Road Trippin' South Africa: Cape Town & surrounding areas

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Cape Town lived up to the expectations. Everyone kept telling me that I had to go there, that staying there for one week isn't enough and that I would love it. All true. Cape Town's a beautiful, modern and efficient city. And full of things to do.



By a recommendation from a tour guide I met in Cape Agulhas, I went to stay in a hostel that's in an area in Cape Town called Green Point. The hostel is the "B.I.G.". It's a boutique hostel and you definitely get your money's worth if you stay there. So far, out of all the backpacker places I've stayed in, in the world, this has got to be my favorite. I heard similar comments from other people staying there and the fact that they have a 98%!a(MISSING)pproval on Trip Advisor, has got to count for something.



The day of my arrival in the city I grabbed my daybag, walked downhill from the hostel and went to walk along the coast towards Seapoint. The beachfront is great. Lots of people walking around, doing sports, etc. After about 45 minutes, I turned back, went past the point where I started (near a lighthouse) and went towards the Waterfront. Lots of boats, a local brewery, shopping center, etc. The waterfront is a well maintained place and full of things to do and see.



The next day I went driving to Cape Point, which I think is one of the highlights of things to do around Cape Town. It's a great drive and if you don't have a car, you can take a tour. This trip I fully recommend. My first stop was Haut Bay. It was nice, but nothing special about it, in my opinion. There is a fishing port and places to have lunch in.



Then, from Haut Bay, I drived along Chapman's Peak. This is "must do" drive. The road goes on the side of mounts and borders cliffs. There are a few good viewpoints to stop along the way to have a look and take photos.



After Chapman's Peak I drove past a town called Meritzberg, stopped by a beach to have a look around and then continued on towards Cape Point (or so I thought).

I hadn't realized it, but I started driving in the opposite direction of where I needed to go, following the coast of False Bay to the north (I had to go south). When I became aware of this, the scenery was so nice, that I kept on going for a while.



Eventually I turned back and went towards Cape Point. Before getting there though, I stopped in Simon's Town (which is about 20 minutes from Cape Point). This town is where the main SA Navy base is. Also, there are a few dive operators here and I wanted to speak with the people of Pisces Dive Center, which I had been recommended. I wanted to do my last South African dives here.

I really liked the people in the dive shop and stayed there talking for a while and discussing the possibility to do some dives during the w-e (although the weather wasn't looking that good for the upcoming days).

In the end, there was a storm during the weekend so I couldn't dive at all (and I was really looking forwards to diving in the kelp forests and doing a seal dive).



After the stop in Simon's Town I arrived in Cape Point rather late at about 4pm (latest entry is at 5 and they close the gate at sundown).

Cape Point itself is very worth visiting and there are several places to go to by car and also hiking trails (most of them of a low level dificulty). I spent a few hours there doing two walks. First to the lightouse (Beacon of Hope) and then to a small bay near the lighthouse called Dias Beach.



Driving back to Cape Town, as I was going through Simon's Town, I came across signs that said "penguin viewing" (or something like that). I ended up in "Boulder's Beach", where a colony of African Penguins has been for years. And it's possible to see them right there in the beach, no fences. And then back to the city.



The third day in Cape Town I walked up "Table Mountain". Table Mountain is at the center of the city and is another "must do" when in Cape Town. There are 2 ways to go up/down: walking or taking a cable car.

I parked the car near the cable car and then walked up by the trail that goes up the "Skeleton Gorge". It's not a difficult hike, but the last part is very steep and it's pretty tiring. At the top, it's about 20 minutes to the cable car or about a 1 hour walk back and forth to Maclear's Beacon on the opposite direction. There are other day hikes or even hikes that can be done overnight at the top.

I did the walk to Maclear's Beacon which was a good choice and along the way I could get excellent views of the city.

I took the cable car to get down and I ended the day by driving to Signal Hill, from where I had a of Green Point (the area where I was staying).

Beacause I hadn't made reservations in advance, the hostel was fully booked for the next day and I had to change to another one. Luckily the one I had to change to (Atlantic Point) was on the same street and was very similar to the B.I.G. I ended up staying there the rest of my stay.



The day after, I did the Hop On, Hop Off bus tour. I started in the Waterfront and got off in the 4th stop, near Long Street (Cape Town's main commercial/nightlife street). I was in the middle of downtown and in a good place to start walking. I did most of the stops of the route just walking from this stop.

At around lunch time I stumbled on a street market that is apparently put on at lunch time for people that work in the area (very close to Green Market Square). There was a wide arrange of good, cheap food and desserts. As there're restaurants around as well, it's possible to get beers and wine. I bought my lunch and then sat in a table outside of a restaurant where I ordered a beer. Good combination.

