Cape Town - A perfect city for a holiday

The carnival atmosphere on a brilliant day at V & A Waterfront with the Table mountain forming the majestic backdrop.

There are certain cities which leave a memorable mark on your mind. Cities like Rome, London Paris and many other European cities are glorious for their layouts and the history they exude. Cities like Sydney and Barcelona bewitch you with their scenery and happy go lucky character. Cape Town comes into the latter category.

Cape Town is a lovely city. With the  Ocean on one side and the table mountain on the other, the city is one of the finest holiday destinations that you would do well to choose. For us North Indians, in the sweltering heat of 45 deg C in June, Cape Town would be a perfect relief with the maximum temperature of 22deg C and minimum of 7 deg C.
Tip : Look at this destination seriously for next summer. It may be a better and cheaper option than Europe.

We reached Cape Town after crossing Huguenot tunnel while coming from Robertson.Robertson was a small town on 'Route 62' and is a part of 'wine country.'

As mentioned in the earlier blog, we had driven till George on Garden Route and then taken route 62 through the mountains till Cape Town, crossing towns like Outdshoorn, Ladismith, Montagu, Robertson and Worcester. A delightful and scenic drive all the way through. 

The Huguenot tunnel is a marvel and it cuts down the travel town to Cape Town by almost 45 minutes as otherwise you would have to cross the mountain pass before reaching Cape Town. Cape Town was a good decision as the final city of holiday before we left for India.
Tip: When on a holiday of this nature, always wind up from a big town. Not only it facilitates easy transportation to the international airport but also saves the trouble of lugging the shopping which one does in big cities.
We had been in the wild and in remote areas for a period of 10 days so the final 4-5 days were to be in a big city to get our bearings back. Cape Town was perfect as not only does it have natural beauty but a lot of excursion points as well as shopping centres and good pubs and restaurants. It’s a city that looks good and once you spend time there, you also start feeling good.
The weather in Cape Town for most part was perfect. It was something like our December weather. It was be bright and sunny during the day with cool winds and then it would become nice and cold in the evenings.

We stayed bang in the middle of downtown in an area known as the city bowl. Our hotel Mandela Rhodes Place was located just 2 minutes walk from the bustling Long Street. All shopping areas and good shops like Woolworth’s were down the corner. The Green-market square, the market for handicrafts was also next doors. It was also just a 20 minutes walk from the V&A Waterfront. The apartment in this hotel also was top class. Costing around Rs 7500 a night, we had 2 big bedrooms and a huge living area with kitchen. This kind of an apartment always gives you a lot of flexibility and openness which a normal hotel can’t give you. The place had a big car park, a spa, health club and a swimming pool. The breakfast in their restaurant was also modestly priced.

On the first day at Cape Town we did what we had been doing all along – not wasting time.Our bodies had got into that rhythm of being on the move. We moved right away.

Cape Peninsula leading to Cape Point

If you look at the map of Cape Peninsula you will see that there are 2 ways of approaching the southernmost end on Africa from Cape Town.You could approach the Cape Point from the side of False Bay and come back from the side of Atlantic Ocean. Or this could be done vice versa. Both ways you drive along the coast taking in breathtaking scenic beauty.

The Penguins at boulder beach

We approached the cape point via the ‘boulders beach’ which is popularly known as the Penguins colony. Penguins have been living here since 1982. Boulders beach was around an hours drive from our hotel. I don’t think that the kids actually thought that they would see so many Penguins from so close. They got pretty excited as they saw the penguins walking around the beach. Actually all of us got excited as these protected creatures cutely walked across the beach reserved for them. It’s fascinating to see how shelters have been made for the Penguins on and around the beach. This beach was near a place called Simon’s town – a place I wouldn’t mind spending a couple of days if we go for another holiday to Cape Town. There are so many places around Cape Town which look so tempting to stay as they are like small villages next to the sea with small shops and restaurants.

The Boulders beach. Scenic and fresh with penguins all around.

We had forgotten our wild card in the hotel so ended up paying the entrance fee for the Boulders beach. The weather was perfect and the scenery was mind blowing. The penguins had made all of us very happy.

