Visiting hours....

I have several big loves in my life. I was so lucky to be able to visit one of those this past weekend. I missed her. When I opened my eyes, she was there. In all her glory. I was fortunate to be able to see all of her because sometimes she hides behind a veil.

Where did I happen to find myself?

I am talking about Table Mountain in Cape Town of course. Apart from the mountain, I also got to visit my second big love in Cape Town. One day when I grow up, I want to live here.....

Beautiful Hout Bay!!!! It has everything you could want. Left in the picture is the harbor, just right of the centre of the picture, is the most beautiful beach. The whole area is green with trees and shrubs and you constantly have birds flying overhead and making themselves heard. We had lunch at Look Out where our waiter was awesome. Even though it was packed, he made time to pay attention to every table he served and laughed and joked with the kids all the time. Food looked fantastic, everyone only had praise for it. I was feeling a bit under the weather after a stomach bug and a bout of flu, but Look Out got our parties' definite visit again mark!!! After the latish lunch, we took a drive along the restored Chapmans Peak. Due to the heavy traffic, I couldn't take pictures of the preventive measures that has been taken to curb rockfalls. Enormous wire cables and safety nets have been erected. The one single spot where you can stop, didn't give me a clear shot of the safety nets. I noticed a flare going off just outside the mouth of the bay and this was shortly followed by another. We phoned the emergency number and reported it. Another car stopped and asked what was going on. They were going in the direction of Hout Bay and quickly sped off to make sure that the harbor Master had been informed of the distress. We later heard that a yacht had sunk and six people nearly drowned.

That wasn't our first accidental contact. On route to Cape Town, we got stuck in a traffic jam, caused by a horrific head on collision. We were fortunately about 1 kilometer from the accident scene and the kids didn't have to witness any of the gruesome details. I tried to take pictures, but couldn't get close enough and thankfully so, because we counted 6 ambulances that came screaming past us in the direction of Knysna. One of the passengers was airlifted to George Hospital by helicopter. I took a shot of the traffic behind us and in front of us.

The accident site is at the top centre of the second picture. Four cars were involved. By the time we passed the scene, everything had been cleared and a severely smashed Uno at the side of the road was all we could see. By the time we reached Sedgefield about 10 kilometers from the accident site, people were still sitting outside their cars in backed up traffic waiting to continue on their journeys.

We, however reached Cape Town safely and also returned home safely without any incidents. I was just so glad to be able to visit her again even if it was only for a short time. Her beauty will always be with me.