For the more adventurous amongst us, there is so much to do in Cape Town. Our perfect summer weather means action junkies can easily get their fix. In a previous post I discussed our blue skies. Find that post here – Cape Town blue skies. I mentioned our clean air in an older post, read that article here – Cape Town cleanest air.
Think activities like surfing, sky diving, rock climbing, quad biking, sandboarding, abseiling, jet skis, bungi jumping and of course the ever popular shark cage diving. Try these two links for more on packages, tours and outings. Outdoor action Cape Town and Adventure tours Cape Town.
The shark cage diving usually includes a bit of a tour of the bay. You get to see little islands and sea life. Then you are kitted out in diving gear and jump into a cage. They throw meat into the water to attract the sharks and before long you are nose to nose with a man eating shark. Except you have the big bars of your cage keeping you safe. Phew! A bit scary for me.
And if that is still not enough then head to Ratanga Junction where you can have a couple of white knuckle roller coaster rides to release more adrenalin. Have a look at what they have to offer here – roller coaster rides Cape Town. Right next door to Ratanga Junction is Canal Walk shopping mall. Those who prefer more docile pursuits can exercise their credit cards.
Photo courtesy Ed Scott
After a long hard day of sightseeing, sometimes all you want to do is rest up your feet. One of my favorite services to use is Mr Delivery. They have the local restaurant menus on-line so you can see what is out there without moving too much.
Another place who deliver if you enjoy pizza is Butlers. Their drivers arrive dressed up in suits and bow ties.
You should tip the driver. That’s how they make their money. Most waitrons rely on tips for their income. They don’t get paid much per shift and certainly don’t get health insurance or any extras. Ten percent is the accepted standard in South Africa.
There are also loads of yummy delis, bakeries, fruit and farm stalls and more all over the place. A handy guide to find those nearest to you is the Eat In guide. You can buy the latest copy at the nearest newsagent or find them on-line.
Think cooking classes to on-line maps and why Conde Nast named Cape Town the 8th best city in the world.
And to round off this post, I thought I would share this with you. Cape Town has the fifth best blue skies in the world. Yip! That’s according to the UK National Physical Laboratory.
For more travel and safety tips scroll back up to the top of this page.
We have done a fair bit of traveling and we run our own guesthouse, so I feel somewhat confidant to talk about the standard of accommodation in Cape Town.
You get pretty much the same old selection of options that one finds anywhere in the world in Cape Town. Hotels, hostels, back-packers, B and B’s and guesthouses. And South African accommodation is probably much the same.
Except, I would say, that on average, room sizes are bigger than you would find in other large cities such as London, Paris and New York. Usually the rooms are clean. You should find your South African hosts are friendly to a fault.
The feedback we get from guests is that accommodation is well priced. Sure you get high end luxury digs, if that’s what you are after, but if you want comfort at bargain prices, they’re not hard to find.
I will list the websites we use to market our B and B. The first link is for Hostel World aka Webres – Hostel World. Next try Safari Now and their link is here – Safari Now. Roger and Kay have Travel Selection and you can visit them by clicking on this link – Travel Selection. The A A are a tried and trusted group and I can assure you they do regular inspections to make sure standards are maintained. Click here – AA Accommodation South Africa. The other website we use is Rooms for Africa. And the link for them is here – Rooms for Africa.
Go to – My Holidays and Trips – at the top of this page to read about other places we have visited. Or just click on – this link.
The Cape coast is notorious for washing ships ashore and the Seli 1 is yet another casualty. She went aground on 18th September 2009. You can see in the photo she lies just off Blouberg beach. What tends to happen with wrecks is the crew and insurers abandon them and they become our problem. The coal cargo, which was bound for Europe was, thankfully, safely removed. As was the crude oil fuel. The ship is slowly being broken up as, I’m sure you will agree, it is a bit of an eyesore on our beautiful beach.
The causes of wrecks off our coastline are combination of weather, mechanical problems and insufficient knowledge of our local coastline. If you are into mysteries of the deep, you might be interested in the killer, superimposed or rogue wave phenomenon that exists off the east coast of South Africa. Ships vanish, sometimes never to be seen again. Google – Death Waves – and – Rogue Waves – to find out more.
