The Cape

Friday morning saw us back at Jason Bakery with our same waitress. She knew our drink orders by heart by then – our third visit. When Dexter came to pick us up, we said goodbye to our waitress and she wished us a safe trip through South Africa.

We piled into Dexter’s car and started the drive to the Cape of Good Hope. Dexter pointed out landmarks and cultural quirks to us. For instance, we passed an unfinished highway driving out of Cape Town. Dexter told us that the government had started building the highway, but a private landowner blocked it. The landowner wouldn’t sell his property for the highway to be completed. So now, Dexter shared, the unfinished highway is used for a lot of movie and TV filming. 

Dexter had suggested we get an early start to the Cape of Good Hope, and we’re glad he did. We arrived at the famous photo spot before the busloads of tourists did; those buses got there about 30 minutes after us. 

By the famous sign.

Same sign. Another view.

Looking out from the overlook.

Yes, she is almost taller than me.

Still on the overlook.

This kid does not stop moving. He is always on the go. Case in point with this photo -- he's exploring new overlooks while the rest of us are on the original overlook. 

Dexter was quite familiar with the Cape of Good Hope and took us on a hike to an overlook. The views were stunning. From there, he drove us around to the Visitor Center and had us walk up a long hill to an old lighthouse. Again, stunning views.

At the lighthouse. Just a bit windy.

Had to get a photo with Dexter.

Taylor wanted a photo with Dexter.

Wyatt wanted a photo with Dexter.

Funny enough, people think the Cape of Good Hope is the southern-most point of Africa (we did before doing our research). In truth, it's the most south-western point of the African continent. The southern-most tip of Africa is Cape Alguhas, which is about 90 miles to the east-southeast.

We soon left the Cape of Good Hope and began the drive back to Cape Town. We stopped in Simon’s Town for lunch and wandered into a restaurant overlooking the harbor. After ordering food, Dexter told us that the restaurant staff were all from Zimbabwe. He heard them speaking in his language and said he could tell by looking at them that they were Zimbabwean. He told us, “South Africa would fall apart if foreigners weren’t here.” He said that foreigners comprise the workforce at the vast majority of restaurants across South Africa. And foreigners also make up the vast majority of Uber and truck drivers across the country. Clearly, that had been our experience. Our Uber drivers were majority Zimbabwean; we had two Somali drivers and just one South African driver. And we took a lot of Uber rides in Cape Town.

We ate and then walked down to the water. Dexter said, “Did you know the restaurant gave me something as we were leaving?” We looked at him quizzically and said no. Turns out, the restaurant staff had pressed 120 rand into his hand and thanked him for bringing them tourists. It was the first time Dexter had ever been to that restaurant, and we joked that he’d bring his next group of tourists there, too.

When we returned to Dexter’s car, he spoke in Xhosa with a car attendant who was working that particular street; he also gave the attendant some coins. Then Dexter explained to us that the car attendant was there to keep an eye out for thieves; thieves liked to pull the car logo/emblem from the backs of cars and sell them. 

Dexter took us next to Muizenberg Beach, a very popular beach outside of Cape Town. He showed us the shark spotter building – it’s a small outpost on a high hill that overlooks the ocean. The shark spotter is a person trained to look for certain dark shapes in the ocean; if a shark is spotted, he or she radios down to the shark spotter station on the beach. A whistle blows and everyone knows to come out of the water. Turns out Muizenberg is pretty sharky. 

The Shark Spotters station down on the beach.

Colorful huts at Muizenberg Beach.

From Muizenberg, Dexter drove us back to our flat. We had had another fascinating, motivating, wonderful day with Dexter. We arranged for him to drive us to the airport the following morning.

We had the best intention to head to Camps Bay, another neighborhood in Cape Town, for our Friday night dinner. But we were exhausted from our day and our week, and so we returned to the V&A for dinner (it’s a huge area, so plenty of restaurants to choose from and lots of different areas to walk around).

Over dinner, we asked the kids: “What’s been the best part of Cape Town?” And they answered, “Dexter.”

Maybe in 10 years or so, we’ll visit Dexter in Zimbabwe. 😉