Cape Town is one of my favorite cities in the world! As soon as we found out our cousin, Sonal, would be in Cape Town for New Year’s we booked our tickets. Our beloved friends back in Baltimore, the Allens, are from Cape Town and gave us a list of their favorite places and activities so we were set! I have a soft spot and great nostalgia for this city, so I was so excited to return with Nishant and Asha and share my love of Cape Town with them.
Day 1 Arrival and reunion with family
We traversed the African continent North to South flying from Cairo, Egypt to Johannesburg, South Africa overnight. We had a few hours of rest in Joburg during our layover before boarding the plane to Cape Town. We landed in Cape Town, and we immediately took in the fresh air and sunset glow. Our cousin, Sonal, welcomed us at the airport and we were so happy to see her!
We drove to our Airbnb at Boulder Beach in Simon’s Town. This area has gorgeous beaches and is part of the Table Mountain National Park so also has amazing hiking trails. And to top it off, It is also home to a land-based colony of wild jackass penguins! These are endangered penguins and only reside in South Africa and in Namibia.
We were amazed by the surroundings and were so excited to spend time with Sonal and meet her friends who graciously welcomed us in as part of the crew. We couldn’t get enough of the view of the penguins, the beach and the gorgeous coastline!
Day 2 Cape Point Vineyards
We joined Sonal and her friends for a beautiful lunch at Cape Point Vineyard in Noordhoek.
This vineyard is the only one on the Cape Peninsula that offers a 360-degree view of the mountains, fynbos – the western and eastern capes most prevalent vegetation, and views of the Atlantic Ocean. Not to mention, it has a wonderful playground! South Africa is home to some of the most beautiful wineries in the world. We had the most wonderful lunch and got to know our new friends. We headed home and played board games in the afternoon.
In the evening, we ventured out to Windmill beach, a quick 10-minute walk from the Airbnb and tried our wetsuits in the cold Atlantic! It was chilly and the Cape Town winds made us even chillier! We headed home and had some snacks for dinner. As we walked home, we bumped into penguins that were lying in the bush and waddling around. We heard their donkey-like sound that gives them their jackass penguin name.
Day 3 Silvermine hike and exploring the area
We had a good sleep and then joined the group hike at Silvermine Nature Reserve. Unbeknownst to us, the park has a dam that forms a wonderful swimming hole! Next time we’ll bring our suits! We were happy to do the hike to Elephant’s eye, a 3.3-mile hike, lined with fynbos vegetation and an impressive lookout point of Noordhoek and the coastline. We made it up to the top and took it all in!
Afterwards we went for a nice brunch and headed to Woolworths (Willy’s) for grocery shopping. Asha and I got dropped off at Scratch Patch, a rock garden for kids that our friends, the Allens, suggested. We had a blast gathering rocks and seeing all the different gems in the gift shops.
We made it home and raced out to the Water’s Edge beach. The beaches have been full with families celebrating the holidays in Cape Town. We’ve had wonderful 75-80 F degree days with clear skies and invigorating sunshine! We are getting more comfortable in our wet suits and swimming amidst the kelp which is plentiful in the cold waters.
We joined our friends for dinner at their neighbor’s house which has a stunning view overlooking Boulder Beach, with Table Mountain in the background. We enjoyed meeting their 2 dogs as well.
Day 4 New Year’s Eve
We spent the day with friends visiting Cape Town’s Zeitz MOCAA museum – the Museum of Contemporary Art Africa, which has the largest collection of contemporary art from Africa and its diaspora. The collection was colorful, vibrant and inspiring. One of our new friends is a young artist who illuminated some of the themes for us and knew some of the artists. It was so much fun learning from her and taking in all the beauty around us!
We walked outside and were standing right in front of Table Mountain in the distance. Table Mountain is perhaps the most well-known landmark of Cape Town and one of the 7 wonders of the world. Cape Town city center really has it all! The V&A Waterfront has a host of restaurants, cafes, shops and reminded us so much of the Baltimore Harbor Waterfront. We loved walking around while taking in the ocean views on one side and Table Mountain on the other.
