Here we are on 27th October 2016, our first full day in Cape Town. We have spent months longing for this day. It has arrived and the Sun is shining with hardly a cloud in the sky. It is warm, just into the 20s C. What a great start. So much to see and do in such a short time.
We had been given a list of the best things to do in a short stay in Cape Town by a colleague at work, Sharyn. The list was necessarily short, not because of any shortage of good things to do but constrained by our itinerary. Only 4 days in Cape Town. So what was on this exclusive list.
Betty’s Bay Penguin Colony
http://www.southafrica.to/provinces/WesternCape/towns/Bettys-Bay/penguin-colony/Bettys-Bay-penguin-colony.php5
Chapman’s Peak Drive
http://www.chapmanspeakdrive.co.za/
Table Mountain - Aerial cable car
http://www.tablemountain.net/
Kirstenbosch Botanical Gardens
http://www.sanbi.org/gardens/kirstenbosch
V&A Waterfront
http://www.waterfront.co.za/
Two Oceans Aquarium (at V&A Waterfront)
http://www.aquarium.co.za/
Nelson Mandela – Robben Island Prison Museum
http://www.capetown.travel/attractions/entry/Robben_Island_and_Museum
That is a lot to do in just 4 days, but we will do what we can.
Today, Day 2
Today the weather was looking good so we decided to go for a drive around Cape Point or Cape Peninsular. We had checked out some of the trips available before we left home so had an idea of where to go. However, we were not going to start at 08:30 as the trips we saw did. We deserved a bit of a lye in after our long flights to get here.
After a leisurely breakfast we loaded the hire car with our paraphernalia, programmed the sat-nav and set off towards our first point of call, Green Point. On this rare occasion it actually was our first stop. Normally there are lots of photo stops between points.
Green Point
On first thought Green Point is not an 'epic' place to stop. It is just a fairly normal looking seaside town or suburb. We stopped in a seafront carpark, expecting to be just for five minutes. It is however straight out to the Southern Atlantic Ocean with a backdrop of Signal Hill and Lion's Head, with the latter being a rocky outcrop. We sat on a bench on Sea Point Promenade and it was not long before the camera came out. The rhythm of the waves on the rocks, the sun blazing down and warming the bones, the runners pounding the pavement. Who knows!
What I do know is that the camera came out and we took photos of the seafront, naturally, the waves beating against the rocks, and even a video of the ocean.
That lead to noticing, and photographing seabirds, predominantly Cormorants and Terns. There is always one. The ubiquitous Seagull just getting into the photos.
Maybe not an 'epic' place to stop, but actually well worthwhile, and only 10-15mins drive from the Park Inn by Radisson Hotel. We did not look at the park or the stadium form here. We saw the impressive looking stadium from one of the elevated roads driving from the airport. Then it was back in the car and set the sat-nav for Camps Bay, a mear 15mins away, accoding to Google Maps.
Camps Bay
Hout Bay Harbour
Chapman's Peak Drive
Simon Town
Cape of Good Hope
Boulders
Sunset