South Africa

Wonderful views of Cape Town from the plane! Meet and Greet at the airport and car transfer to our lovely guest house with views of both Table Mountain and Cape Town bay. Lunch at Oul Moel cafe down the road. Dinner at Bo-Vine in Camps Bay. Great views of the sunset from the beach.
16/4/24-The days started with breakfast on the terrace by the pool before taking an Uber to the Table Mountain aerial cableway and ascending the mountain. The 360 degree views from the summit were incredible; looking across the sea, over towards Cape Town and over towards the Cape of Good Hope. We ended up walking to Maclear’s Beacon which offered further views to False Bay. The walk was well marked even though at times we had to scramble over rocks and down precipitous rock steps with the aid of chains! A strange sight was seeing the sea fog rolling in towards the city and the ships disappearing as the fog enveloped them. Once back at the base of the mountain we caught the Hop on Hop off Bus along the coast to the V&A waterfront and then back to our guest house. In the evening we ate in the Waterside restaurant with a fabulous 9 course meal along with a wine flight for Anne. The air is noticeably cooler this evening, jumpers required.
17/4/24 We awoke to thick fog enveloping Cape Town but quite quickly it cleared enough for sunshine to break through. Our guide Gareth Angus collected us at 9am and drove us to Mount Nelson Hotel, a colonial style building built by the Union Castle Shipping Line in 1899 for first class ship passengers arriving from the UK. Here Gareth started to tell us the story of how South Africa and Cape Town evolved. A very interesting talk linking the buildings and parks to the history. We were due to travel to Robben Island in the afternoon but it was cancelled due to poor sea conditions so we have rebooked for Friday before we leave Cape Town for Franshoek. The sea fog has lurked just off the coast all day so that from our hotel we can see layers of low clouds sweeping in.
18/4/24 Our final full day in Cape Town was spent driving to the Cape Peninsula through stunning landscapes to Cape Point and the Cape of Good Hope. On our way along the False Bay coastline we noticed people had stopped off at the roadside and realised they were watching a pod of dolphins just off the shore! Further on we visited Boulders Beach where a colony of wild African penguins live. The viewing areas allowed a close view of the colony. Some were nesting and others were swimming in the sea near the beach. Once in the Cape national park we drove through the rocky landscape to Cape Point. There were very few clouds so the skies were clear. Afterwards we drove to the nearby Cape of Good Hope. On the way we saw ostriches and later spotted a huge gibbon. The Cape of Good Hope itself had a colony of cape fur seals and many wild sea birds. On our way back to our guest house a large troop of gibbons ran through the woodland next to the road and later crossed the road in front of us.
19/4/24 We were due to cross to Robben Island today but our trip was aging cancelled due to the weather. We used the time to have a harbour and canal cruise instead before leaving Cape Town and driving to Franchshoek .Read more