We have a lovely chart which was purchased at the Bredasdorp Maritime Museum, which shows the locations of 379 marine casualties in Southern African waters that occurred between 1914 and 1945. Make a point of visiting the museum if you are in the area. See the link for Bredasdorp shipwreck museum for more. And for wiki’s more recent list of wrecks click Wiki list of shipwrecks in Southern Africa. I wrote about how the wreck of the HMS Athens ended up in Mouille Point in this post – RMS Athens wreck. If you are driving our coastlines and keep an eye open, you are highly likely to spot a wreck or three.
Go to – My Holidays and Trips – at the top of this page to read about other places we have visited. Or just click on – this link.
Cape Town has such great weather that outdoor activities are almost the norm. But then that is the case for most of South Africa. Our temperatures are neither too hot, nor too cold. Cape Town has dry summers which gives us perfect days to pursue outdoor activities.
If you are in SA and want to participate in something active, you could visit one of these websites for the latest news and events – Entrytime or Magnetic South. For more information on hikes and national parks follow this link SAN Parks or this one Table Mountain walks. Or simply join the locals for a walk at the end of the day along Sea Point Promenade.
The Atlantic Ocean, I will concede is cool. Too cool for me. But that doesn’t stop people swimming to Robben Island most weekends. Without wetsuits! Brrr. It might be more your style to languish on one of our Blue Flag beaches. We have 14 here in the Western Cape, find them here – Blue Flag beaches.
Perhaps you are taking a drive around Cape Point or going up Table Mountain. Pack a picnic basket and enjoy your food al fresco. The best deli for yummy foods to fill your picnic basket is Giovanni’s Deli in Green Point. Find them here – Giovanni’s Deli world. Why don’t the other supermarkets stock such great food? If you are stuck for a bottle of wine and it’s after hours, Harleys in Wale Street doesn’t seem to ever close. Find Harleys Liquors here.
Should you want to view the city from the bay then head to the Waterfront. There you will find all sorts of boats to take you out. You could sail on an old pirate style boat or enjoy your evening meal on a sunset cruise.
There are also plenty of bicycle and even sidecar tours you can take. Try this link for more – bike tours. I could go on and on but I’m going to stop here. My advice? Hire a scooter from Big Boys in Sea Point and make your way around the city unhindered by traffic and free from parking restraints. Read more on Big Boys on this link Big Boys scooters. We use them to service our bikes. Lastly I had to share this great video of Cape Town from their tourism home page – Cape Town video.
The king of kitch, Vladimir Tretchikoff, lived and died in Cape Town. His reproductions are apparently so popular that they only come second to Picasso. Who knew? Although born in Russia and a sometime resident in Malaysia, Tretchikoff made South Africa his home. As have many others.
Cape Town is a haven for swallows. People who follow the sun. They live in Europe for the European summers and return to South Africa for our summers. How about this company that recruits German immigrants in Cape Town Arbeiten in Kapstadt? They have billboards in German dotted around the city.
This has had an impact on Cape Town. German butchers are a dime a dozen. We have French schools and American schools to name just two. We also have plenty North African immigrants. They tend to be looking for a new life rather than a sunnier life. Here is an interesting link to the history and role of Jewish immigrants in South Africa – Jewish history in South Africa. The Jewish, Chinese and Portuguese immigrants go back many decades. Newer immigrants are German, Congolese and Somalis.
Cape Town in particular has less of an African feel and demographic make-up than the rest of South Africa. It’s a lot more cosmopolitan. Our yoga class for example has a few Brits, two French nationals, plenty of Germans, an Angolan, a Swede, a Belgian, a new bloke with an accent called Anatoli and us. A whole two South Africans. Even the running club socials require a German end of the table and a South African end so we don’t shout in different languages over each other.
Another interesting facet to Cape Town is the political scenario. The rest of South Africa is run by the ANC which is predominantly black and African. Cape Town is run by the DA which has a white, Jewish female leader. Even black townships such as Langa vote DA. It’s a lot less black and white here. I love the dynamic and open minded mix of people that inhabit our city. We are known as the hippy city. The San Francisco of South Africa. We are also the pink capital of Africa.
