Meng's Travels: Cape Peninsula

I arrived in Cape Town (CPT) late on Saturday evening and stayed at a hostel called Ashanti Gardens. It appears to be a very popular place for backpackers. I was not able to book my own room so I had to stay in a room for 10 people. It was a little crowded but that's not what bothered me. The place played some very loud music until about 1 am in the morning. I did not sleep very well, not just from the music but also concern about my next accommodation. Since I'm going to be in CPT for almost 2 weeks, I want to find a place with my own room and bathroom (called ensuite) and within the city area. I looked at Airbnb.com but most of the Bed and Breakfast places are on the fringe or outside the city. I didn't want to spend a lot of time going to and from the city or rent a car.

I booked a room at a hotel/hostel but they were going to charge me a higher than normal rate. I wanted to negotiate with the manager to get it down to a reasonable rate. After a lot of stonewalling by the weekend receptionist, I finally spoke to the manager on Monday morning and got the room rate down to R630 (about US$60) a night, which is still fairly high for this area.
On Monday morning I took a Cape Peninsula Tour with Bazbus. There were 22 of us in a big van, with 1 driver and 1 guide. This is a tour that takes you outside of Cape Town south through the Cape Peninsula. Our first stop is Hout Bay, where we were given the option of taking a boat cruise to Duiker Island where they are a lot of seals. Great white sharks swim around the area to feed on seals who stray too far away from the island. Our next stop is the Boulders Beach Penguin Colony in Simons Town. Here we saw lot of African Penguins on the beach. Next we got on bicycles and rode in the Cape Point Nature Reserve. We rode about 6 km to the Information Center where we had lunch. On the way we were warned about baboons in the area. These baboons are very aggressive and would not hesitate to snatch things, especially food, away from you if you get too close. There are stories that some people get out of their cars to without the baboons without closing their windows but the baboons get into their cars and won't leave. Baboon monitors patrol the area to alert the public of the baboons.
After lunch we drove to Cape Point where we hiked to the top. This is one of the most southerly points in Africa and it was a great view of the ocean from the lighthouse. From the area, we also hiked to the Cape of Good Hope.
During my elementary school days, we learned about the adventures of the great Portuguese and Spanish explorers. I learned about Vasco de Gama rounding the Cape of Good Hope on his way to India and the rest of Asia. Never did I think that one day I will be standing at the Cape of Good Hope itself. Many ships have been lost in this area during the 15th to 20th centuries.