Jenny's Mountain Adventures: Touristing in Cape Town, South Africa

One month in Cape Town, South Africa sounds like a long time, but I feel like we only scratched the surface in this vibrant city! We arrived at the beginning of February without our luggage. This was not surprising because when we showed up at the airport in Calgary 28 hours earlier, the first leg of our journey was canceled due to snowstorms in Vancouver. As a result, we scrambled to change our flights and connections. We actually ended up with a better schedule, arriving 1 hour earlier in Cape Town than our original itinerary. Arriving in a new country after dark is always an interesting experience, especially when the South Africans sitting across the isle from us on the flight had been horrified to hear that we were traveling on our own. Despite our assurance that we were going to be staying with some locals (not actually the case) the woman warned us about the dangers of Cape Town enough for us to start wondering if we had made a mistake about this trip. Most of the information we had found seemed to contradict this woman's concern and stated that although Cape Town has a violent reputation, it is easy to stay safe and out of trouble.

Once we learned we would be leaving the airport without our luggage (or any of our climbing gear that we had checked), we took an uber to the Air B&B we had rented for the month. I had printed out instructions on how to get into the building but we didn't have any way of contacting the owners if we couldn't get in. Our plan was to pick up a SIM card the next day so we were relying on WiFi and everything looked pretty closed. The uber driver dropped us off on a deserted street outside a condo complex encircled by a spiky metal fence and drove away. It was well lit but unnerving nonetheless. When we couldn't get through the security gate we started to panic, but after 4 attempts the caretaker finally answered the buzzer and let us in. What a relief.

The bachelor pad - our home for a month

We spent the next day getting our bearings and settling in. We picked up SIM cards for our phones so we had data for the month. Our bags were not going to be arriving anytime soon so climbing was out of the question initially. We bought some clothes on the airlines dime and set out exploring the city.

The colourful homes of Bo-Kaap

Table Mountain views from a roof-top patio in Bo-Kaap

We were staying in Green Point, a neighbourhood within walking distance of many of the tourist areas including Bo-Kaap, City Bowl and the V&A Waterfront. We initially explored on foot, then ventured farther out on rental bikes to access Camps Bay, a beautiful sea-side neighbourhood on the Atlantic Ocean.

V&A Waterfront

Cycling through Bo-Kaap

Rental bikes on the Sea Point Promenade - en route to Camps Bay for the afternoon

Camps Bay beach with views of the 12 Apostles (Table Mountain)

Atlantic coast

Eventually our gear arrived with only a few items missing. All the climbing gear was accounted for. We had plenty of time to climb later so our next tourist stop was the Kirstenbosch Botanical Gardens where Bonobo was going to be playing a show. I had bought tickets a few weeks before we left and was very exited to see a concert in a foreign country. We spent the afternoon exploring the gardens. Looking up at the tropical vegetation on the mountain above, it felt like we were in Jurassic Park. Later, we staked out a spot on the lawn in front of the stage to wait for the show to start. Everyone had brought their own picnic and we felt woefully under prepared. Our bag of cookies and bottle of ginger beer did not compare to the elaborate picnics with tapas and wine that everyone around us seemed to have. South Africans sure know how to picnic! The sun went down and the band came out. It was a magical experience listening to Bonobo high above the lights of Cape Town and in the shadow of Table Mountain.

Exploring the botanical gardens

Protea flowers look like a dragon eggs!

Wandering the gardens

Getting ready for Bonobo!

We ticked off some of the main tourist stops, like the weekend farmers market at Oranjezicht and the Two Oceans Aquarium. Then we picked up a rental car and began to explore other parts of the Western Cape. I got in touch with some friends of friends who invited us out hiking to see the Disa flowers and out for sundowners on the beach. We also were invited for drinks with my friends sister-in-law who told us all about the history of South Africa including the Apartheid and the current political and educational systems. It was very eye opening to speak with a local who knew so much about the country's volatile history.

Oranjezicht weekend Farmers Market

Kelp forest exhibit at Two Ocean's Aquarium

Table Mountain from Signal Hill. The clouds that roll in with the South-Easter in the summer are know as the "Table Cloth"

Views of the FIFA stadium and waterfront from Signal Hill

Our tiny right hand drive for exploring the Cape

Out for a drive to Haut Bay, views of Lions Head and Camps Bay behind

Disa flowers - the Western Cape Flower that only blooms in February!

Beers on the beach

Valentine's Day picnic with new friends

African Penguins at Boulders Beach

Summer time penguins!

So cute!

Strolling the waterfront in Simon's Town

Kite boarders and windsurfers catching waves at Misty Cliffs Beach

Looking south the the Cape of Good Hope

A good day for watersports

Amazing views of Haut Bay from Chapman's Peak Drive

Windy road cut from the cliffs - Chapman's Peak Drive

Morning view of Table Mountain from Table View Beach (on the way home from Du Noon)

Looking down from Silvermine Reservoir towards False Bay and Muizenberg

Disaster struck early in the trip. After only a few days of climbing (see Climbing in Cape Town Blog), an extreme dish-washing accident required a trip to the New Somerset Hospital Emergency Department. Kyle had sliced his hand open and required 6 stitches. The wonderful interns and doctors took care of us right away and put Kyle back together stat, commenting "oh, its not that bad," much to Kyle's objection that it was indeed "that bad." This caused another change in plans. Fortunately, there is lots more to do in Cape Town other than climb so we took a trip to the Constantia Wine Region which is located within the city. We were able to visit Groot Constantia (the oldest wine estate in the Southern Hemisphere) as well as Eagles Nest and Constantia Glen wineries.

Hours after sutures, wine is helping Kyle recover

Touring Groot Constantia

Beautiful gardens and vineyards at Groot Constantia

Delicious charcuterie at Eagle's Nest

Hills and vines at Constantia Glen

Great day of wine tasting

We also spent some time doing walking tours of the city, learning more about the history of Cape Town and South Africa as a whole. We had a great tour guide who told had stories to tell us around every corner.

Nelson Mandela street art

Cape Town City Hall

Maasai performer in the Company Garden

Sampling the local happy hour G+T

Sunset views from our balcony

For the last few days of the trip, we hit the water. We went out early one morning from the waterfront to kayak and were treated with appearances by whales, dolphins and seals. Later, we traveled to Muizenberg where we rented surfboards and caught some waves in False Bay, home to many great white sharks! We didn't have any Jaws encounters, but kept a close eye on the shark watch flags along the beach!