Exploring Cape Town: City Highlights

Hyped for New Year Eve

As We boarded the plane back to Singapore on 1st Jan, I was trying to recollect memories of the past 17 days we spent in South Africa. To summarise, what this country offers totally exceeded our expectations

Sunset at Sea Point

Night view of Cape Town

In this blog, attractions which we have been to will be covered to share with everyone what kind of experience you will get at these places. Useful and worthy suggestions have been given to us by our travel planner Pamela, from RevePlanner. Of course, there are some 

Places which we have ventured on our own by chance :)

To start off..I'll begin with Cape Town. To spend 5 days at this amazing city will be sufficient to cover the various attractions..and the Hop On Hop Off Bus (HOHO) does best to bring you to these attractions/highlights along its Red/Blue Line

on board HOHO Bus

  1) Table mountain : being named as one of the new wonders of the world, you must be kidding if you haven't experience the magnificence of this mountain. It's majestic. You see if everywhere as long as you're in cape town or even see it from Robben Island. Depending on the clouds, weather, the cableway to the top of the mountain may not be in operation. So check that out first before even planning yr visit. Tickets are advised to be booked online as we saw such long queues for the tickets..what's more is the summer season.

Table Mountain Cableway

View from bottom of Table Mountain

Scenic Icon

2)Kirstenbosch gardens: this is a huge national garden that features many species of fynbos, proteas and many unique plants and flowers which we have never seen before. On that day, we were blessed with excellent weather and beautiful clouds. Picnic is a norm. Definitely worth a visit to learn more about the national flower, or rather it is named as the Nelson Mandela's flower.

proteas

Nelson Mandela flower

His salad

Shashuka!

  
we took a rest at its cafe and have the best dish..which is Shashuka..which I had it at its cafe.. It's like poached eggs in rich herbal tomato sauce, that's well cooked and prepared in a steel pan..and you eat it with bread or chips..this dish was recommended by Pamela..and it's definitely worthwhile!

3) Victoria and Albert Waterfront

This place I will say..is a have-to-go place in Cape Town as it comprises all the shopping, souvenirs stuff,cruises, seal-spotting, and an amazing aquarium that is known as the Two Oceans Aquarium. Species of fish, underwater wildlife can be seen there. I was amazed by unique fish colors over there. A definite to visit! But queues may be long..

clownfish

cowfish!

Nelson Mandela statue at V&A Waterfront

Singapore Away

Waterfront

At moyo

waterfront sunset

Eland Meat at Moyo

Us at Moyo

At the waterfront, they also have many restaurants. One that we patronized was Moyo, which serves generous portions of game meat(springbok, ostrich) and other delicious meat like its Kingklip fish. The view of waterfront from the restaurant was also splendid to spend a wonderful sunset there.

The waterfront, which comprises of a Clock Tower and the Nelson Mandela gateway to Robben Island is located there as well. 

4) Robben Island

A place full of history...where President Nelson Mandela spent years in there as a prisoner..you have to book or buy ferry tickets and it takes about 30-40mins ride across the sea to reach the island. from there, you will be escorted to a bus, which will bring you on a 45min ride round the island with a guide to tell you the history of places you see at the island, the prison, the church, and a fantastic view of Table Mountain from Robben Island. You will also be entitled to a tour in theMaximum Security Prison, to understand the conditions that prisoners have to endure, and a walkabout in the different prison cellars.

Cell which Nelson Mandela stayed in

It's a sad but meaningful journey to visit Robben Island. But, I need to mention this trip is weather dependent. If weather is bad, ferry operations will stop as there are accidents before due to strong wind and waves..The waves can be really bad..so check out the weather forecast before hand. If weather is bad and your trip is cancelled after u book, you can get a refund.

5)South African National Museum

This museum gives great information on the history of how south Africa started..from the San bushmen, the various tribes, the healers, the cultures, the languages etc.. It's a great start to our Africa adventure to get ourselves informed of this country. Coincidentally, there's an exhibition on the wildlife photography that day when we visited. It showcases the various award winning photos which were simply breathtaking. It really gave me inspirations on how I should shoot during my safari in the days to come!

sunset at signal hill

 We took the sunset ride on HoHo bus to see sunset up at Signal Hill and it was breathtaking! Weather was great..sunset was about 8pm during summer season. If you want to see sunset at different points, the beaches is a great idea..we saw one at Sea Point since we stayed at Amalfi Executive Suites,which is located within 5-10min walk to Sea Point..we also saw sunset at Camps Bay..all very beautiful with the lovely beaches around. Cape Town is definitely blessed with the mountains, the white-sand beaches..simply relaxing to have a jog, a stroll or a picnic at these venues.

7) Bo Kaap, District Six, Langa Township Tour

We took up a tour with Ilios Tours to visit these areas..a different side of Cape Town. when we arrived at Cape Town, we felt we have entered Europe as there were more Europeans than the native African Blacks. We were surprised to know there are in fact 4big groups in south Africa: blacks, whites, colored(Chinese, Malay, mix between black and white), and the Indians. In fact, Durban has the 2nd largest population of Indians outside India. Places like the waterfront, sea point, camps bay gave the impression of the Rich and wealthy..but just liken any city, there is a rich-poor gap issue to be seriously given attention to..and try to circumvent or reduce this income gap problem. We felt we need to be exposed to all these in order to understand South Africa better and understand what Nelson Mandela has done to help the disadvantaged and the poor.

Him with the Vuvu!

District Six Museum

Langa Township

Langa township

So in this tour, we were brought to District Six museum for a better understanding of what happened when the Blacks were devoid of human rights..something which Nelson Mandela has fought hard for..the museum is definitely worth a visit and you can use the HOHO bus to reach it..we then moved on to Langa township where we were brought on a walking tour through the shacks..or known as informal structures to live in...personally I thought the environment the people lived in were not as bad as those I saw at Dharavi Slum in Mumbai. The township people live with integrity although they are poor.They laugh as they wish to, they cry as they need to. They are warm to visitors and are happy to share their thoughts with you on life.Children play happily in courtyards, singing and dancing although they have no much choices unlike urban kids with iPads...this walking tour definitely brings a different perspective..to our life..an enlightening trip indeed!

8) Groot Constantia Winery

Wine Appreciation

To reach this winery, it is possible with the HOHO Bus..there's a cellar tour that brings visitors around the cellars..to understand the making of the wine..and at the end..a wine appreciation class..to teach u how to appreciate wine in terms of its scent, flavor, and color. It's beneficial for us as we are novices and we totally enjoyed it :)