Going further we entered the reserve forest called the Table Mountain National Park. This is not where the Table Mountain was. It is a reserve forest and you have to enter it to drive up to the Cape Point and Cape of Good Hope. These points at the southern most tip of Africa gives you the views of spectacular landscapes. Having studied about Cape of Good Hope in geography lessons, it was exciting to be standing on this southern tip of the continent. The Cape Point has rich maritime history. It was once named the ‘Cape of Storms’ and was treated with respect by sailors for centuries. By day, it was a navigational landmark and by night, and in fog, it was a menace beset by violent storms and dangerous rocks that over the centuries littered shipwrecks around the coastline. The nature park itself seemed endless and looked rich in natural vegetation and many kinds of animals. You could go up to the lighthouse on a cable car for even better views. We spent good 2-3 hours in this area and had lunch here before driving back to the central Cape Town. As it was soon to get dark we came back very much the same way rather than going parallel to the Atlantic Ocean.

The Cape of Good Hope. Southern most point.

We had done well on our first day at Cape Town. Devicka and I then went for a walk down the ‘Long Street’ near the hotel to check out the vicinity. Later, while the others rested, Kunal and I walked to an Irish Pub ‘Dubliner’ to have some beer and catch the Euro 2012 in action. With England playing the match, there was some excitement around and most pubs in the area had soccer followers filling up all the available chairs.

The sea goes wild at Cape of good Hope.

On day 2, we had planned to return our car by 2 PM so we decided to do as much driving as possible before that.  We had rented this car in Port Elizabeth and wanted to return it now. This was hardly a problem as all the car hire companies had their offices near where we were staying. We drove towards Cape Point from the other direction of the Peninsula – that of  the Atlantic Ocean. We crossed the popular Clifton beaches (due to winter these were unfortunately empty so we could not admire the sun bathing South African beauties ) and drove towards Hout Bay. From there we proceeded towards the Chapman’s peak. Chapman's Peak Drive is one of the most spectacular coastal roads in the world. It begins in Hout Bay on the west coast of the peninsula and ends 9 km later in Noordhoek. 

Along the Chapman's drive

We enjoyed every moment of this hill drive and to do justice to the views, got off the car a couple of times for photographs. It was so windy that one felt one would blow away. They have actually done a lot of civil work to protect the cars from blowing away in the torrid wind. While this drive was spectacular, we had somehow taken a detour along the way here and reached some place called the Constantia Valley. It was difficult to imagine such kind of a suburb so close to the Cape Town. Some call it a well kept secret of Cape Town. Constantia Valley is known for its wine, and near the Valley are the famous and the most beautiful botanical gardens – The Kirstenbosch. The place was lush green and very foresty. It had been a perfect place to have breakfast.

Tip : You will certainly need a car to do self drive along this coastal route. Taxis and arranged tours would be far too expensive.

Once the drive around the peninsula was complete and we had taken in all the beauty that was on offer, it was time to drive back and return the car. Then, it was time for walking. A 20 minutes walk from the long street took us to the V&A waterfront. This of course is a landmark for those who like good wining and dining.

I am actually happy that we didn’t stay at V&A waterfront. I had toyed at the idea of staying here but somehow decided to stay in city bowl. The waterfront is a good area and it becomes even better if it is bright and sunny on a winter afternoon. It has some up market restaurants and a good shopping mall. The atmosphere is pretty good. The views of the ocean on one side with some fancy boats; and that of table mountain on the other side makes it a good place to have draft beer in the afternoon. I am not sure that with cold winds blowing, it would have been any fun in the evenings.

We had enough to do at the Waterfront. Good shops and entertainment can be found here.

Devicka and I have seen enough aquariums so decided to skip going into one here. The kids went on their own and enjoyed themselves thoroughly.  

V&A waterfront was a good place to visit but City Bowl was a better place to stay.
Tip  : Stay in City Bowl when you visit Cape Town. The place will keep you busy all the time. For a day or so you could go and stay in suburbs.

