Cape Town Bound in one week
Day 1
We arrived from our Nomad tour destroyed. The heat was still hitting us, and there were some problems with closed roads and with parking the truck which felt like lasting hours. We finally arrived at 2pm and met Carin from our Airbnb who was really nice and friendly.
We had a quick lunch at 4pm at an Italian resto around the corner, nothing special but did the job.
As often we ordered too much but luckily we could get a doggy bag, which also sorted us for dinner. The rest of the afternoon was sorting out pictures and boring stuff. We lasted just about until 9pm when we were finally allowed to go to sleep!
Day 2
Lazy morning until 11am, when we went to the Waterfront for some chores including laundry and the mall. The V&A Mall is one of the biggest malls I’ve ever seen and it’s very easy to get lost in it! At 1pm we left towards the Kirstenbosch gardens and had a picnic there as well as a nice 2:30hrs walks. It’s definitely worth a half day visit but it was too hot for us to stay longer. If you are there on a Sunday they also do some great sunset concerts, people bring a pic nic and have dinner while listening to music.
The views of the city from there are amazing, and the gardens are very well kept and organised, with a scenic (and slightly scary since it’s moving) canopy tree walk, sniffing corners with very scented plants, lovely ponds and centenary trees.
We then went home for a quick shower before we met with our African family from the tour. Most had to leave Cape Town the following day, and we had two birthdays to celebrate, Jenny and Rob. We met at Long street, and started at 6pm at the Beer House which serves a lot of tasty and strictly local craft beers, followed by a great Ethiopian restaurant called Addis in Cape which gave us a lot of satisfaction (pumpkin stealers aside) – eating the whole meal with your hands is something very rewarding. We continued in several bars, with shots, birthday song and candles, Jager shots, and some decent/unusual/demented dance moves. We proudly lasted until 4:30am, when drunk and defeated we got an Uber home. Rob was talking to plants by this stage. The goodbyes were very painful, and we still can’t get our head around the fact that our African family had to be separated. We had a truly amazing night out with some fabulous people. We got home and had some Springbok carpaccio toasts in our flat which made us feel very good.
Day 3
The hangover was excruciating. Rob’s birthday morning though still started fairly early (for going to bed at 5am) at 11 for a birthday haircut. When he got back, he found breakfast, card and a couple of books (on kindle) for his birthday given by his lovely girlfriend. Books included How to open a restaurant (ideas for possible futures) and Io non ho paura by Niccolo’ Ammanniti, one of my favourite books in Italian that should be helping him learn a bit.
The rest of the day was very very lazy, but we needed that. A few skypes home and a few snoozes later it was time to have a shower and leave for our posh dinner.
We met with the lovely Dr B and his even more lovely wife Liesle who picked us up to go to La Colombe. One michelin star of tastiness. We had 4 courses each, and wine pairing. Both mind blowing and a real treat to our palates despite the hungover. All dressed with great company.
Day 4
Early start to make our way to Robben Island. The boat left just before 9am and we had to be there at 830. We were sure it would get cancelled since the wind was very very strong, making noises from our windows and feeling very chilly on the skin.
But when we got there, the boat was going to do the trip. The sea was pretty rough and the boat moved a fair amount. Great views of Cape Town fading away. Including some cheeky seals popping out of the waves!
On the way there the journey wasn’t too bad, just over half an hour. We got there and a very strong disgusting smell filled our nostrils. Probably penguins poo or Robs socks.
We jumped on a bus, and our guide was pretty good with a sense of humour.
Apparently he met Mandela himself and had some good stories. It felt like everyone on the island was really proud about the part they played in the walk to freedom from Apartheid.
The visit included a few cemeteries, until we got to the main maximum security prison where Mandela spent over 23 years (1963 to 1986). He was then moved to two other prisons. Very moving when you see it up close.
There was a very strange atmosphere in there. The guide there was another interesting guy, who was also imprisoned there.
We got back with our minds full of those stories, and the boat was much rougher than on the way in. It took us 50 minutes to get back to the Waterfront and we decided to reward ourselves with a fish lunch at the fish market. We were going to try to eat less but the platter for two was on offer. Oh well, life is one! Only £6 each, we couldn’t resist.
The afternoon was a bit more active, it was of course Rob’s idea (NOT) to climb Lion’s head. We wanted to go to Table Mountain but the cable car closed since the wind was really bad. Walking up and down takes 4 hrs each way which would have been a bit much! Also a tourist got stabbed there on the way down only a couple of days ago. Probably the 4 hrs hike would have kill us first though. Lion’s head was a fantastic walk though, about 1 hour 15 up and 45 mins down. Beautiful views of Table mountain and Camps Bay and the whole city really. What makes it fantastic is that you get to go around it completely so you see every angle over the city since the mountain is circular.
It was hot but the wind kept us cool, and the stunning views kept us going on the steep bits which included metal handles and chains. Definitely one of our highlights in Cape Town so far.
We got down at 530pm, and met a nice guy at the shack next to the parking lot which sells amazing fresh smoothies and it’s refreshingly friendly (we found that most people at the Waterfront are irritatingly unfriendly).
Another great day, which ended with sunset and a few £2.50 Brut bubblies and a sunset at Grand on Camps Bay beach. The wind was so strong that when we tried to walk by the beach we got hurt by the sand at 100 miles an hour hitting our legs. I never knew the wind could be so strong, but it’s Cape Town and we are starting to get used to it.
We got home at 8pm after we left home at 8am. Shattered and happy after yet another great day. I made a signature pasta at home, and we are about to pass out. Tomorrow wine tastings tour awaits us!
3 Comments