For dinner we were invited to a wonderful home in Constantia, one of the oldest neighborhoods in Cape Town and home to many of its stunning wineries. We had a great time getting to know new people, had an amazing dinner and appreciated the stunning sunset over the mountains. We made it home and rang in the new year at the Airbnb together.
Day 5 New Year’s Day
We slept in and then hit the beach with the penguins. The Penguin park beach is surrounded by large rocks that serve as both sunbathing spots, and barriers against the turbulent, forceful Cape Townonian winds. We put on our wet suits and enjoyed swimming in the chilly 60F waters of the Atlantic.
We then headed to Hout Bay and enjoyed the scenic 9 km road along Chapman’s Peak Drive. Regarded as one of South Africa’s most rewarding drives, Chapman’s Peak stretches from Noordhoek to Hout Bay, has 114 curves, a panoramic view of the Atlantic Ocean on one side and mountains of the Western Cape on the other. It was breathtaking!
The sky was clear, and you could see clear across the peninsula over to Hout bay. We arrived at our friend’s house for a New Year’s braai – a South African BBQ. We had delicious food – corn, grilled veggies, plenty for meat eaters, and various deserts, including chocolate chip cookies with chips from the US (!) – what a treat! We went for a swim in the pool and relaxed on the hammock. We reveled in the generosity and warm camaraderie of our new friends.
After filling our bellies, we headed over the Cape Town’s renowned Kirstenbosch Botanical Garden for an outdoor concert by Judith Sephuma, a South African jazz singer. Our friends, the Allens, gifted us these tickets and we had the best time being together with other concert goers, enjoying the music, singing, and dancing together. It was a highlight of the trip! We looked up into the mountain backdrop behind the stage and couldn’t believe that we were in Cape Town on New Year’s Day!
Day 6, 7 Chill time in Simon’s Town
We spent the next 2 days relaxing and doing some planning for future travels in Simon’s Town. We toured the Simon’s town downtown, made meals together, and headed out to the beach a few times.
We did an outing to the Cape of Good Hope, the southernmost tip of the Cape Town peninsula where the Atlantic meets the Indian Ocean. We arrived and took in the clear views of the coastline and climbed up to the lighthouse. We are so lucky that we completed our hike of the Cape before the fog rolled in, and bringing the temperatures down!
We had our last dinner together with our new family in the Airbnb and had our last night’s rest in Simon’s Town.
Day 8 Moving over to Sea Point
We left Simons Town and moved over to Sea Point to have a more urban experience for our second week in Cape Town. Sea Point is surrounded by mountains on one side and the Atlantic Ocean on the other. We checked into our Airbnb and started exploring. From our balcony we had a magnificent view of Lions Head with a tip of Table Mountain poking through in the background. Wow!
We headed down to the main road and had lunch at Mojo Market for lunch, an urban eatery of different stalls with international cuisines. We were so excited to try all the different foods! We then went to a bookstore and bought a couple of new books. Asha loves her kindle but has missed having real books she can hold in her hands. As we walked, we could see Lions Head and the Promenade. It was a feast for the eyes!!
With bellies full we walked over to see the colorful Bo Kaap the oldest neighborhood in Cape Town, which is located along the slopes of Signal Hill and is the home of the Cape Malays. Founded in the 1760s by the Dutch, Bo Kaap was built to serve as living quarters for slaves brought by the Dutch East India Company from Malaysia, Singapore, and Indonesia. When slavery was abolished in 1834, the Malays were allowed to purchase their homes and chose to paint their homes with bright colors in a celebration of their freedom. During apartheid Bo Kaap was designated as a Muslim only area and was the only area where Cape Malays were allowed to live. The other ethnic groups were forcibly moved to townships on the outskirts of town.
Our pictures of our visit don’t begin to capture the uniqueness of this neighborhood and the show of bright colors. People were welcoming and one older auntie invited us into her house for donuts!
