There are few cities in the world as captivating as Cape Town. Its recent past is rather ugly, and a reminder of just how inharmonious human beings can be. Until as recently as 1991, the city, as well as the entire country of South Africa, was ripped apart by a period of racial segregation and discrimination known as apartheid.
While there are still signs of a country divided, Cape Town is one of the most beautiful cities I've ever visited. It stands right along the southern-most tip of Africa and overlooks the Atlantic Ocean. It weaves through and around tall mountains, many of which are frequently hiked by visitors.
There's so much to do and see in the area, but we had such a short time, we had to reduce it to only a few activities.
To-Do List:
- Visit Franschhoek and taste some wine
- Explore the colorful houses in Bo-Kaap
- Ride the cable car up Table Mountain
- See the penguins at Boulders Beach, Simon's Town
- Hike up Lion's Head
Notes:
- The weather changes very rapidly. One moment, it's warm and sunny, the next, it's windy and rainy. In weather like this, layers are your friend.
- When parking a car, there are people called parking guards who watch your car until you return. They expect a small tip for their service.
- The cable car up Table Mountain completely shuts down if the weather is inclement. Be sure to check the website prior to arriving to make sure it's open.
- Cars drive on the left side of the road instead of the right. Along the same note, most cars have manual transmissions.
We met up with our driver, Dean, a native of Cape Town of Malaysian descent. He was very nice to talk to and gave us some tips on where to go, where not to go, and the general layout of the city. It was a 45-minute drive from the airport to our lodging, a luxurious hotel named The Twelve Apostles.
The Twelve Apostles Hotel and Spa
From the moment we pulled up to the front of The Twelve Apostles we could tell it was really, really fancy. As we parted ways with Dean, bellhops swooped in and took our bags directly to our rooms while we checked in. We were served sparkling wine while checking in with our host, Siya. He was very accommodating and extremely friendly!
Once we were all checked in, Siya took us to our "Superior Sea-Facing Room"s, which looks as stunning as the name sounds!
Each room comes with a fully-stocked fridge, king-size bed, private balcony with a view of the ocean, large bathroom, etc.
They also provide turn-down service, 24-hour room service, and everything in between. Needless to say, we felt very fortunate to be staying in a hotel as nice as this one!
After resting a bit, we decided to wander about the hotel.
Eventually, we made our way up to the Leopard Bar. Here, we had drinks and appetizers with a view of the ocean.
As soon as we ordered our drinks, the clouds rolled in and the wind picked up. It got cold very, very fast. The waitresses took pity on us and allowed us to relocate inside. Here, we enjoyed a hefty serving of wings, calamari and fries, and a fried seafood Malay platter.
When dinner time rolled around, we decided to take the hotel shuttle down to Camps Bay. It's a popular destination for bars and restaurants, all alongside a sandy beach. We wandered up and down Victoria Road, scoping out where we wanted to grab dinner.
We landed on a casual restaurant named Ocean Blue. It wasn't overly crowded and didn't have many fancy-dressed people, it was perfect for us!
I ordered a seafood platter for one, but it looked like it could feed two people! It had prawns, mussels, lobster, calamari, and more. It was more than enough for one person.
Once we finished up our dinner, we caught the shuttle back to the hotel for some much-needed sleep. Our rooms were cleaned up and our beds turned down by the staff upon our arrival!
Day Two - Trams and Tastings in Franschhoek
The night before, we reserved a private shuttle to take us out to Franschhoek, a small town surrounded by vineyards. It's about an hour away, so we had to get up early to grab complimentary breakfast down in the hotel restaurant, Azure. We expected a good selection of food, but we didn't expect a full-on breakfast buffet!
Once we were all filled up, we made our way down to the lobby to meet with our driver. We hopped in and we began our journey out to wine country. It was a cold and rainy day. Not the best weather for being outside, but we made the best of it.
Franshhoek is one of the oldest towns in all of South Africa. Its name is Dutch for "French corner" because it was originally settled by French Huguenots in 1688. Nestled between tall mountains, the settlers found the valley quite fertile and made use of the land by growing grapes and making wine.
To this day, some of the best wines in the world come from Franshhoek. Including pinotage, one of the most popular wines coming out of South Africa.
Since we wanted to get the most out of our quick visit to the area, we booked a day-tour on the Franshhoek Wine Tram! It's a hop-on-hop-off tour through a selection of vineyards and wineries. It's actually a combination of tram and bus, each dropping off guests at various destinations, then returning in an hour to pick them back up.
It's a great way to see the valley and drink wine, and much safer than driving!
Soon after we checked in for our tour, we loaded into the tram and started off to our first winery!
Rickety Bridge
The first stop on our wine tour was a vineyard named Rickety Bridge. It sits right underneath a mountain and has a nice, open seating area with a fireplace. The warmth was pleasant, especially since the rain started coming down pretty hard.
The cost of the wine tastings are inexpensive, costing no more than $5 USD a person for four pours. We started with whites, none of which were too memorable. However, when we got to the reds, a standout favorite of ours was the Cabarnet Sauvignon 2014. We ended up buying ourselves a bottle!
When we were all finished at Rickety Bridge, we hopped onto the "bus" to the next destination. The bus was actually just a covered wagon pulled by a tractor!
The tractor dropped us off at the tram station, where we hopped on and transferred to an actual bus, which took us to the next stop.
Grande Provence
The next stop on the tour was huge vineyard named Grande Provence. The large property lived up to its name!
It was very warm inside (or we were very drunk), with a big seating area surrounding the main bar.
Adjacent to the main bar is an art gallery with an array of sculptures and paintings. It was a nice touch to an already gorgeous vineyard.
Again, we were treated to a tasting of white and red wine. Our favorite ended up being a blended white wine named Angel's Tears Muscat/Chenin Blanc. It's really sweet, a trait we rarely like in our wines. This one just hit the mark! We didn't buy a bottle this time, but we remembered it.
Leopard's Leap
It was a bit of a drive out to the next vineyard, but the destination was well worth the trip. Leopard's Leap is one of the most beautiful venues we visited!
The large, modern architectural design and furnishings made for a nice change to the usual, classic look of the other vineyards.
And the wines are delicious, it was hard to pick a favorite. We ended up buying a bottle of the Leopard's Leap Cabarnet Sauvignon 2015 (not pictured), but we could have easily purchased any of the other reds!
By this time, we were really hungry. We hopped on the bus to our last destination, and one with food available to order!
Franshhoek Cellar
After we got off the bus, a little golf cart was waiting to take us a small way to the main entrance of Franshhoek Cellar, the last stop on our tour!
Franschhoek Cellar isn't actually a vineyard. They import and use grapes from several regions in France and make their wines in the cellar. It's a very nice space, a mix of modern and classic design, with plenty of room.
This wine tasting was a bit more involved, pairing several whites and reds with different cheeses and chocolates. Admittedly, it's hard to remember what we liked because we were tipsy... everything was delicious!
We lost track of time chatting and enjoying the wine, we barely made it out the door in time to catch the tram back to town!
When the tour was over, we had some time to explore while waiting for our driver to arrive. So, we stopped into a coffee shop named Essence.
The decor was very interesting, and there were locals hanging out inside. Unfortunately, the coffee wasn't very good at all.
We wandered around a bit more until our driver arrived. By this time we were sobered up, but it didn't stop us from napping in the car all the way back to the hotel!
We got back to the hotel just in time to watch the sun set from our balcony.
It was an early, but fitting, end to our day!
You can find more photos and read more about our visit to Cape Town in part two!
Special thanks to my good friend, John Ocampo, for sharing his photos with us!
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