I also walked around Green Market Square and then past " The Company's Garden". I then started to walk back using parallel streets and I arrived in "The Castle of good Hope". This is a fort that was built in the 17th Century and is the oldest colonial building of SA.

It's a nice place to walk around and there are some rooms that are open to the public, including exhibitions and museums.



As I was walking in the fort, I went through an open door and I found myself face to face with a woman doing a painting. I asked her if I could go in and she said there was no problem.

We started talking (her name was Nattalie) and she told me that she had worked in the fort for a few years and now she was allowed to use one of the rooms as a painting studio, as long as she kept it open. So she didn't really mind the people going in and out and she told me that if she needed to really concentrate, she would just shut the door.

She was a keen traveler as well and we shared traveling tips, useful websites, etc.

Before I left she told me about a small beach south of a place called Camps Bay (about 1 hour walk from Green Point). The beach is in a closed street called Beta Road. Beta Rd is a residential area and if you don't know about it, chances are you're not going to find it. She told me it was a good place if you wanted to see a good sunset while having a drink (because it's so secluded, there are no police controls there).



From the Castle of Good Hope I took the Hop On, Hop Off bus again and got off in a stop in Camps Bay. From there I walked about 20 minutes to get to Beta Rd and it was indeed a nice little beach.



One of the days I met with a Scottish girl, Lisa Labinjoh. I got in touch with her through the dive center in Shelly Beach. She's a very experienced diver and they gave me her contact so I could ask her about diving near Cape Town. I didn't have luck with the diving, but nonetheless we agreed to meet up one day.

She lived not far from where I was staying. I went to her house and we had a coffee before going out to Lion's Head. It's a mount very close to Table Mountain and a popular place for walking. From the hill we had a good view of the city and Green Point as well.

After Lion's Head we went to have lunch in a place which was one of Lisa's favourite restaurants in the city (can't really remember the name). Very chilled out and had good food. We had a great conversation about travels and diving and in all it was a very pleasant day (so, thanks Lisa for taking the time to meet!)



The weekend was very chilled out for me, as the weather wasn't that good. I did go to the Waterfront again.

On Saturday night I went out with a group of British girls (about 10) and with a few guys that were also staying at the hostel. It was a full night of bar hopping, a lot of fun and ended really late.



On Monday after lunch I drove to the airport where I left it after having rented it for over 2 months and thus ending my drive along the coast from Sodwana to Cape Town. While I was in the airport I got a surprise call from 2 of the British girls wishing me a safe trip. Nice touch.



From there I flew to Johannesburg. I wanted to return to Pretoria for a couple of days mainly to say goodbye to the Viljoen family who hosted me while I was there (and drove me around, helped immensely with the preparation of the trip, gave me contacts and also kept tabs on me). Also to their friend Janet who was a great help while I stayed in the city. And of course Tessa Van der Merwe, my school classmate from Israel who took the time to meet up and include me in her "rocker" activities (literally; she's a full time musician).



So, the next day after my arrival I had lunch with Tess. As usual great conversation and always cool to see her. Thanks Tess for everything!

And in the evening I went out to dinner with Nicolet Viljoen and Janet and her son Gary. Also very pleasant and it was good to see them again. I also saw Stefan Viljoen the 2 days I stayed in the house, but Johan and Erna were away for the week. I did manage to call them though. So here I want to thank Johan, Erna, Stefan, Nicolete, Janet and Gary for everything they did.



On Wednesday I went to the airport to get on a flight to Ireland (I had wanted to visit Dublin for years).



South Africa was a country that I hadn't initially included in my plans and the decision to go there was very abrupt. I never thought I would stay for more than a month and ended up staying for nearly three. And I would've gladly stayed there longer, it's an amazing place (and I really, really want to go diving there again).

To summarize my stay there in two words: "Lekker, man"

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Comments

[Andres]

saludos desde Lonquen
Hola dani, Se echaba de menos tus posts. Me alegro que Sudafrica haya sido tan bueno. Ya te queda muy poco para llegar asi es que me imagino que le estás sacando el jugo a las ultimas semanas. Por caá todo muy bien. La semana pasada fuimos con Trinidad a ver un concierto de Violetta que es su idola musical. Era su primer concierto y lo pasamos muy muy bien. Al dia siguiente tuvimos el encuentro familiar de los Schwarzenberg. Fuimos 75! y lo pasamos excelente. Un bálsamo para el espíritu. Este fin de semana nos fuimos a Rapel a cambiar un poco de aire. Sofia termina esta semana sus clases y ya le queda lo ultimo para prepararse para su PSU que la da el 2 de diciembre. Todos muy bien y sin novedad. un abrazo Andres