The final stop on our African adventure was Cape Town, South Africa. Cape Town literally has everything you could want in a vacation – beautiful beaches, stunning landscapes, amazing hiking, local wine, friendly people… I could go on. Usually when we travel, the locals ask how long we are staying and the response is always, “That isn’t nearly long enough!” And this time, I think they were right!
The first day, we went great white shark cage diving. This is one of the best places in the world to do it, so we couldn’t pass up the opportunity. Unfortunately, our timing was off – orca whales apparently have been in the area for the last few months and they attack the great whites, therefore the shark viewing is scarce. We were lucky to see even one. Steve was in the cage when it came by, which was super exciting! It swam right by the cage so he got a full view up close. I was not so lucky – I sat in the 56 degree water for about 30 minutes and saw absolutely nothing. I will say, just seeing the shark from the boat was really amazing. Great whites, while a bit terrifying, are so majestic and interesting, so we were definitely happy we took this tour.
On our second day, we took a full day wine tour to the Stellenbosch region of South Africa. It is less than an hour from central Cape Town, and grows various types of grapes responsible for creating some amazing wine! We did an organized small bus tour so that we wouldn’t have to drink and drive, which was a smart decision considering we visited 5 wineries, all of which poured very generously! South Africa’s signature wine is pinotage (a hybrid of pinot noir and hermitage), which we had never heard of before. It was fantastic!
After the long day of wine tasting, we went to the V&A waterfront, which is a tourist spot right on the water, with tons of restaurants, live music and shopping.
Day three was my favorite. We rented a car and drove to the Cape of Good Hope, which is the southwestern-most point of Africa. The views along the way were absolutely stunning; this is what makes Cape Town one of the most beautiful places on earth. We made several stops along the way, including Boulder’s Beach, where you can see a whole colony of African penguins! They even venture over to a public beach where you can see them up close and swim with them!
After we were done ogling the penguins, we kept driving south down the cape peninsula. We stopped countless times to get out and take pictures of the amazing scenery.
On the way back to the city center from cape point, we drove on Chapman’s Peak, which is the most beautiful coastal road I’ve ever seen. It was very narrow and we were driving on the left hand side of the road RIGHT on the cliff edge (thanks for driving, Steve!). Holy cow though, it was amazing!
On our last day, we hiked up Table Mountain. The path we chose took about 4 hours, and the views on the way up were worth the sweat. Unfortunately, Table Mountain is notorious for always having a cloud sitting right on top of it (nicknamed the “table cloth”). The table cloth was heavy that day. It was actually really strange – it was a beautiful day in Cape Town, but you wouldn’t know it from the top of the mountain. Visibility was little to none! But, as soon as we started to head down the mountain, visibility was perfect again and the skies were blue. I don’t get it, but… it’s science, ya know?
We packed a TON into our 4 days in Cape Town, but we had to! Cape Town is such an amazing place. I absolutely loved our first experience in Africa. It is trips like this one that make me so anxious to explore the world even more. There is so much diversity and beauty out there, most of the time in places you least expect!
The Great Fekspedition 