Day 2 in Cape Town

The next morning, the table cloth was still in place, but was being blown back by strong onshore winds.

We took a bus out to a huge nature reserve with a hiking trail. Part of the reserve included a beach area.

The name of the bus stop was Table View, so we walked out to the beach area first for a good view.

The "Table View."

We crossed the street and headed inland to follow the trail.

Some lovely rushes were blooming here.

We stayed hydrated.

Some of these shrub mounds were huge.

 
Ant hills on the trail...

Weaver finch nests.

This was surprising...

 
... the huge, but beautiful candelabra lily (Brunsvigia josephinae) in the amaryllis family, which is native only to South Africa. It's apparently one of the surprise lilies that send up its leaves at one time of year, which die back and then the flower head sprouts all by itself.

We found some grass down by the beach and parked ourselves for lunch.

The water was icy and the rocks were sharp, but still nice to stick my toes in the water for a few minutes.

Several kite surfers were getting quite a ride out here.

Back at the Table View bus stop, we called it a day. It was a lovely and varied visit.

We sailed northward for a day in the Atlantic Ocean to Luderitz, Namibia, which was settled by Germans

Luderitz, Namibia

This was a tender port and a new port for us.

It would be yet another walking day for us.

Our first destination was Shark Island, which used to be an island and was used as a penal colony, but now, a causeway connects it to the mainland and it's used for B&Bs, a park, and camping site.

 
Lots of bird watching opportunities out here as well. The African Black Oystercatcher (Haematopus Moquini) is endemic to South Africa and Namibia. Cormorants and other birds were all fun to watch.

Shark Island is mostly a large rock outcropping that has been worn smooth by the winds and the seas.

 
Trying to get just the right angle can make taking photos a bit risky. The park/reserve includes this lighthouse.

 
We paid our entry fee and continued. The real working lighthouse is this metal one, which is less picturesque than the red and white structure.

A view back to the village and the church from the lighthouse hill.

A rugged-looking and compact camping rig. The stove pulls out and the cupboards open up to form a workable outside kitchen.

Some of the camping sites have extensive fire pits tucked into the hollows of the rocks.

 
A Pied Crow (Corvus albus): This species is widely distributed in most of sub-Saharan Africa. And one of the acacia shrubs (Acacia sp.) growing in a crack in the rock was in bloom.

Out at the end of Shark Island, there was a good variety of birds.

It's easy to spot the birds' favorite rocks.

Boat traffic as seen from the end of Shark Island...

We liked this boat-based sign--how appropriate.

 
We walked back from the island and through the village toward the main church.

There were some pretty interesting German-style houses in various states of repair in the village.

Some of the houses were quite large and were probably used as inns.

 
Many of our shipmates occupied the church's front balcony.

 
The back of the church and a close-up of one of the cute flowers growing in the cracks.

We climbed the hill behind the church.

In the bay behind the church, there were a few types of aquaculture including shellfish and seaweed.

We set up our lunch spot on rocks with smoothed out indentations that our butts fitted perfectly. Then we headed back.

This time we went into the church.

Skilled laborers have a constant stream of work in this town.

A community center.

And so we bid Luderitz, auf wiedersehen and boarded a tender back to the ship.

Our next port, Walvis Bay, Namibia is not too far north from here.