The real tour began on day two with a walking tour of the township, Guguletu, and lunch at the famous African BBQ/braai spot Mzolis. It was a great opportunity to see a different side to Cape Town and experience the warmth and friendliness of the people in Guguletu, in particular our hosts Donald and Andrew. The group spend the late afternoon on the white sands of beautiful Clifton Beach, and then had sundowners and dinner across from Camps Bay beach. The local flavour of the trip continued the next day with lunch and a short tour of Bo Kaap, Cape Town’s Malay area at the top of town. We feasted on delicious local Malay food at the home of a local friend who ensured that we were well fed. Thankfully we’d climbed Lions Head earlier that morning so we had a big appetite!
The next day we did an all day tour of the Cape Peninsula, crossing between the Atlantic and Indian oceans. Highlights included swimming with the penguins at Boulders Beach, driving over scenic Chapmans Peak and visiting Cape Point (the South-westerly tip of Africa). We then took the cable car up Table Mountain and watched the sunset over a glass of South African cold white wine. The culinary tour of Cape Town continued the next day with a trip to Langebaan on the Cape West Coast where we spent the day at a seafood BBQ/braai restaurant on the beach. We enjoyed 9 courses of freshly caught and cooked seafood accompanied by South African cider and wine, a live guitarist an a swim in the sea.
After a restful day, the group took a boat to Robben Island to learn more about South African history and to visit Nelson Mandela’s prison cell. The afternoon was spent walking around the city centre, visiting the various markets and boutique shops and followed by a stroll through the Company Gardens. We then visited a couple of Cape Town’s famous weekend markets – the Biscuit Mill, a true ambassador for Cape Town’s World Design Capital for 2014 title, and the Hout Bay market, boasting South African food, clothes and curio stalls. In the afternoon we visited Kirstenbosch Botanical Gardens and had a picnic while watching Jimmy Nevis perform on an open air stage.
It was an action packed week of sight seeing, enjoying the fabulous restaurants and wine in Cape Town, relaxing on the Cape’s many beaches and soaking up as much culture as possible. Stay tuned for Part Two – our visit to the vineyards of Franschhoek and Stellenbosch.