What to do in Cape Town: 10 incredible things cannot miss
Original post from Monday Feelings
Cape Town is mind-blowing. The African version of the Wonderful City (nickname for Rio de Janeiro). It offers that perfect mix between nature and city which is rare to find in other places. And, just as in Rio, the inhabitants of Cape Town are so proud of their city, that this love is passed to anyone who visits the town.
With so much nature to explore, astonishing beaches, wineries, good restaurants and hotels, this is a city to stay no less than 5 days (and you will still not going to be able to see everything!).
If you don't want to miss what is best in there, write it down right now this tip on what to do in Cape Town!
Are you going to South Africa? How about exploring the country on a motorhome, through one of the most beautiful motorways in the world?! Have a look HERE about our memorable trip through the Garden Route!
1 Visit the most beautiful beach in the African Continent
Camps Bay has been elected the most beautiful beach in Africa by TripAdvisor. And it should not be a surprise as the place is truly wonderful. Even if you are not visiting Cape Town in the summer, you should not leave Camps aside and its beachfront full of very charming restaurants, bars and hotels.
If indeed is summer when you are there, then spot-on (though, do not even dream about swimming. The water is freezing cold and is not rare to see sharks in there)!
Camps Bay is also one of the favourite places for HRH Prince Henry of Wales (aka Prince Harry), and he shows up in there quite often around summer time. At least that's what we heard ;)
2 A vineyard tour
Cape Town is the region with the best vineyards in the country. The cities of Stellenbosh, Paarle and Franschhoek are just about one hour driving from there (and the landscape along the way is something else), and it is in there where you will find the coolest wineries of South Africa.
The farms are fetching and they explain the whole method of wine production, let alone the wine tasting at the end.
Get ready for some binge drinking, therefore no driving there. Have a tour deal through your hotel or an agency and ensure a driver for the day (you can book a driver just for you or go in a group. It depends on your budget).
Our tour included a visit to Muratie, one of the oldest and most traditional farms in South Africa. It is like a mix of museum and winery (and if you fancy knowing a beautiful story from there, have a quick look at this instagram post). We also saw Van Loreven, Simonsig and Tokara.
Find here some websites which can help you to organise your tour:
Tourism of Cape Town & Western Cape
Stellenbosch
Turism de Paarl
Franschhoek
3 Climb the Table Mountain
Table Mountain is majestic with its flat peak (thus the name) and it is viewed from almost every corner of Cape Town. You can drive up there, walk (long and steep) or by cable car (check out this website for further info).
When we went there, the cable car was under maintenance. It is Tiago's fault, who carries the burden of never being able to go on them besides loving them. They are always either closed or under maintenance. Anyway, there is always something which prevents us from enjoying a cable car ride. Do you doubt it? Check out this video in our last attempt of going on the largest cable car ride in the world, in Armenia.
But anyway, back to the Table Mountain. A cool thing we did, though we can't guarantee the safety of it as we drove up there with local South African friends at night to see the sunrise. We had come out of a party and it was Tiago's birthday. There were about 10 of us and some booze, right at a strategic location to admire the sun rising. One of the most remarkable memory of the trip.
4 The Victoria and Alfred Waterfront (yes, Alfred. We were also confused)
It is a very lively place at the heart of the city. The Waterfront is surely the most touristic place in Cape Town, full of stores, attractions, bars, restaurants, live music and everything a visitor has the right to have!
5 Exchange your shoe for a beer at Denanker
“Beer drinkers wanting to sample Kwak beer should check the state of their socks". That is what the beer house Den Anker at Waterfront announces in their menu.
“Kwak is a dark beer, drunk in a traditional glass with a bowl-shaped bottom. These glasses are extremely expensive and difficult to replace, which is why we keep your left shoe until we get our glass back. This is a Belgian custom which we’ve brought to Cape Town. We’ll keep your shoe in the basket hanging from the rafters until you’re done. Don’t worry, we keep air freshener at hand. No shoe. No Kwak.” And of course we did it! :)
6 Visit Signal Hill
Signal Hill is one of the mountains that composes Cape Town landscape. This is an easier option of trekking, perfect for families as you can make it by car. In its surroundings, you have the Table Mountain, Lions Head Mountain, Camps Bay and many other beauties of the city. Moreover, this is the main place for paragliding, if you dare!
7 Boulders Beach, the penguin's beach
Do you know why polar bear does not eat penguins? That is because polar bears live in the north hemisphere while penguins in the south. Gotcha!
And that's how we start writing about this topic, with this infamous joke (c'mon, you had a smile right there).
Boulders Beach is full of penguins. There are hundreds of them, millions of them, enjoying the sun and the sea. That's right, they enjoy the sun and the sea and not you. We just observe them, the beach is not for humans but it is precious though (and a bit smelly). Anyway, this visit is a must!
8 Dive in a cage in a sea full of white sharks
The only tour where the human stays in a cage and the animal free. Just for this concept, it is already worth it.
South Africa has one of the largest diversities of sharks in the world. It is the "white shark's capital", as it is known the city of Gansbaii, just 175km from Cape Town (I bet you are thinking in Camps Bay again right now, aren't you?).
There are numerous agencies offering this tour, which costs about US$ 200. The package includes the transfer from and to your hotel, breakfast and sometimes lunch (it depends how hungry is the shark. Kidding you).
We didn't do it because is too expensive (we chose bungee jump over it - watch it!), but we met many people who did this adventure and, well, some loved, some cried, and others asked to go home half way through. Regardless, each one with your own story! Tell us about yours too ;)
Here it goes the contact of some most respected agencies in town:
Great White Shark Tours (028 384 1418/083 300 2138);
Marine Dynamics (028 384 1005/082 380 3405);
Shark Diving Unlimited (028 384 2787/082 441 4555);
Shark Lady (028 312 3287/083 746 8985);
UnrealDive (021 553 0748/083 273 4920);
White Shark Ecoventures 021 532 0470/083 412 3733);
White Shark Projects (028 384 1774/076 245 5880)
9 Trekking to the peak of the Lions Head Mountain
This is another city's symbol, a gigantic and narrow rock, giving you a panoramic view of the city.
Do make an effort to watch the sun rising or setting from there.
The track is not difficult (about 2h) and does not need to be guided. It is possible to drive over there (uber,taxi). There is a car parking where you can start off your trekking. The way is well signposted and there are a few track options. Choose the one which you feel more like ;)
10 A visit to the Cape of Good Hope
Just 50Km from Cape Town it is the famous Cape of Good Hope, the most extreme south point of the African Continent (Beeeh, lie!) and the point which divides both oceans, Atlantic and Indian (Beeeeh, lie again!). Those are lies because it is known today that the most extreme south point and the one which divides both oceans is the Cape Agulhas, 200Km from Cape Town. But that is alright, nobody cares and keep on taking selfies in front of the signpost saying "Cape of Good Hope".
In any way, the peninsula is gorgeous and it has a wild landscape which is worth exploring.
The Cape of Good Hope was sailed around for the first time in the 15th century by the Portuguese. It was a milestone in sailing since, due to the strong agitation of the sea, almost every ship that tried that, ended up at the bottom of the sea.
We drove to the peninsula (and not sailed, we are not THAT original), rented specifically for going to the Boulders Beach and surroundings. We really recommend it, as the landscape back and forth is astonishing and is worth having a car at your command so you can stop whenever you want.
SEE MORE POSTS ON WWW.MONDAYFEELINGS.COM
