Eight Things I Loved About July Eighth

Today was brilliant. There is too much to say but I will type some of it out.
We decided to take a tour to Cape Point with a group of 7 others in a van
and one tour guide. We were apprehensive but it was the only way to travel to the most south-westernly point on the continent and it would be less expensive than a private tour.
Walter of "Wal-tours" showed up to pick us up and we were the only tourists on the trip due to it being winter, slow season, and possibly the coldest day of winter (around 50 farenheit). So, we got a private tour that turned out to be so fun! Walter was a most excellent guide.

Eight Things I Loved about July 8th:
1). Peter Boy- the seal at Hout Bay who has befriended a local fisherman. The seal, in exchange
for fish from his friend's mouth, will allow tourists to sit on his back, hug him, and snap photos.
Peter was huge, probably 500# and soft with puppy dog eyes. That was amazing. At the end of the morning he just dives back into the ocean. I still feel the seal fur on my face.
2). Penguins- at Bolders beach, small penguins live, mate for life, and our not afraid of strangers.
I was two feet from the penguins and they did not care.
3). Whale sighting- A woman's job is literally to scope out sharks for the local surfers and she says she has seen only one whale last week as whale season has just begun. While chilling with our tuxedo friends, an Asian tourist yells out "whale"! What luck to see a huge whale.
4). Constantia winery- I tasted the wine that Napolean drank and was said to have been his last request before death. It was a dessert wine, so Napolean was kind of girly.
5). Kirstenbosch gardens- We saw their beautiful national flowers, the proteus, plus acres upon acres of plants, trees, paths... Walter pointed out the highlights and we managed to avoid the rain.
6). Cape Point- The vistas were unspoiled and majestic, yet it was a cold, windy, short-of-breath hike up. I have never seen anything like it.
7). Cape of Good Hope- Leigh decided to touch the Atlantic Ocean (it is quite cold and we called it the Artic since the next piece of land south is Antartica). She got a little too close and as a wave approached she got scared and slipped! I captured this on camera so if anyone wants to see Leigh fall into the Artic, this can be arranged on my return.
8). Return to African Villa- after laughing vigorously at Leigh, I later ascended the steps to our villa and slipped on the first step and belly flopped on the front entry way. The hotel managers and two other guests were just on the other side of the door and heard all our laughing at ourselves.

The only bummer about today was that I was unable to get Cale on our dang cell phone to wish
him a Happy Birthday. Today, he turns 31! Happy Birthday Cale! I love you! Cheers!