After a couple weeks of small town and national park life, it’s time to return to a city! We had a slow start to our visit in Cape Town as we had built up a backlog of errands and work during a week offline. In the end though, we saw a lot and enjoyed it fully.
Part 1: Sept 15-19 - Big Bay
Our first few days were spent in the "Eden by the Bay" timeshare from our Home Exchange contact in a northern suburb. It didn’t feel much like city life, but had all the malls and medical professionals we needed. I slowly regained my walking abilities on its lovely beach promenade, with our first views of the iconic Table Mountain.
One day, we took a trip to nearby Century City, a mixed-use development built on a series of ponds and canals, with a bird sanctuary at its center.
Part 2: Sept 19-28 - Sea Point
Our second home exchange was a lot more my speed. We still had a nice, flat seaside promenade right across the street, but also a lively neighborhood, two street food markets and a huge weekend farmers market, two adorable roommates and a killer view. While I worked, but I got to watch the world go by, the waves crash, and an incredible sunset over the Atlantic every single evening.
When it comes to natural beauty, Cape Town is a stand out among cities. We hiked to a couple of epic viewpoints starting with pointy Lion’s Head, right behind our neighborhood. Another day we got a ride over to Table Mountain, planning to take the cable car up. Finding we'd have to wait almost 3 hours, we walked up and took the car down in about the same amount of time.
The seaside promenade took us to the V&A waterfront, the tourist core with all the expected shops, buskers, museums, tour busses and boats. We took our boat to Robben Island, which has served as a leper colony, military base, and most famously, maximum security prison. Many political prisoners were held there, including Nelson Mandela, and some of them now work as tour guides on the island. Educational, and enjoyable too, with beautiful views back toward Table Mountain.
Just inland from the V&A is the vibrant Cape Malay neighborhood called Bo Paak. It was originally a settlement for freed slaves from southeast Asia who, when they were finally allowed to own property, painted their houses in bright colors as a celebration of freedom. We celebrated by trying the traditional donut-like pastry called koeksisters, and a Cape Malay fusion dish, bobotie.
Cape Town has quite a food scene and we sampled a lot, including lots of international treats at the street food markets. We also got a fancy prix-fixe at a waterfront restaurant, a whole braii fish with starters and dessert, all incredible. Then there was the local sandwich, the Gatsby, not a favorite for me. It cost a couple dollars and could feed a family, with several servings of fries stuffed inside. We gave a good portion to a hungry guy on the beach.
The Friday before we departed, we picked up our rental car for the next road trip. That gave us the chance to explore the Cape Peninsula, truly a highlight! The drive to and from the Cape of Good Hope is spectacular. We stopped at some incredible viewpoints and a cute beach lined with colorful huts.
At the end of the Cape, we walked to the lighthouse that marks the dangerous rocky tip, and on to the furthest south point. We stopped at a very different beach, isolated and too wind blasted to attempt a picnic.
The other big highlight on the peninsula was Boulder Beach, home of the largest penguin colony. They were so fun to watch waddling into the water. We even saw a baby in a nest. Their beach was not so bad to look at, either.
Other wildlife on this stop included the playful fur seals at the waterfront, an ostrich at the Cape, and the rock dassie at the top of Table Mountain.
In almost two weeks, we hit most of the tourist hotspots and didn't scratch the surface of all Cape Town has to offer. It is one of the most stunning cities I've ever seen, with a vibrant culture and food scene. Even with all there is to do in the city, locals consistently recommended the nearby wine country, so we made that our next stop.