Our overland trip came to an end in Jo-Burg and with the goodbyes came the necessity to stand on our own two feet again and not rely on Mumma Liz to tell us what’s for dinner every night (and cook it for us). From Jo-Burg we got a cheap flight to Cape Town where we would see off the last of the African sun before our onwards journey to another continent. In hindsight we would have done it differently but we didn’t plan well and actually I loved my time in Cape Town anyway so I’m still happy. However it would have been great to get a flight into Port Elizabeth and out of Cape Town so that we could drive along the garden route, South Africa’s gorgeous southern coast. There’s plenty of places to stop off along the way and I would recommend a week to do that and maybe 5 additional days in Cape Town. But now for what we actually did. We arrived at our hostel and were treated to a 6 bed dorm all to ourselves. Winning! Because it wasn't peak season the hostel had a very personal feel to it and we felt like we knew everyone there by the end of the week. Cape Town Backpackers was just off Long Street, which is right in the heart of the city and where everything seemed to be happening. The staff were so lovely and helped organise our unorganised week and the hostel was great with a kitchen to do some of our own cooking and huge rooms with plenty of space to spread out. On our standard “let’s get our bearings” exploration of the town we were extremely on edge having been warned of petty crime in the area. Zita, a friend of mine who is living in Cape Town now, shared a story of her mugging when she was walking home with a (male) friend when they were swarmed by 6 guys who threatened to shoot her before taking all her things. That sounds a lot like serious crime to me… not petty crime. It didn’t take long for our first impressions of the city to be tainted with one man bee lining it for us, eyes on our pockets and brushing up against us in search of something of value. Not long later another man wanted to “show us his knife” when we didn’t give him any money. We got indoors before dark that night. Thankfully these first impressions were not long lasting as everything Cape Town had to offer significantly outweighed the risk of having my phone stolen. It doesn’t happen very often that I’m in the same city for an entire week and I still didn’t feel like this was long enough. I would have liked a couple more days as I didn’t make it to any of the apartheid museums and I was keen for another walking tour that we couldn’t fit in as well. So here’s a 1-week itinerary for you to take and run with. On the first day there we got on the double decker hop-on/hop-off bus that runs in every city almost everywhere. It does a few different routes so we first took the city loop and then got off to do a large loop around the surrounding area, which included a stop off at 3 wineries. Will and I got back on the bus after our wine tastings thoroughly sloshed and continued on our merry way past the townships, Camps Bay and the water front before coming back to Loop St. As well as being tipsy on the second half of the tour, I was listening to the first half in German, trying to practice my skills, so unfortunately I can't pretend I learnt much on that trip. Weather depending there are plenty of walks to do which will keep you busy and thoroughly exhausted. Table Mountain is a 2 hour climb to the top but there is also a cable car which we took down. I say weather depending but we did it on a cloudy day and although we didn’t get a view from the top I thought it was really cool to ascend into the clouds. I would recommend walking one way and cable car the other as they offer different experiences as the car rotates 360 degrees on the decent. Additionally you can walk to Lions Head which will take about 1.5 hours from Loop Street with the last bit being a bit of a scramble. This offers a great view of Table Mountain and the surrounding bays and provides a perfect lunch spot so BYO picnic. This can be combined with Signal Hill if you’re feeling particularly energetic which I think adds another couple of hours.
Table Mountain hike.
The eerie cable car view from the top before we emerged from the cloud to the glorious views of the city.
Lions Head decent with Table Mountain in the background.
The view from Lions Head. Great place for a nap after an excessive lunch.
