From the Sand to the Sea

In April 2014, my job had me based in Kathu, South Africa for a period of 2 months. Towards the end of the month, I was faced with four days off for the Easter weekend and a whole lot of nothing to do for those four days. Kathu is not a particularly entertaining town, you see. So, rather than sitting around doing nothing for the whole break, I booked myself a few days in one of the country's main tourist spots: Cape Town.

I searched for hotels on Agoda and found one that was in a decent price range (not too cheap, not too expensive - gotta treat myself sometimes!). I settled with the Three Cities Inn on Greenmarket Square. I chose this area because it was in the middle of the city, but also only a short walk to the waterfront. I flew in on the Thursday morning, picked up a car at the airport and drove into the city. I was a little taken aback at first, as Cape Town is full of 'one way' streets. So keep that in mind if you plan driving there! I eventually got to my hotel, checked in and dropped my stuff into my room.

After settling in, I hit the streets and walked down to the Waterfront. It was about 15 minutes, once I worked out which streets to follow. The Waterfront itself is a bit of a maze, but you will get the hang of it before too long. The weather really turned it on for me during my trip, as you can see here. Beautiful blue skies and crisp water lapping at the docks. I pretty much nailed the timing of this trip! I spent a couple of hours just wandering around the docks and checking out various shops before heading back to my hotel. I had pre-purchased a ticket to go up Table Mountain (which you can see in the above photo) for the afternoon of the Thursday. You can do so here, but it's not entirely necessary. Just be warned that you might miss out if you try to go on a busy day.

Now, I'm no geologist, but a mountain that is completely flat on the top seems like a bit of an oddity, wouldn't you think? Table Mountain sits there, overlooking the city like a centurion guarding the once-heavily-disputed port. Cape Town was always a strategic point for the explorers and traders from Europe on their adventures towards Asia. I don't know all the details, as my list of qualifications also does not include "historian". But I do know that both the English and Dutch (among many others) wanted to claim it as their own. Of course, the fact that there were already people living there was irrelevant, but that's how exploring worked back then!

Now, when it comes to getting up the mountain, some people are very keen and choose to go on foot. Personally, I opted for the cable car! But I can imagine that reaching the top of Table Mountain using nothing but leg power must be extremely rewarding. I might have to go back and try it one day. However you choose to get to the top, though, once you make it, the view is pretty incredible!

On my second day in Cape Town, I had pre-booked to join a wine tour. Cape Town has an extensive wine region about 1-2 hours from the city. The most notable area is Stellenbosch, which is also a big student town due to the local university. Convenient place to be a student, wouldn't you say?

The tour I joined was organised by African Story Tours and included a visit to 4 wineries throughout the Stellenbosch, Franschoek and Paarl regions over the course of a day, including a stop to refuel for lunch (see below). We were accompanied by a guide who gave a good explanation of the different types of wine that each place was known for. I am not a wine connoisseur by any stretch, but it was a very relaxed and enjoyable day. The photos shown were taken at Zorgvliet Wines, on the border of Stellenbosch and Franschoek regions.

Cape Malay Curry for lunch on the wine tour.

On returning to my hotel, I went for a walk up Long Street, which is Cape Town's main restaurant and bar strip. I opted for dinner at a place called Mama Africa where I enjoyed a very tasty Springbok steak and a Robben Island Iced Tea (clever name!).

My third day in Cape Town, I boarded a boat down at the Waterfront for a trip across to Robben Island. Maybe the aforementioned drink will make more sense now? :) Of course, Robben Island is the infamous offshore prison where Nelson Mandela was held for 18 years. The boat ride covers about 9km and takes around 1 hour from port to port. Once you get out of the harbour, you can get a great view of Cape Town and Table Mountain, as seen here. Another fantastically clear day! I took this photo as a panorama, so some of the edges are a bit messed up with the movement of the boat!

The ticket includes the boat ride across and the bus tour around the island on arrival, conducted by a former prisoner of the island. It was a very informative tour around what must have been a pretty grim place and time to be a prisoner. Of course, the tour includes a walk past Nelson Mandela's cell. It's such a small room that it is very difficult to even get a photo of it - this was about the best I could do! It's amazing that he could have spent so long there and still come out with compassion for his fellow man. Quite a remarkable human being.

Towards the end of the tour, the walk takes you past the garden seen here. This garden was cultivated by Mandela and his inmates, and it was where they found buried his original copy of what is now the worldwide published book "A Long Walk to Freedom". I haven't read the book, so I can't tell you anything about it... but this is where they found it! Haha. The tour comes to a close after having made a nice loop through the prison, and the guide we had gave a recount of his experiences; what led to him being in prison and how his time inside went. Overall, quite a sobering day.

After the boat ride back to the mainland, I stopped in at the Two Oceans Aquarium. It's always fun to check out some local marine life. Here's a penguin with some fancy head wear!

There are thousands of different animals to be seen at the Aquarium. And I was lucky enough to go on a day when they were feeding the sharks. They only feed them twice a week - I suppose they don't need a lot of energy when they just swim in circles around a tank.

I don't have a photo of the feeding, but here is one of the locals, as seen from a side viewing window. Nothing as exciting as the Great White sharks that are off Cape Town's shores in the Atlantic; just some surly-looking Grey Nurse (or, as they are known in South Africa, Ragged Tooth) sharks. They were actually surprisingly docile when it came to being hand-fed by the staff who scuba-dived down into their realm. But I suppose they are somewhat tame compared to their wild brothers and sisters.

I couldn't finish talking about the Aquarium without a shout-out to everyone's favourite animal: the Bad Joke Eel! If you're not familiar with the meme, click here. The idea is that eels always look like they just told a (bad) joke and are waiting for a reaction.

When you're down by the sea
And an eel bites your knee:
That's a moray!



For my three-quarters of a day, I decided I would head down south. About 3-4 hours' drive is Cape Argulhas, the southernmost tip of Africa. I had been informed that this was the point where the Indian and Atlantic Oceans officially meet. I'd also been mistaken in thinking there was a visible line between the two; something to do with one being cold and one being hot, causing the waters to be different colours. I think this property actually belongs to the Baltic/North Sea, or something like that, where one is fresh and the other is salt water.

But even though I didn't get the option of a cool "oceans meeting" photo, it was still pretty noteworthy that I can say I have stood at the southernmost tip of the African continent! When I arrived, it was drizzling with rain, so I didn't hang around very long. I also had a flight to catch, so I had to race back to Cape Town so as to not miss it. In doing so, I actually got caught in the Easter traffic of people coming back to Cape Town from their holidays, so I was lucky to make it... but I got there with about 45 minutes to spare!

And that brings an end to my 4-day getaway to Cape Town! In the hectic schedule that I have with my job, it was fantastic to be a genuine tourist for a couple of days. I can certainly recommend Cape Town as a destination, but you have to be careful of what time of year you go. I have been told somewhere between February and April is the best time in terms of weather. But whenever you find yourself there, you will be sure to have a great time!