A long flight due south of 12 hours from London to Cape Town, but what you get is beautiful scenery, amazing food and wine and it's so cheap! The South African Rand versus the £ means you get a lot for your money currently, particularly on wine and food. I used Uber to travel around everywhere, which again was very reasonable.
This time around I opted to stay in the city centre near the Victoria and Alfred Waterfront (V&A) in the Tokyo Hotel Apartments. They are modern and have a great roof top pool area overlooking the Lion's Head and Table Mountain with a traditional South African Braii area (bbq). Below there is a lovely cafe great for breakfasts and lunch.
I had booked a few trips, the highlights being the wine region and the journey to the Cape of Good Hope national park along with Boulders Beach, famous for the Penguins!
The main picture here is the Kirstenbosch Botanical Gardens. They are huge and like something out of Jurassic Park! Great to spend a few hours walking around only the other side of Table Mountain.
I'm not a huge wine drinker but my favourite day was the wine regions! I opted for the famous Franschoek Tramline where you can choose several different coloured lines on a hop on hop off basis. I did the Navy line and stopped at 5 different vineyards over the course of the day, ranging from luxury to more family orientated wineries. Again, this was quite cheap and you can have as little or as much wine tasting as you wish, alongside food pairings of your choice. The settings of some of these vineyards were spectacular, especially those in the shadow of the mountain ranges.
Another of the days I travelled south to the Cape of Good Hope National Park, the most South Westerly point of the African continent. Was lucky enough to see some wild animals, including Ostrich's which I was surprised about to find there. Beautiful scenery the whole way, especially Chapman's Peak and the various lookout stops along the way.
Of course Cape Town wouldn't be complete without going up Table Mountain. Luckily the day I picked was no cloud and I didn't see the famous 'table cloth' come rolling over the mountain clouding up the view. I caught the cable car up and back down, spending a good few hours walking around at the top and doing the smaller hikes. The 360 views were insane!
I finished off the trip with a walk around the colourful Bo Kaap neighbourhood, with bright murals, houses and street art.
Overall, a great trip, loads to do if you want a week of nature, exploring, eating great food or history. Until next time!