Desi Food

Day 2 also ended with some pubbing and to the kids’ delight with an Indian meal at a fancy restaurant called ‘Bukhara’. Bukhra was just across the road. It was a huge restaurant so a lot of people must be visiting it. Food was quite decent. We did see a couple of Indian restaurants on the Long street. There was a huge fast food type of place run by a muslim family. It sold Indian food platters at quite an economical price. It was called Food Inn India.The food was quite average here but the advantage was that it was open 24 hours. So we didn't have to sleep hungry after trips to night-clubs. There was another restaurant called the Masala Dosa at long street. The Taj, The Hilton and many other places have Indian cuisines, so Indians who like desi food would get plenty while visiting Cape Town. Even if you go and stay in suburbs like Hout Bay - there are enough Indian restaurant there as well.
On Top of Cape Town

The Table Mountain

Day 2 had been sunny but the Table mountain top had a white cloud blanket over it. Day 3 was cloudy but the Table Mountain looked clear. It’s pretty rare to find the table top in the clear so we jumped into a cab and were soon on a cable ride up to the top of this master creation of nature. Once again the Wild Card was handy and tickets were at a discount.
Tip : If you intend visiting the the table mountain during your trip, then go up at the first opportunity when it looks clear. It may not clear up for days after.

Once at the top you realise that the table mountain is huge. It has several walking trails, adventure sports, terrific views of all sides of Cape Town and restaurants and bars. Its said that the mountain is older than Himalayas. South Africans want in included in the 7 wonders of the world. They wanted me to vote for same. I’d rather vote for Taj Mahal.

Spectacular mountains all around.

We took several small walking trails and admired the views. One could clearly see in the middle of the sea, the Robben Island-where Nelson Mandela had been kept captive for almost 2 decades.
Tip : Whenever you go to Table mountain top, be prepared to spend at least 3-4 hours there.You get Panoramic views of all sides of Cape town. The walking trails can make you tired.

This is the prison where Nelson Mandela spent most of his time.

The afternoon and evening was spent at the up market canal walk mall which was a thirty minutes drive from where we stayed. Over the drinks Kunal and I decided that we have had enough of nature and now it was time to get down to basics. It was time for a visit to mavericks.

Mavericks is a what is described at the Gentleman’s club. Its actually a lap dance club or a strip bar. It was just a ten minutes walk from our hotel. It was drizzling and as we crossed the Parliament house everything seemed a bit too quiet. Cape Town is not the capital of South Africa but it houses the Parliament as it is the legislative capital. That mavericks is so close to the parliamentarians is ironic. I am a bit scared of these kind of clubs. You always end up being fooled or cheated in such places. Mavericks was different. Entrance was Rand 100 and VIP seat was for 300.00. The place had a huge long bar and the stage for the strippers was on top of the bar. Each performer would then give another performance in the VIP lounge upstairs. That was the only difference between ordinary mortals and the VIP’s. There were some other exclusive performances and each item for this was listed in the Menu. They charged as much as the menu stated. No one tried to buy a drink off you and no one tried to cheat you. The performers were good and were from different nationalities. Some Indians had got their wives along. These couples all looked fed up and bored. The ones without the wives looked happier.

Not taking the safety risk, we took a cab back to the hotel.On the way we had a bite at the Food Inn. The owner got friendly to us and spiced up our mutton curry.  It was another day well spent.
Tip: Though we found it safe going out at night, don't take a chance and carry only limited money and valuables.

We did nothing very special on the last 2 days. We strolled on the streets, shopped a bit, sat in the cafes and spent more time at the Waterfront. On the last day when we came down from the hotel, a food fair was in full flow on the pedestrian street. It was tempting to try everything as there was an amazing variety of bakery products; meat products and different cuisines.
In Cape Town I had wanted to go to a restaurant called the ‘Carnivore.’ When the family read the description of the restaurant  they protested. The description said : ‘The central attraction of the restaurant is a large circular open fire with 52 converted Masaai tribal spears holding a variety of 15 different types of meat, such as pork, lamb, beef, chicken, ribs and sausages, and including such game meats as crocodile, zebra, giraffe, impala, ostrich, etc, gently roasting and waiting for you to begin your feast!!!”

We had some Thai food instead.

Cape Town gets my vote for a great holiday destination. There is much you can do, and drives around the city will keep you busy for a few days.If you are a golfer, the place has many golf courses. If I have a week in summer and I want to go to a fun place which has cool weather- I would do Cape Town again.