Afterwards, we met our friend for one last lunch at the Eastern Food Bazaar and had some delicious paratha, chole and paneer! We marched back to our Airbnb and said goodbye to Sonal who was flying out that evening. We had the best time travelling together and were sad to see her go.
Day 9 Apartheid City Tour and District 6
We spent the morning exploring and learning about District 6, a neighborhood in Cape Town whose residents were forcibly and brutally removed during the 1970s during apartheid. In the 1830s, freed slaves, artisans and other immigrants including Malay people formed this community at the base of Signal Hill and created a multicultural, thriving community. Early estimates state that colored people made up 94% of the population, Indians numbered 4%, and whites 1%. In 1966 the apartheid government declared this district a whites-only area and removals started in 1968.
By 1982, over 60,000 people had been forcibly relocated to a Cape Flats township 25 kilometers away. Old houses and buildings were bull dozed and families lost their belongings, fhouses, and community connections to one another. This trauma is still felt by the descendants of those who were removed – a tour guide I met doing the Lion’s Hill hike toward the end of our trip had grandparents who were removed. He tells stories of the traumatic day his grandparents and parents were removed and lost their wealth and were moved to a barren wasteland to live in shacks and start over.
It was very moving to walk through the District 6 Museum that has been established to remember and honor the strength of the District 6 community and the tragedy that befell it during apartheid. There was a neighborhood map on the ground marking the homes that were removed, pictures of the bulldozers that demolishing the area, replicas of the homes that were destroyed and suitcases of pictures, treasured items and documents that belonged to families that were removed.
We grabbed some lunch nearby and then went to the meeting point for our afternoon Apartheid tour of Cape Town. Our guide walked us through some the history and significant sites in Cape Town related to its timeline. We visited District 6 and heard a recap of history. We travelled across town to the church where Archbishop Tutu preached and learned about his life as a spiritual leader, and leader of the non-violent movement to overturn apartheid. We stood under the arch built in his memory after passed on in 2021 – an “arch for arch” –affectionately named for his nickname given by the South African People.
Our tour guide pointed our remnants of old apartheid signs on benches and door entrances with placards for colored, black and white people during apartheid. It’s crazy to think that these were current up until 1994 when apartheid fell. The Race Classification Board operated to classify residents into 4 categories - Native, Coloured, Asian or White - based on arbitrary tests, with great consequence from where you could live and work to what door and bench you could use. The classifications were the foundation of the apartheid regime.
We then walked over the Cape Town City Hall and learned about the days leading up to Nelson Mandela’s release from prison and how he spent his first hours after. After the delay getting downtown due to the massive crowds, Mandela made it to the city hall and came out on the balcony. He wanted to be with as many people as possible as he delivered his speech of celebration and reconciliation. We were inspired by his journey which changed his country and the grace he showed all South African people, including his captors, upon his release as well as his hope for his country.
Day 10 Aquila Safari
One of our goals of coming on our trip this year was to learn about wildlife and go on a safari. We were super excited that we found a safari within a couple of hours drive from Cape Town, that is situated between the Langeberg and Quteniqua mountains. We started our safari tour with a 9am pick up and headed through the mountains to Aquila Lodge, a 10,000-hectare conservancy that was set up in 1999 to reintroduce wildlife to the Western Cape – elephant, lion, buffalo, leopard and rhino – known as the Big 5. We drove out through the Cape Winelands through Paarl on our way to the lodge and were amazed by the mountain views!
We made it to the scenic lodge and were greeted by a beautiful radiant peacock wandering around the lodge.
We had a delicious lunch at the lodge and then boarded the safari jeeps for our afternoon safari! The weather was perfect! It was sunny but cool – a climate perfect for viewing the wildlife. And the safari did not disappoint. We saw zebras, ostriches, elephants, rhinos, hippos, water buffalos and then at the end, lions! On our way back to the lodge we got stuck behind an unexpected traffic jam of elephants! We had the best time seeing these beautiful animals in their element! We made our way back to Cape Town, grabbed dinner and chilled for the night.
