Cape Town

We were nearing the end of our trip to South Africa and had yet to visit Cape Town and the surrounding area, but first we wanted to visit Betty’s Bay, home to an African penguin colony.

The African Penguin (previously known as the Jackass Penguin because of the braying donkey noise it makes) is the most northerly occurring penguin species and is the only penguin species that lives on the African Continent.

The African Penguin’s range is from Namibia in the North to Port Elizabeth in the East but there are very few mainland colonies, of which Betty’s Bay is one.

From the car park the penguins are only a few steps away and their numbers stretch along the rocky shoreline. There are also thousands of cormorants nesting amongst the rocks as well as quite a few Dassie (which look a bit like marmots but are apparently unrelated).

A boardwalk runs partway along the beach and there is a fee to access it, however the majority of the penguins were on the beach before we even reached the paying boardwalk and regardless, we had free access with our SANParks Wild Card. The wild card provides unlimited entrance to over 80 South African National Parks and Reserves for a year and has proven to be a great buy saving us quite a lot of money on this trip.

From Betty’s Bay we drove along the beautiful coastline towards Cape Town. The weather was raining on and off and it was incredibly windy but we had intermittent patches of blue sky and sunshine to enjoy the views.

We were planning to spend a couple of nights in the town of Hout Bay which is just to the South of Cape Town itself. Hout Bay is a big protected bay and is primarily a commuter town for Cape Town. Despite it being protected however, the wind was so strong that the water was very choppy and full of whitecaps. When we woke the next morning we had to retrieve our patio furniture which had been blown right across the garden of our rental property.

We had planned to meet up with some friends in Cape Town (Adrian and Magda @admaadventures), fellow motor-homers who we met last year while travelling through Croatia, and were looking forward to catching up.

They drove over from Kommetjie, a lovely area to the south of Hout Bay, to pick us up and take us out for an epic day of sightseeing, starting with the very scenic Chapman’s Peak Drive along the Atlantic Coast. They even brought along various snacks for the drive which we learnt were called Padkos.

We had a great day with them as they showed us the sights of the Cape peninsula.

We visited a local fishing harbour and had a brief stop over at picturesque Simonstown to visit ‘Just Nuisance’ before heading to Boulder’s Beach to check out the famous penguin colony there. This is more touristy than the colony at Betty’s Bay but much more scenic because of the white sandy beach.

We then headed south to the Cape of Good Hope (the most south-western point of Africa) where we hiked as far south as it was possible to go. It was still incredibly windy and some of the viewpoints were actually a struggle to look over the parapet. You had to hang on really tight to your phone if you wanted a picture!

Cape point is expensive to visit for international visitors (£20 each) but we were pleased when our wild card was also accepted here. At the Southern tip you can hike to a lighthouse and some viewpoints (or there is a funicular if you don’t want to climb) plus a small museum and gift shop. There is also a path that leads out to another lighthouse on the cliffs at the waters edge but you can’t get all the way there.

After visiting Cape Point Adrian and Magda took us to their beautiful local beach in Kommetjie before finishing up at Adrian’s parents house for a swim and real South African Braai.

We had an unforgettable day with Adrian and Magda and are really grateful that they took the time out to be so hospitable. Truly fantastic hosts and we look forward to seeing them again when we are all back in Europe!

After parting ways with Adrian and Magda our next and final stop was to be Cape Town but on the way there Sarah’s Welshness couldn’t let her pass by Llandudno Beach without stopping (which to be fair was very pretty and well worth the visit) and after lazing on the beach for a while we stopped again a little further along the coast at Camp’s Bay where we had lunch in one of the many beachside restaurants.

I’d been to Camps Bay before but in the winter when it was cold and pretty deserted. It is definitely more lively in the summer and the seawater pool looked very inviting.

From here we headed into the centre of Cape Town where we had booked an apartment with views of Table Mountain but on the way into town we drove up Signal hill to take in the views of both the city and the surrounding mountains.

Fortunately we hit Cape Town on a relatively cloudless day and were able to see Table Mountain in all her glory.

Once in our apartment we cranked up the aircon and relaxed. We felt like we had been on the go every day for a while so an apartment with a kitchen, balcony and lounge area was very welcome.

We didn’t have long in Cape Town and coupled with the fact that we wanted to rest up before hitting Namibia where we would be really hectic we didn’t want to bite off more than we could chew.

However the Kirstenbosch Botanical Gardens are considered to be the best botanical gardens in Africa and one of the best in the world and Sarah was really keen to go and check them out.

We had perfect weather for wandering around the gardens, which I have to admit were very nice, and a real oasis of peace and tranquillity that we didn’t expect to find so close to the city centre. There is even a cool elevated walkway through the trees with great views of the eastern slopes of Table Mountain.

Needless to say I had to prise Sarah away from here especially after she discovered the scones with jam and cream which were apparently, “very nice, but not as good as British scones”. I am sure Mary Berry will be delighted to hear that!

After the gardens we visited the colourful Bo-Kaap area of Cape Town. This is the oldest surviving neighbourhood in the city and was originally home to the Cape Malay people (slaves who were brought over from Malaysia).

The houses are brightly coloured and the city actually pays the residents to keep them like this and to touch up the paint when it fades or peels.

We have had a fantastic time in South Africa and will definitely be back, in fact sooner than you think as we are due to visit Kruger National Park in a few weeks, but first we head to Namibia for more African adventures.