Cape Town

We woke up in Cape Town to blue skies, perfect as we were heading to Table Mountain and knew it meant we were in for some great views from the top. Tickets in hand we headed to the cable car which can carry 65 people at a time, and you stand the whole way up as the car rotates 180°C. A very smooth ride, you didn’t even feel like you were moving.

Not sure what I expected at the top – but there were paths leading in different directions and the mountain is covered in rock formations and scrub.

Fabulous views of Robben Island, Cape Bay, Sea Point and Cape Town. There are also toilets, a restaurant and gift shop at the top.

Leaving Table Mountain we followed the Coast road through Camp Bay to the Cape of Good Hope, stopping en route at a couple of roadside market. Arriving at the Cape Peninsula National Park and the Cape of Good Hope or in fact, the lighthouse, you can pay to take the tramway from the base to nearly the top or you can walk for free, but it is steep.

Then we climbed the steps up to the base of the lighthouse, it was very windy, but offered views of the real Cape of Good Hope to the right, False Bay to the left and the meeting point of the Atlantic and Indian Oceans.

Had time to browse through the gift shop and then back onboard the coach to head to the ‘real’ Cape of Good Hope - for that ‘must have’ photo.

Leaving the Park behind we headed for the small town of Boulders, where we visited the African Penguin colony, which was optional. Lots of babies but very smelly. Next stop was Simon Town, the perfect place for lunch in an ocean-side restaurant or just browsing through the local art and souvenir shops.

Our last stop was the Kirstenbosch National Botanical Gardens – I could easily have spent half a day here, wandering around these beautiful gardens. They had a very large gift shop that sold just about everything including plant seeds, and souvenirs to handcreams. You can actually walk from the Gardens to Table Mountain, takes around 5 hours, or vice versa, but I will leave that to the more energetic.

In one day we saw so much of Cape Town, giving us just a taste of what the ‘fairest cape’ has to offer. Now it’s time to head to the V&A Waterfront for dinner and a beer!