Of course get on the free walking tour, which is something we almost always do to learn a bit about the history of the place we are in. We chose the Apartheid to Freedom tour which was so interesting and definitely worth the few hours spent. This usually just costs the voluntary amount you wish to tip the guide. On the tour we visited district 6 which is now a desolate, overgrown few blocks of the city but which used to house thousands of Cape Towns' residents. 60,000 people, largely coloured, were forcibly removed from this area in the 1970's during the apartheid regime and they now reside outside the city making it difficult to commute to work and prolonging the noticeable divide in wealth between the rich and poor in Cape Town. I'm sure that what we learnt that day was only the beginning of an understanding of the complex issues that South Africa are still struggling with today but you'd have to be an idiot not to notice the town ships juxtaposed to the mansion houses of the rich; sometimes separated by the width of a road and a huge, imposing, barbed fence.
The 1950 Population Registration Act declared that all South African's be separated into races with white being the highest class and black African being the lowest class and everyone else falling somewhere in between. As a result, some mixed race families were separated as one sibling might be allowed in a specific school and another not allowed to attend because they were darker. I know if I look at my own family Tess and Ben would definitely not be allowed to attend the same school under these laws which is something that we are lucky enough to joke about in the family but the harsh reality for other families during this time. Some of the scientific testing methods included comparing skin colour to a brown paper bag and placing a pen in the hair and seeing if it holds or falls out.
In this very building people were categorised into different races which would determine the privileges they were entitled. The bench of the left states "whites only" where as the one on the right states "non-whites only".
We rented a car for 2 days which saw us out to Hermanus for whale season. Hermanus is the best place on earth for land based whale watching as the Southern Right Whales come north in search of warmer waters to calf and mate. We sat by the bay side for hours as we just couldn’t get enough of watching Mother Nature at it’s best whether that be the rolling waves splashing against the rocks and showering us with spray or the breaching whales playing in the beautiful blue waters. There are plenty of beach side places to eat here as well that make perfect spots for whale spotting while dining.
Whale watching in Hermanus.
The second driving day was spent at Cape of Good Hope which is the most South Westerly point of Africa (whatever that means). It's pretty incredible watching the Atlantic roar on your right side and seeing the Indian Ocean glitter on your left side. I later learnt from Lena that Cape of Good Hope isn't actually the dividing point for the 2 oceans but I still like to think it is so I'm keeping the above sentence as is.
On the way down to the cape you can stop off at Boulders Beach to see the penguin colony that lives there. It costs to enter the beach but from what we could see the tiny board walk looked like an annoying crowded tourist attraction. We took the board walk adjacent for free and saw hundreds of penguins this way at a nice leisurely pace.
Boulders Beach penguin colony.
Car rental was ridiculously cheap in Cape Town; including the fuel it came to a total of R700 (£37). That’s pretty close to my daily commute to work from London to Surrey. How is that ok? Since Will becomes quickly acquainted with any German he comes across in his attempt at learning the language, we had Lena and Sarah join us which meant that we split the cost even further.
Sherrie the Chev.
Cape of Good Hope.
The lighthouse which illuminates two oceans.
Standing on the edge of Africa.
Of course shark cage diving is also on offer from Cape Town but we by-passed that one for the preference of eating all the sushi we could manage. When your existence for the last 3 years has been low quality, over priced sushi it wasn’t like we had much of a choice.
I'm back with my eco travel tips: As far as I'm aware the adaptor for South Africa is pretty unique but don't bother buying one before you travel unless you know someone you can borrow one from. Bring your USB cable and make sure your appliances are fully charged when leaving. Hostels usually have them available to borrow as people will often leave them there or someone in the hostel will often have a spare USB port on their adaptor. If this fails there were plenty available for sale especially in touristy areas. On the same note, if you choose to do a hop on/ hop off bus tour, bring your own head phones as they give you a red pair upon arrival neatly packaged in a plastic pocket for the commentary. They aren't made to last so it's not a cool freebie that might come in handy. Let's be honest, you're most likely travelling with a decent pair already. This is about owning less and using less of the world's resources for items that we only use for a very short period of time. Borrowing and lending is my favourite. My backpack has been to twice as many countries as me on adventures with different people and the sleeping bag I'm travelling with now is borrowed from a friend. And you might also be pleased to know that tap water is delicious and nutritious in Cape Town.
