Nov 24 (Monday) – Cape Town

We had a late morning sail-in to Cape Town, South Africa, and a beautiful sail-in it was.  

For much of the sail-in we were being towed by a tugboat.

There were views of Table Mountain…

and ton of sea birds in the inner harbor…

and sitting on the docks.

More photos around the harbor. 

We also saw a plane flying around with a banner advertising to “Bet on the Slots”.

As soon as it was ok to disembark the ship we, along with Jim and Phyllis, headed into the cruise terminal to find a taxi.  Our destination was the Mount Nelson Hotel.  Regent had originally had a shore excursion of a trip to the Nelson for high tea.  Unfortunately, it was cancelled.  However, Paul came to the rescue and made reservations.

Gorgeous drive leading to the hotel.

And the hotel itself was lovely and obviously a hold-over from the days when South Africa was a British colony. 

We were there a bit early, so we wandered the grounds for a while.

Then we sat down in a lovely room with wide doors open to the outdoors.

And the food was great.  Very British and very civilized.  We were there for nearly two hours.

We eventually made it back to the ship for a short rest.  Then we headed out on our shore excursion for the day…Cape Town at night.

The drive took us by the Soccer Stadium (the soccer team’s mascot is the springbok, a small antelope),

past a lighthouse,

and along a coastal drive.

We had a stop at a good viewpoint where we saw the sunset.

Then it was on to another lookout with great views of Cape Town alight at night…

and Table Mountain. 

Good tour.  We were back in time for dinner.