TRAVERSE 183
seaside villages , such as Simon ' s Town , with its typical Victorianstyle buildings lined up on the main avenue . Inland we found the Winelands , with its vineyard-covered hills , renowned wineries , and Dutchstyle villages , including Stellenbosch and Franschhoek , the oldest colonial settlements in South Africa . Bucolic landscapes of " another " Africa typical of this part of the Western Cape . Continuing along the coast we returned among intense and breathtaking views of barren , craggy mountains and lonely beaches lapped by the turquoise sea . The road was like a beautiful balcony running halfway up the hillside , incredibly picturesque , on which we would never stop travelling to continue enjoying the beautiful curves and landscape .
This coastline took us toward two other special places , the cliffs of Stony Point , " inhabited " by a large colony of sociable penguins that seemed to enjoy having their pictures taken , and those of Cape Agulhas . Dominated by the great red and white lighthouse , the only landmark in one of the most dangerous stretches of sea in the world , the headland is the true southernmost point on the African continent where the waters of two great oceans , the Atlantic and the Indian , meet . A selfie here was mandatory !
Cape Agulhas marked a turning point in our journey ; we would leave the coast to continue to the lonely landscapes of the inland , where after several kilometres of " nowhere " remote villages such as Swellendam , once considered the last outpost of civilisation , suddenly appeared .
After a visit to the Drosty Museum among the perfectly preserved buildings of a typical drosty from the 1700s , the wealthy residence of the local governor , we were ready to ride the curves of Tradouw Pass and
TRAVERSE 183