In addition to our self explorations in Cape Town, a true highlight was a guided private day tour down to the Cape of Good Hope. Our group knew that we wanted to see the penguins (eek!) and the Cape of Good Hope and talked about potentially renting a car as a way to see it all. I did a bit of rooting around on TripAdvisor and found an all day tour to these spots and a few others. The reviews were fantastic, and it sounded much more relaxing than renting a car! It wasn’t too pricey for the 4 of us (enjoying the economy of scale as we had visitors with us) and included a local guide/driver. Additionally it included pick-up and drop-off at the hotel. Does it get any more slick than that?
The morning started with meeting our smiling tour guide named Mac and jumping in his large van to start the day. It was exciting to get a bit further away from the downtown area with a local. Mac had moved from Scotland about 30 years earlier. He came for the warm weather and never left! He was a great guide, and his background provided some interesting perspective of the area.
Our first stop was a lookout of the 12 Apostles, a large rock formation along the coast.
We continued making our way along the coast away from Cape Town, with Mac peppering in details of the area. Eventually we found ourselves in Hout Bay. At this point we had wound our way to the back side of the 12 Apostles, with mountains all around us. This bay is most known to tourists for boat tours out to a seal colony on a nearby island. Duiker Island is home to thousands of cape fur seals and is commonly called Seal Island by error.
After Hout Bay, we hopped back in the van and continued along the coast. The ride itself was breathtaking. From the blue skies and sunshine, to the incredible mountains along the coast, I was beginning to see why so many people had such positive impressions of the city! Eventually we stopped at another look-out, right across from our boat tour in Hout Bay, though we had climbed considerably and had a nice high view.
Our day was just getting started and we continued our drive. Along the way, Mac pointed out “Shark Spotters”, basically posts at the top of beaches with large flags. People who were shark spotters had the job of looking for great white sharks and changing the flag based on conditions. Mac said the program had great success since it’s implementation in 2004. Eventually we came to this gigantic beach that I’m struggling to remember to the name of. It is miles long, and if you find the parking lot in the bottom left of the picture, you can start to get an idea of scale.
After our fill of the beautiful coast line, we found ourselves at an Ostrich farm! Though we had seen some out in the wild, it was fun learning more about them. We even got to feed them. Which was about as terrifying and fun as it sounds!
After fun with the Ostriches, we went to the main event: The Cape of Good Hope. This spot is a National Park with lovely rolling landscape and the most South Westerly point in Africa. Adam had been here when he came to Cape Town 10 years ago and remembered enjoying the park. The park also included a historic lighthouse, which I knew would be a hit with my lighthouse-loving mom!
We made our way into the park, and I couldn’t believe how much the landscape changed. It felt like we were in Ireland! The temperature dropped and we were surrounded by rocky, grassy coastline, in addition to rolling clouds and fog. It was such a stark contrast from our previous spots. Once we got to the coast, the clouds cleared quite a bit and we started the climb up to the lighthouse. We could’ve taken a cable car to the top, but we figured this would be a good opportunity to get in some steps!
After our climb we went to the restaurant at the base of the lighthouse. It was foodie food, and Adam and I were in heaven. It had been awhile since we’d been to a gourmet restaurant with familiar food (maybe since Sydney?), and reminded us of a restaurant from home.
Lunch ran a tad bit long, so we weren’t able to hike any more in the park, but we were soon on our way to the actual Cape via Mac’s trusty van. When we arrived, we couldn’t believe how WINDY it was. Just trying to walk around was a challenge! Mom ended up staying in the car while we popped out for a quick photo shoot.
After leaving the National Park, we continued along the coast making our way for Boulders Beach and a famous penguin colony. Along the way we passed by small towns that were heavily affected during the Apartheid government. These (notably inland) towns were the area that many people of color were forced to move to from the coasts. During those years, only people of specific races (i.e. white) could live in the most desirable oceanside areas. There were many years of oppression and relocation for lots of people. A lot of the towns for black and colored people had ridiculous names like “Sea View”, even though they obviously had no view. I grew up along water, and I’d be pretty ticked if I had to move from the beautiful oceanside to a landlocked town! Thankfully these rules were changed in the 90’s with the fall of the Apartheid government.
Once we had our fill of time with the penguins, we headed to our final stop: a winery! South Africa is known for its wine, and we noticed this by the price of wine alone. It was crazy cheap! Like $3-4 for a really good bottle of wine. Needless to say we enjoyed a lot of wine in South Africa :). This was our only stop at a winery in the area, and if we ever come back, we’d definitely like to explore the wine region a bit more.
With our tasting complete and a bottle of wine in hand, our van made its way back to the hotel. The drive back was lovely as we saw the other side of Cape Town that we didn’t get the chance to experience. So much to do, so little time. The whole day was absolutely fabulous, and we saw a ton in a short amount of time. If you ever find yourself in Cape Town, I can’t recommend a day tour with Mac enough!
Overall our crew enjoyed Cape Town immensely. I had heard mixed things about the city, with some friends loving it and others feeling it was a bit overrated. I think because I came in with somewhat lower expectations, I ended up thinking this place was pretty sweet! Overall our 4 days in Cape Town were a perfect complement to our fantastic safari.
-Kelly
Around the World in 180 Days 