We spent four nights at Protea by Marriott Hotel Cape Town Sea Point. Our first full day in the city was certainly that; we completed all three loops of the City Sightseeing hop-on-hop-off bus system, walked the city centre as well as the Bo Kaap district, rode the cable car up Table Mountain, and had dinner with the nicest family ever. We did a quick self-guided walk that included City Hall, St. George's Cathedral, the Castle of Good Hope... as well as homeless encampments, plenty of urine, and First Responders manning a covered body. We then walked to the historic and colourful Malay district of Bo-Kaap. Here, two men tried to scam us by telling us we had to register to be in the area due to local filming and the presence of the President. Apparently if we'd gone with them, they'd have asked for our ATM card as part of the registration process. Instead, I refused and a man from a hotel ran them off, yelling and calling the police. After our walking excursions, we caught the blue line bus through Kirstenbosch Gardens in order to connect with the purple line at Constantia Nek to see the wineries area. Back on the blue bus line, we cruised the coast, seeing Hout Bay and stopping at Camps Bay to walk on the beach. We passed suburbs and townships, beaches and coastline, before switching back to the red line that would take us through the city and harbourfront again and on to Table Mountain. Despite having pre-purchased tickets, the line for the cable car was very slow. Eventually we learned that the delay was due to load-shedding (the country's practice of cutting electricity in different areas for four hours each day); while running on a generator, the system was operating at half capacity. We were assured that the cable car would run later than scheduled to get everyone back down the mountain. Throughout our time in South Africa, we were constantly surprised by the cooler than anticipated weather, but atop Table Maountain was shockingly cold with bitter winds. We immediately discovered longer lines for the descent than what we'd just waited in to ascend, so we split up with one of us holding a spot in the line while the other checked out the views. Everyone was very concerned for my survival in my ill-advised shorts and t-shirt. This sparked many friendly conversations while in line. Eventually it became clear that we were not going to make it down in time to catch the final hop-on bus leaving the area. The family in front of us in line generously offered not only to provide us with a ride back to our hotel, but to first go with us to a restaurant they had previously recommended. The delays actually allowed us to watch the sunset from the mountain. Eastern Food Bazaar was unique, tasty, and affordable, but the company was even better! We couldn't believe how friendly and hospitable the Solberg family is. We were so pleased to be able to join Chantelle and Kevin for dinner again two nights later. Easily the best part of our trip to South Africa was meeting the world's nicest people. Having seen rain in the forecast for the coming days, we scrambled to get on a tour of the Cape Peninsula early the following morning rather than wait an extra day as originally planned. Despite having had little sleep due to spending hours on the phone trying unsuccessfully to rectify security issues with our credit card, we set off on a full day tour. The first stop and top priority was seeing the colony of African Penguins at Boulders Beach. I took a photo of a dassie (African Hyrax) without a clue what animal we'd stumbled upon at the beach. Next up, the Cape Point Nature Reserve, where we hiked up to the country's third oldest lighthouse. We walked from the lighthouse down to the Cape of Good Hope. Along the way, we saw large elands, colourful lizards, and ostriches. The coastal drive provided plenty of spectacular views as we passed Kalk Bay and Muizenberg Beach, Fish Hoek, Simon's Town, and others. We had most of two more days in Cape Town, but the weather didn't cooperate, as temperatures dropped further and it rained quite a bit. We had already squeezed most of our sightseeing into the first two days, though, so we didn't mind a slower pace. We still managed to go on several walks, especially exploring the coastal promenade and Green Point Park. We were thrilled to be able to visit some more with Kevin and Chantelle over dinner at a Tex-Mex restaurant they treated us to!
3 Comments
Susan
6/10/2023 02:52:49 pm
Amazing photos. I recognize a few places. We have the same photo of the two capes.
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Karyn
6/11/2023 12:07:55 am
I love the photos and stories! It looks quite clean and ‘I busy’ even in the more urban photos- I imagine you were specific with angles and lighting etc
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Michael Wiebe
6/11/2023 12:45:40 am
It was clean except for a specific portion of the downtown core near the bus terminal and in small homeless encampments. Nowhere seemed crowded at all. It's a beautiful city with lots of coastline and surrounded by mountains.
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