Out Of South Africa: Capetown And Surroundings (Part I)

 

Hello my friends! Two weeks (and two kilos!) later, I'm back to reality. Our South African experience surpassed my already pretty high expectations. What a gorgeous country! The landscape, the food, the heartwarming hospitality...South Africa is one of the most fascinating countries I've ever visited. I couldn't recommend it enough.

 

I'm planning to break down the South Africa posts in four installments: Capetown and surroundings (2 posts), Addo Elephant Park and the East Coast (mostly beach/surf towns). And here you guys have the first one!

 

I landed in Capetown on Tuesday 12 and Michael -who arrived at the country two weeks before- picked me up at the airport. Right after freshening up at the hotel, and as the day was pretty sunny, we headed to Camps Bay, the main beach area of the city. Surrounded by the magnificent Table Mountain, this beach offers awesome views and great shopping and dining options. Sold!

 



Later that day, we headed to Signal Hill, a great spot to see the (probably) second best views of the city (after the ones from Table Mountain!). We could spot the soccer stadium built for the World Cup 2010.

On Wednesday, we were supposed to hit Table Mountain, but the day was too cloudy to enjoy the experience, so we headed to the Victoria and Albert Waterfront instead. Great shops, restaurants, music everywhere...Waterfront never disappoints.

Don't forget to get something to eat at the Food Market (I discover the delicious Ethiopian coffee. And what a great meat pies they have too!)...

...or get some hand-crafted souvenirs at the Craft Market.

 

A V&A Waterfront MUST: The Nobel Square, and the sculptures that tribute the four South African Nobel Peace Prize laureates: Albert Luthuli, Desmond Tutu, FW de Klerk and Nelson Mandela.

Could this be the biggest Christmas tree ever?

 

Later that afternoon, and since the day cleared up, we decided to wrap up the day at the beach, so we returned to Camps Bay

 

 



 

During these days, we always ended up having an early dinner and going to bed pretty soon. Plus, on Thursday we had a very eventful day ahead of us: a day road trip to explore some of the most relevant attractions in the area.

 

Enter Boulders Beach, the home of the African Penguin!

 

 



Exactly! Here, you can find the most adorable penguins, hanging out in this beautiful beach.

Next stop: Cape of Good Hope, the most South Western point of Africa.

Without a doubt, the walk up to the light house is one of the most beautiful workouts in the world!

Look who we found while we were driving to Cape Point!

By the early afternoon we decided to return to Capetown through one of the most scenic roads ever: Chapman's Peak.

Someone I know got too excited about the beauty of the landscape! ;)

And someone I know, decided not to challenge gravity this time!

As we were too hungry, we ended up stopping at Hout Bay, a lovely beach town located a 20-minute-drive away from Capetown, for a great lunch at Dunes. Seriously, I ate my weight in fresh South African avocados during this trip. Never underestimate the fulfilling power of a great salad!

 

 

 

As I mentioned, by 8pm we were more than ready to call it a day, go to bed and watch South African TV!

 

On the next post, I'll show you the highlights of our last days in Capetown including the views from Table Mountain or a day trip to Stellenbosch -the South African 'Napa Valley'.

 

Thanks for reading!