Monday, February 14, 2011

Day Trip Around The Peninsula - Part Three

I think I visit the Atlantic side of the Peninsula more frequent than the eastern side. But I usually only go down to Hout Bay. If you want to go further down, then you have to pay toll at Chapman's Peak Drive. So, usually Hout Bay is the last stop before I return to my side of Cape Town. Today I was approaching the Atlantic side from Cape Point, so to me this area is also a "new" discovery. Scarborough and Kommetjie to me sounds like these faraway places where only the privileged stays. It is far away from the other busy settlements closer to Cape Town, and according to their size it must be a much more rural atmosphere then what is found in the other villages along the coast.

SCARBOROUGH
According to Wikipedia Scarborough is a "town [that] was designated as a conservation village in April 1996, defined as "a residential area of limited extent, surrounded by a conserved natural landscape, committed to reverse past environmental damage and to avoid future environmental impacts." What I saw was pretty much that. I stopped at the beach and took a picture. There were only two ladies sitting at the beach, for the rest it looked forsaken. I think that everyone in this little town knows all the other people living there. Not that I would particulary like that, but I can just imagine what it must be like to wake up and not hear any traffic or have any minibus taxis stopping in front of you with no warning. Heaven.




Just past Scarborough there is another village, even smaller and more exclusive than its neighbour. Misty Cliffs. I had a look on the Internet to see what the plots in that little town would cost. For a plot approximately 500 sq m you would pay anything from R2.2 million up to R3.5 million. There are not many left, so you better jump if you still want to get a nice beach stand.

I wonder where Misty Cliffs got its name from

KOMMETJIE
Just past Misty Cliffs one reaches Kommetjie, a little bit more alive than the previous two towns. At first I thought Kommetjie was also very small, but when I drove into town and realized that there was a more on "the other side", the thought of having breakfast all of a sudden also entered my mind. I have a friend living in Kommetjie and I thought I might give him a call and ask for any suggestions. Unfortunately he was on vacation and I didn't want to disturb him, so I drove through the town looking for a place to do a quick "breakfast review". I think I must've missed the town completely because I was out on the other side before I could even say "bacon". Needless to say, I left the idea of breakfast somewhere in Kommetjie and moved on.

I was much more impressed with Kommetjie though than with Misty Cliffs or Scarborough. I took a picture of the Slangkop Lighthouse and the small basin which was the reason for Kommetjie's name ("kommetjie" is the Afrikaans name for "small basin"). The only thing I didn't like about this basin (when I got closer), was a terrible smell that was hanging in the air. I was not sure if it came from the basin itself, but I actually left as soon as I could to get fresh air. At this point I also noticed that most of the clouds were disappearing and that I might get some sunshine from there on. There were still a few loose clouds moving in, but I was sure now that changing direction this morning wasn't such a bad idea after all. I wanted to get to Chapman's Peak Drive and was really hoping for sunshine. So that's were I went.....

I was told that you will find the most spectacular sunsets at the Slangkop Lighthouse. I think I might have to return one day to see for myself. I only took this picture from distance but I am sure one could get beautiful pictures here is one has a bit of time and patience.

Kommetjie with the basin on the left.

End of Part Three

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