Cape Peninsula and Cape Town

Cape Town

Cape Town is one of the most popular destinations in South Africa. It boasts stunning beaches, an abundance of daytime activities and a number of cultural and natural gems, with the most famous being Table Mountain.

The Castle of Good Hope is a good starting point for first-time visitors to Cape Town. It is the oldest surviving building and provides visitors with details on the Cape Town's interesting history.

A visit to Long Street should not be missed. And long it certainly is: the one-way street stretches along more than 20 blocks. Its architecture is quite unique and offers a blend of Victorian verandas and Muslim mosques. Long Street is also home to a large number of shops and restaurants (try the friendly masala dosa).

With its brightly coloured houses at the foot of Signal Hill, Bo-Kaap is the spiritual home of the Cape's Muslim community and Cape Town's most colourful suburbs. Many of the residents are descendants of the slaves from South-East Asia who were imported to the Cape of Good Hope by the Dutch during the 16th and 17th centuries. I was lucky enough to be there on 16 December for the celebration of reconciliation day when the area was filled with colourful street bands.

The V&A Waterfront is a huge shopping and entertainment area next to the harbour. It is set against the spectacular backdrop of Table Mountain and is quite popular for its high density of excellent restaurants, shops and amusement possibilities. Both harbour and sunset cruises are available (I chose the Rat Race Media Adventurer for R150).

Table Mountain

Wherever you are in Cape Town - you can't help but notice South Africa's most recognisable landmark. The easiest way to get to the top is by cable car, alternatively you can choose one of the various hiking trails which lead to the summit. Whichever route you take, you will arrive at an altitude of over 1,000m where it is much cooler than in Cape Town so you need to be properly equipped.

I decided to hike up Table Mountain from Kirstenbosch Botanical Gardens (R32), a famous botanical garden nestled on the eastern slopes of Table Mountain. I followed the sign posts for Skeleton Gorge, a deep ravine that provided a dramatic opportunity to hike up Table Mountain. After some two hours I arrived at the eastern end of the Table Mountain plateau at Maclear’s Beacon, at 1,086m the highest point of Table Mountain. From here, I walked along the dramatic drop-off across the Central Table plateau. I was rewarded with a superb panorama of Lion's Head, Signal Hill, the City Bowl, Robben Island and Devil's Peak. There was virtually nobody else on the mountain which led me to the conclusion that the cable car service had been suspended (this could happen at any time and should always be taken into account when planning to hike up). After an hour's walk from Maclear's Beacon I arrived at the cableway station and found out that the cable car service had indeed been stopped due to strong winds. Whilst I was at the station, the famous tablecloth - a layer of thick, white and wet clouds - closed in within minutes. Both temperature and visibility dropped significantly and I was glad to have come prepared with cold weather clothing, food and hot tea as I was now facing an unplanned descent. I opted for the most direct route down through the nearby Platteklip Gorge. After about one hour I emerged into the sunshine halfway down the mountain whilst the mountaintop was now completely shrouded in clouds. It took me another hour to reach the road at the base of the mountain. Although demanding, this was an exciting and spectacularly beautiful day.

Robben Island

Robben Island has a turbulent history: from the 17th to the 20th century it was a prison, a hospital and a military base. It is most famous for being a political prison during the era of apartheid. Many of South Africa’s most prominent freedom fighters spent time on Robben Island. Its most famous prisoner was of course Nelson Mandela, who spent 18 years on the island out of the 27 years he was imprisoned. Today it is one of South Africa’s most visited tourist attractions.

The tour of the island begins at the exhibition centre inside the Robben Island Gateway at the V&A Waterfront where the ferry departs for the 30-minute crossing. The guided tour on the island includes a a walking tour of the maximum security prison where a former political prisoner acted as a guide and gave a first hand account of what prison life was like.

Cape Point

There are some worthwhile stops en route to Cape Point. The beach at Muizenberg features brightly coloured Victorian beach houses but lacks the attraction of Boulders Beach (R60) a bit further south. Here, a colony of some 3,000 African penguins can be seen at close range. A wooden boardwalk enables visitors to get close to the penguins that roam around the area freely. Actually, they sometimes even walk or swim to the public beach a short distance south where they join playing children and sunbathing adults.

Cape Point itself is a spectacular, narrow finger of land that is home to picturesque bays, beaches, rolling green hills and valleys. It offers a spectacular view out over the sea and the most south-western point of Africa, Cape of Good Hope (the most southern point of Africa is the less-known Cape Agulhas further east).

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Not surprisingly, the Cape Town Peninsula is one of the most popular tourist destinations in South Africa and offers a broad range of attractions. I thought it was the ideal place to start my South Africa experience before I headed for Namibia and Zambia.

Whilst in Cape Town, I stayed at A Sunflower Stop hostel within 10min walking distance of the V&A waterfront. Whilst my room was clean I was disappointed with the poor service and the fact that some items were stolen from my locked room.
I also staid at Carnival Court in Long Street. When I asked the receptionist for a quiet room he told me that there were none such rooms. He was right.
Still, the central location is great and the hostel offers good value for money but a is bit worn, and noisy.

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