time I reached South Africa, I had a lot of thinking to do. What had I made of this journey? And what did I want next?
In Cape Town, my road trip along the Garden Route, stopping to hike every chance I could get, gave me the first real alone time I'd had in months. It was the first time in my journey that I got the experience of truly flying solo – a foreshadowing of what was to come in the next chapter.
This week, another nature lover's itinerary and photo essay – with some additional reflections! – of my final moments hiking and seeing wildlife in Africa, before continuing the journey on another continent.
Hiking Table Mountain
Open up All Trails and you're spoiled for hiking paths and nature walks in Cape Town. I found this absolutely stunning hike called the Skeleton Gorge/Nursery Ravine trail, which starts in Kirstenbosch National Botanical Garden and leads up Table Mountain to the Hely-Hutchinston Reservoir, with views looking down over Cape Town at Breakfast Rock. An easy half-day hike that you can make into a full-day adventure if you spend time at the botanical garden or swimming in the reservoir!
1 & 3: From Kirstenbosch National Botanical Garden,views of Table Mountain, known for its biodiversity with over 2,200 plant species; 2: Pink and orange fynbos at the botanical garden; 4: Interesting rock formations along the hike; 5-6: Hely-Hutchinson Reservoir; 7: Heady capegorse wildflowers; 8-9: View of Cape Town from Breakfast Rock | Click any image to view larger.
Penguins at Boulders Beach
Having seen wild penguins also in Australia, I can say with certainty that Boulders Beach, along the Cape Peninsula, is one of the best opportunities to see wild penguins up close. Home to an African penguin colony, the boardwalks get you right up next to hundreds of penguins as they rest in the sun in between hunting trips at sea.
African penguins are the only penguin species native to Africa. They are endangered largely due to overfishing of their food sources, and are known to travel up to 110 km looking for food. | Click any image to view larger.
Day Trip Around the Cape Peninsula
Make a day of it by continuing your drive from Boulders Beach all the way around the Cape Peninsula! There's tons of sightseeing stops you can make along the way. Here's a few I recommend.
(From Top) 1-4: The Cape of Good Hope and the Cape Point Lighthouse offer views of the cliffs and the wildflowers that bloom on the protected land. 5-6: Views from Chapman's Peak Drive: Lion's Head and Kommetjie Beach. 7: Camp's Bay Beach looking up at Lion's Head. | Click any image to view larger.
Wind storm at sunset from Camp's Bay Beach, Cape Town. I just thought it was beautiful to witness.
Whales and Dolphins in Hermanus
Hermanus, about a 90-minute drive from Cape Town, is where the whale watching boats depart from. We saw Southern Right Whales and a school of over a thousand Common Dolphins.
I had never seen whales in my life before seeing them in Hermanus, and I cried from the wonder and awe of it all.
It was the end of the season (July-November, I was there in early November) so I had prepared myself to be disappointed. Not only did we see whales, but we saw five of them. The boat captain said that when they're mating, they don't care how close the boat gets, and we got close – unusual for the time of the season, given that most of them are done mating. He also said it had been a few weeks since they'd had a good sighting like this, because many of them had migrated out of the bay already.
Our luck didn't run out, because as we made our way back to the harbor at the end of the tour, a school of over a thousand dolphins started playing in the boat wake. The first time I saw dolphins was just one year ago, in Hawai'i, when I came up with the idea for this adventure. Back then, I saw two. Now I was surrounded by them.
My time in Hawai'i, solo hiking and seeing wildlife, inspired me to travel the world. I wanted to immerse myself in nature to feel the awe of being alive on this planet.
One of my most cherished feeling states of being is the feeling of awe.
When I am struck by a sense of awe, I lose my sense of self. I am not me, I am not my problems. In that moment, I am fully engaged with witnessing something that sparks a multifold sense of gratitude: for the existence of the thing being witnessed, for the fact that I exist and can witness it, and for everything that led me to this very moment of witnessing.
The act of surrendering to awe is a meditation. Meditation is the act of falling in love with life.
Contained in my overwhelming sense of gratitude for the experience of seeing the whales, was a recognition of all of the wildlife I had been fortunate to see over the past five months. Seeing animals in the wild awakened my sense of aliveness. In the United States, we've largely built an existence separate from animals, beyond those that we eat. I felt more connected to life by broadening my perspective to more of what exists on this planet.
This, to me, is the core of being alive. To feel, to witness, to experience, to appreciate the complexity of life around us, if only we paid more attention.
Your dream adventure doesn't have to break the bank.
Upgrade to our Traveler membership for exclusive budget travel secrets and guides that will teach you how to see the world on $100/day – for only $100/year.
Upgrade
