Cape Town - One for the bucket list. And while you're at it, put it at the top!


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Africa » South Africa » Western Cape » Cape Town » Green Point
April 26th 2017
Published: April 30th 2017
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Flying into Cape Town last Sunday, we were understandably tired after our fifth flight in two days but all signs of tiredness quickly vanished once we caught our first glimpse of Table Mountain on the descent into Cape Town. Breathtaking. Amazing. Mother nature at her very best! With all the last minute preparations for our year away I don't think we had allowed ourselves to get excited about our week in Cape Town. But before our feet had even touched the ground I think we both knew we were in for a magical week. And that was BEFORE we found out that the Western Cape was experiencing an unseasonal heat wave with 30+ degrees Celsius. #winning

First stop this week was the Victoria & Alfred Waterfront (V&A) - Cape Town's most popular tourist attraction - with lots of restaurants, bars, shops and buskers. We bought a 2 day hop on hop off bus pass which was a great way of getting to know the city and seeing some of the top attractions. Camp's Bay and the 12 Apostles provided some Kodak moments as did Table Mountain, Lion's Head and some of the colourful houses we saw on our free walking tour of the Bo-kaap region Cape Town.

A friend had recommended Gold restaurant and it did not disappoint! (Thank you Catherine). We indulged in a a 14 course traditional African meal and enjoyed some African face painting, singing, dancing and music. Unreal!

One of the highlights of our week was our guided tour of the Langa township. It was great to get some insight into life in the township and the resilience and resourcefulness of the people living there. There was a great energy around the township - people working, children playing in the streets, etc. The locals seemed quite accustomed to guided tours and paid little heed to us. Our tour finished in the famous Mzoli restaurant where we picked our cuts of meat to be bbq'ed and enjoyed them with some home made salsa, beans and bread. Delicious! We finished off our day with a hike up and down Lion's head where we enjoyed some amazing views of Camp's Bay and Table Mountain.

The day after hiking Lion's head, we set the alarms early and hit for Table Mountain (probably not the brightest idea to do these two back to back!). We climbed Table Mountain via the recommended route of Platteklip Gorge. Google rates it as a "challenging" route. And we would definitely second that - especially with the South African sun beating down on us! Once up, it was time for our first adrenaline rush of the holiday / holiyear - our 112m abseil down Table Mountain. Before we knew what was happening we were hanging off the mountain high fiving! We both flew through the abseil - helped along by an approach of not looking down until we were half way down!

We decided to take it easy for our last day in Cape Town so we opted for a tour of the cape peninsula. We drove along the coast to Cape of Good Hope - the most south western point of Africa (thankful for our air conditioned bus as it was 34 degrees Celsius outside).

This evening we join our G-adventures group for our overland tour from Cape Town to Nairobi. We've had a great first week and are looking forward to the next leg of our adventure!


Additional photos below
Photos: 17, Displayed: 17


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V&A WaterfrontV&A Waterfront
V&A Waterfront

The boat we're going to buy someday.
Colourful Streets of Bo-KaapColourful Streets of Bo-Kaap
Colourful Streets of Bo-Kaap

With Lion's Head peaking in from a distance
Sunset Sunset
Sunset

Practicing our photography
Gold Restaurant Gold Restaurant
Gold Restaurant

Facepainted......don't we look nice!
Gold Restaurant Gold Restaurant
Gold Restaurant

Sampling the African cuisine
Langa Township Langa Township
Langa Township

Brewing beer in a barrel
Langa Township Langa Township
Langa Township

No space wasted!


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