It is not very often, that we get to travel to Africa, so this is definitely our very special and long awaited vacation. Somewhat of a trip down memory lane for me as this is my first return to the country which I lived in some 25 years earlier. It is the first visit for Liz.
First morning we are up early to this beautiful view of Lion’s Head from our hotel room.
So much to do and so much to see and since the weather is great we take a cable car up Table Mountain. Get up there early, beat the crowds and tick the box while the sky is blue, right?
Next day after a nice and sumptuous breakfast at the hotel, we head out to the VA Waterfront; a lovely and lively area of Cape Town for some lovely local style live entertainment, nice meal of fresh fish with a beautiful glass of Sauvignon Blanc while we contemplate our next moves.
And the next move would be a full day private guided tour around the Cape. For sure a must when visiting Cape Town. So we hire ourselves a private guide for a day. Easier this way to get to all the must see places comfortably and to get some interesting background information at the same time. We head out a little early in the morning in spite of light rain. The rain is supposed to stop – and soon does – and we are keen to run ahead of the tour busses.
First stop: Camps Bay
The rain has just stopped and the mist is starting to lift. This is where the rich and famous have their multimillion $$$ mansions we are told.
Amazing views obviously with the ocean out front and the mountain range in the back. The long and jagged one behind us known as the Twelve Apostles brings back memories of my UTCT Trail run the day before when I was up there looking down upon this very beach…, legs still healing from the run.
Next leg: Chapman’s drive which of course leads us; you guessed it: to Chapman’s Peak
The sky ever clearer and our strategy of an early start affords us these sweeping views as we seemingly have the entire place to ourselves.
After a quick stop in Hout Bay it is time for our mid morning coffee break and this little place called The Food Barn in the Farm Village of Nordhook is perfect. A quaint little Farm village enveloped in the beautiful smell of freshly roasted coffee beans from the local roaster.
Great coffee and pastries warm and fluffy, fresh from the oven.
With new energy, we are on to Cape point, the most South-western point of the African continent. Here we first treck up to the lighthouse for these amazing and sweeping views.
I wonder if this property on top of the cliff might be for sale? No traffic noise, no unruly neighbors to deal with, no trespassers to worry about. What do you think?
Next we are headed down to the Cape Of Good Hope. By now, the one or the other tourist seems to have caught up with us but we are still ok.
On to our next stop in Boulders Beach for some mingling with these lovely creatures. These cape penguins are cute and interesting creatures. Very unfortunately there are not too many of them left and as we are told in all likelihood they will be extinct in five years from now which is a very sad reality.
After a quick ice cream stop, our trip leads us back via Muizenburgh, the South African surfers paradise,
to Cape Town just in time for afternoon cocktails in the comfortable hotel lounge.
The evening is capped off by a dinner at H Place (no relation to me) where we finally get to sink our teeth into a huge plate of the famous South African Sticky Ribs, juicy beef ribs, drenched in BBQ sauce and fire grilled so tender, no knife needed…
And with the sun setting behind the mountain, looking forward to the next day and more of Cape Town to take in.
