Of course we had a blast in Cape Town. We used Airbnb again and stayed with an absolutely wonderful couple, Angela and Faizel. The first night there they treated us to a lovely dinner, some drinks and fantastic conversation! We would have loved to have been able to spend more time just hanging out with them. The whole area was beautiful though and we had a busy, but relaxing few days exploring.
Our first full day we took a cab down to the waterfront and spent a good amount of the day just ducking in and out of little shops and art galleries and grabbing a few drinks before a lovely dinner on one of the piers. It certainly lived up to the hype as South Africa’s most visited locale and reminded us a lot of various waterfront towns we’ve enjoyed at home.
On our second day we decided it would probably be easiest to rent a car so we wound up going back to the airport to pick it up. This worked out well because I also needed to file a police report for my iPhone, which short version, I unfortunately “donated” to someone after dropping it on the flight the day before. Total bummer, but hopefully our travel insurance covers most of it and it did mean I got to pick up a cool $15 Nokia complete with a flashlight and an FM radio.
Anyway, once all of that was taken care of we drove out to some of the nearby wineries. This was another place where visiting off-season turned out to be fantastic. I was a bit chilly, but everywhere we went had a fireplaces and buckets of blankets. (Why is this not a thing at home‽) It also meant that at most places we stopped to visit there were only one or two other people there with us. The area was beautiful, the wine was delicious and everyone was super friendly. Success!
Day three took us on another mini-road trip from Cape Town down around Cape Point and back. We took our time and drove through some more lovely little coastal towns and admired the huge (really huge) waves off the coast. One of the definite highlights though was stopping to see the Slangkop Point lighthouse, the tallest lighthouse in South Africa. We were taking pictures outside when one of the security guards asked us if we wanted to go inside. Saying yes of course, he took us to meet the (very cool) lighthouse keeper who explained that it would be five rand apiece and we had an hour or so to explore before they closed for the day. He then unlocked the door for us and we had a blast as the only ones inside climbing up to the top and getting so close that we could actually stick our heads inside the lens (luckily the light didn’t flash at the same time).
From there we kept driving to see Cape Point and the Cape of Good Hope (much smaller than we were expecting) and saw wild penguins on Boulder Beach. They were completely adorable and I still can’t believe the wildlife we’ve seen on this trip.
Finally, on our final day we spent the morning on a tour of Robben island. It was incredibly moving and very much worth the visit. Our plan was to then hike (or take the funicular) to the top of Table Mountain, but like every other day we were there it was covered with clouds and so we decided we wouldn’t get to see anything anyway. Instead we drove back towards wine country and enjoyed another afternoon in a beautiful area.
We weren't sure what to expect for our time in South Africa, but can now enthusiastically say how much we loved it and hope to go back again soon.
On our second day we decided it would probably be easiest to rent a car so we wound up going back to the airport to pick it up. This worked out well because I also needed to file a police report for my iPhone, which short version, I unfortunately “donated” to someone after dropping it on the flight the day before. Total bummer, but hopefully our travel insurance covers most of it and it did mean I got to pick up a cool $15 Nokia complete with a flashlight and an FM radio.
Anyway, once all of that was taken care of we drove out to some of the nearby wineries. This was another place where visiting off-season turned out to be fantastic. I was a bit chilly, but everywhere we went had a fireplaces and buckets of blankets. (Why is this not a thing at home‽) It also meant that at most places we stopped to visit there were only one or two other people there with us. The area was beautiful, the wine was delicious and everyone was super friendly. Success!
Day three took us on another mini-road trip from Cape Town down around Cape Point and back. We took our time and drove through some more lovely little coastal towns and admired the huge (really huge) waves off the coast. One of the definite highlights though was stopping to see the Slangkop Point lighthouse, the tallest lighthouse in South Africa. We were taking pictures outside when one of the security guards asked us if we wanted to go inside. Saying yes of course, he took us to meet the (very cool) lighthouse keeper who explained that it would be five rand apiece and we had an hour or so to explore before they closed for the day. He then unlocked the door for us and we had a blast as the only ones inside climbing up to the top and getting so close that we could actually stick our heads inside the lens (luckily the light didn’t flash at the same time).
From there we kept driving to see Cape Point and the Cape of Good Hope (much smaller than we were expecting) and saw wild penguins on Boulder Beach. They were completely adorable and I still can’t believe the wildlife we’ve seen on this trip.
Finally, on our final day we spent the morning on a tour of Robben island. It was incredibly moving and very much worth the visit. Our plan was to then hike (or take the funicular) to the top of Table Mountain, but like every other day we were there it was covered with clouds and so we decided we wouldn’t get to see anything anyway. Instead we drove back towards wine country and enjoyed another afternoon in a beautiful area.
We weren't sure what to expect for our time in South Africa, but can now enthusiastically say how much we loved it and hope to go back again soon.
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