Cape Town Gorgeous

Penguins at Boulders Beach

Hellooooo Cape Town Gorgeous!

Ask me where my favorite place is to drive, and Cape Town will probably be at the top.  It’s got one of the more scenic and beautiful views for a city.  In fact, Cape Town is probably one of my favorite places I have traveled, ever.  Beautiful weather, beautiful food, beautiful environment, beautiful prices, I mean everything was amazing here!  This is one of the must go to in your life!

*Note: I went during January, which was their summer time.

Side note: I was able to snatch a return plane ticket to Johannesburg for only HKD 50 (to everyone outside of HK that’s about USD 6.5).  Yup, HKD 50!!!  Not including tax and fuel surcharges of course, but still that all amounted to less than 20% of what it will usually cost me.  Had to thank my colleagues for letting me know about the 1st anniversary of fanfares by Cathay Pacific on the day of.

Day One
From Johannesburg, we took a domestic plane to Cape Town, and rented a legit Toyota Corolla for the next 3 days.

White Toyota Corolla

 

White Toyota Corolla

We first checked in at our hotel at the Hilton Cape Town City Centre.  You might want to consider it – it’s not bad, but it’s not mind blowing either.  But it’s convenient and it is after all Hilton so you can expect the quality to be above average.

Our first stop was to take the tour of the Robben Island.  For those of you who don’t know, this was where Nelson Mandela was held behind bars for 18 years.  I had to drive to V&A Waterfront (see below) in order to reach the ferry that would take us to the island.  It would take about 26.35 minutes to get there.

At Robben Island, we took tour buses around the island with a tour guide, a captive of Robben Island from many years ago.  He explained to us the sufferings and showed us the locations of their area.

Robben Island

Robben Island

Robben Island

Robben Island

Robben Island

Robben Island

Robben Island

Robben Island

Robben IslandAt least the island had good views

Coca Cola TableCoca Cola Table

The whole tour was about 3 hours.  We took the ferry back to the V&A Waterfront.

The V&A Waterfront (Victoria & Alfred Waterfront) is basically a shopping / entertainment district.  It sort of reminds me of Santa Monica, Los Angeles.  There you can buy a lot of African clothing, crafts, souvenirs etc.  We eventually settled down on a seafood restaurant for dinner… if you ever go to Cape Town, you must must must must must order seafood, it’s the best thing they have!  Food and beverages in general are 2/3 of the price of Hong Kong’s.

V&A Waterfront

V&A Waterfront

V&A Waterfront

V&A Waterfront

V&A Waterfront

V&A Waterfront

 

Day Two

Day two was much more exhausting than day one.

We started off the day by going to the Table Top Mountain.  How can we miss out on the breathtaking views of Cape Town from above?

Table Top Mountain

Table Top Mountain

Table Top Mountain

Table Top Mountain

Table Top Mountain

Table Top Mountain

Table Top Mountain

Table Top Mountain

Table Top Mountain

Table Top Mountain

Table Top Mountain

Table Top Mountain

Table Top Mountain

Table Top Mountain

Table Top Mountain

I believe a third of the pictures taken of the trip were at the Table Top Mountain.

Anyway, we moved on and drove to Kirstenbosch National Botanical Gardens.  For those of you who like nature, this is the perfect spot for you.

Kirstenbosch National Botanical Gardens

Kirstenbosch National Botanical Gardens

Kirstenbosch National Botanical Gardens

Kirstenbosch National Botanical Gardens

Kirstenbosch National Botanical Gardens

Kirstenbosch National Botanical Gardens

Kirstenbosch National Botanical Gardens

Continuing south (final destination Cape Point) we stopped by Boulders Beach, which was along the way.  Can you guess what there were on Boulders Beach?  And no not boulders butttt….

Penguins at Boulders Beach

Penguins at Boulders Beach

Penguins at Boulders Beach

Penguins at Boulders Beach

Penguins at Boulders Beach

Penguins at Boulders Beach

And finally, we reach the most southern part of Cape Town, Cape Point!  Fantastic views and many animals along the way – zebras, baboons, ostriches.  Amazing.

Cape Point

Cape Point

Cape PointZebras

Cape Point

Cape Point

Cape PointHiking up

Cape PointGood weather

Cape Point

Cape Point

Cape PointLighthouse

Cape Point

Cape Point

Cape Point

Cape PointOstriches

Cape Point

Cape Point

Cape Point

Cape Point

Cape Point

Cape Point

It took us a good 2.5 hours to head back to our hotel.  We ended up at a restaurant where I got to partake in some ostrich meat.  Similar to beef, but has a bit of ‘bird’ taste and has much less fat.

Ostrich Meat

 

Day Three

We booked a wine tour – the tour was small with only 8 people (incl. us) on it.  We visited many different vineyards including the ones located in the famous Stellenbosch.  Prices were amazingly cheap – the price of the wine bottles cost just as much as a glass of the same wine!  We’re talking about less than HKD 60 (USD 7.5) here per bottle.  Ended up bringing 4 wine bottles back to Hong Kong, 1 from a lucky draw that I won.

Cape Town Vineyards

Cape Town Vineyards

Cape Town Vineyards

Cape Town Vineyards

Cape Town Vineyards

Cape Town Vineyards

Cape Town Vineyards

Cape Town Vineyards

Cape Town Vineyards

Cape Town Vineyards

Cape Town Vineyards

Cape Town Vineyards

Cape Town VineyardsTime to get drunk!

Cape Town Vineyards

Cape Town Vineyards

Cape Town Vineyards

Cape Town Vineyards

Cape Town Vineyards

Cape Town Vineyards

And just before leaving to Johannesburg the next day, we went to eat seafood again at Camps Bay.  Best. Seafood. Ever.

Camps Bay Seafood

Camps Bay Seafood

 

Random Pics

Cape Town South Africa

Cape Town South Africa

Cape Town South Africa

Cape Town South Africa

Cape Town South Africa

Cape Town South Africa

Cape Town South AfricaSome event going on the night we ate ostrich meat… must be cause of MeeEee!?!?

Cape Town South Africa

 

How did you like my post?  Did it inspire you to visit this amazing city?  And yes Cape Town is much safer than you would expect, but as always be aware of your surroundings and don’t try to flaunt.

Do you have anything to add to Cape Town as well?  Or anything to ask me?  You can put it in the comments below.

*Lasted Updated Nov. 8, 2022 – Added lots more pics since the old pics became broken links

**Originally published on Aug. 3, 2014

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