Day 11 Robben Island, Table Mountain and swimming
We had tried on 2 separate occasions to make it out to Robben Island, the island where Nelson Mandela was imprisoned for 18 of his 27 years of his jail term, but the weather had other plans. Rough winds and seas led to multiple cancellations of the boats heading out the island. We got lucky this morning – the seas were calm, and we were able to go out Robben Island located 11km from Cape Town at the entrance of Table Bay. As we waited to board, we toured the museum and read about the inspiring freedom fighters who protested during the apartheid era.
We boarded the boat for the 40-minute sail out to the island and reached the port. We boarded the buses that took us to the gates of the prison yard. An ex-prisoner met us and served as our tour guide and talked about how they were registered when they arrived. He explained that that he was a prisoner in the 80s when no hard labor was required, and conditions were much improved compared to the time when Mandela was imprisoned. They were each given a number that served as their only identity during their stay.
He showed us the menu of food that was different according to racial groups. He walked us through the halls where prisoners slept on a blanket on the cold, hard floor, and the cafeteria where they were given 1 meal a day of bread and nothing else.
We were deeply moved by the challenges that Mandela and the prisoners faced and rose to meet in pursuit of their ideals for a free country for all citizens. We saw Mandela’s 2x2 meter cell where he spent his 18 years and the rock quarry where he worked moving rocks around for hard labor and where the prisoners would share news from the mainland in secret during the short breaks.
We spent time on the island then boarded the boat back the mainland. We were astounded by the views of Table Mountain on the way back and had a blast riding the waves! We loved seeing the dolphins swimming in the wake of the boat.
This jam-packed day also included a much needed brunch at Tasha’s at the riverfront (highly recommend) and then a trip up the gondola to Mountain Table, which has also been closed on previous days due to the strong winds. We took advantage of the clear, calm day and took the gondola up. We had the best views up on top of the mountain of the surrounding neighborhoods and beaches.
We were absolutely spent on the way home but still had enough energy to make to the public swimming pool just in time before it closed. It was teeming with swimming families having a ball. We jumped into the cool waters and were reminded of our Patterson Park swimming pool back home. We enjoyed the chaos and refreshing swim then headed to back home to chill and rest after our long day!
Day 12 Wine tasting with the Allen Family
We had the great pleasure today of meeting up with family of our close friends in Baltimore, the Allens.. Today we were treated to an amazing picnic lunch at the Boshendal Winery in the Cape Winelands with Chantelle’s brother, Dwight, and his family. They were lovely and entertaining and the warmest (and funny!) people. We loved getting to know each other and especially meeting their 3 kids. The lunch as so delicious and we had the best day together sitting outside and learning about their lives in South Africa.
Day 13 Camps Bay Beach, Lion’s head evening hike
We were determined to pack in as much as we could on our trip to Cape Town and our last day on the ground was no exception! Nishant had a stomach bug, so he rested for much of the day, while Asha and I headed out to Camps Bay beach to check out the tidal pool. Camps Bay beach is one of the most popular given its beautiful backdrop of the 12 Apostle Mountain range. We were glad to take our wet suits as the water was chilly! We had a lovely lunch and headed back to check on Nishant.
That evening, everyone was feeling good, so I stuck with my plan to join a hiking group to climb Lion’s Head at sunset, an almost 700 meter peak situated between Table Mountain and Signal Hill. I met the group at the base of the hill and as we started the Cape Town fog rolled in! We even felt some drops from the condensation in the clouds. Visibility was limited on our way up but as we reached the summit, the clouds cleared periodically to see stunning views of Clifton and Camps Bay Beaches below, Table Mountain and the 12 Apostles in the distance, and the city skyline which became illuminated in mystical colors and shadows as the sun went down. Our guide, who was the son of parents who had been removed from District 6, shared his experiences in Cape Town which was one of my favorite parts of the hike.
I’ll never forget this hike and my love for Cape Town only grew as the city lights came on over this stunning place. It was the perfect ending to our unforgettable time in Cape Town!
Tomorrow we make our way to Joburg for our flight to Ahmedebad, India!
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