As one disembarks from the cruise ship in the port of Cape Town you are treated to an incredible area called the V & A Waterfront (Victoria and Albert). It may not be truly representative of the rest of Cape Town, but it is a splendid example of inner city rejuvenation done right. It is the most popular tourist attraction in South Africa.
You are treated with platforms that have been installed to allow the native Fur Seals to rest and sun themselves while tourists get to enjoy them without conflict.
It also provides the first hint of how reasonable the cost of visiting here can be. If you visited the equivalent site in London, Vancouver, or San Francisco you know you would be getting gouged for everything you purchased. Imagine our surprise when we got a coffee in a lovely restaurant right on the waters edge served in proper crockery by professional staff and the two coffees cost us $4.25 CND.
We decided to get an overview of the city by doing the Hop on Hop off bus. Great way to get a guided introduction to Cape Town. The audio tour that comes with the ride was excellent and highlighted the good and not so good of the city. I would highly recommend it.One of Cape Towns challenges is the cost of accommodation. The unofficial solution is workers create their own small settlements near their work, as the cost of commuting from where they can afford to live to where the work is, prohibitive. Not a unique problem to here, but sad to see none the less.The iconic Table Mountain certainly is the dominant feature as you travel around the city. I love the term tablecloth when locals describe the low clouds hanging over it some days.Unfortunately the day we chose to go up to the top of Table Mountain was not exactly conducive to enjoying the view. You can’t win them all.
As is our normal routine, we took in the free walking tours offered in the city centre. If you have never used these, I can’t recommend them enough. The tour guides are excellent and truly love their city. We ended up doing two of them, showcasing the Bo-Kaap community and the history of Apartheid in Cape Town.
Bo-Kaap is the community where the Malay Muslims were segregated to. There are a number of mosques there and some great food, as well as incredible spice shops. An interesting side note is the cobbled streets are done with stones from the UK. The ships that came here to collect spices had to have ballast to sail here. The ballast was the stones that, once offloaded, were used to pave the streets.The tour took us by this lovely ladies kiosk. She explained her tasty Koesister (similar to a donut with cinnamon and coconut) and enjoyed a boost in daily sales.The fellow who led the Apartheid tour is probably one of the best guides we have ever experienced. His depth of knowledge and personal experiences brought the tour to life. It also left you wondering about human beings as well.One of the few surviving statutes of Cecil Rhodes. As one of the original organizers of the De Beers Diamond Mines he contributed many things to South Africa. Unfortunately one of them was the framework for Apartheid. His legacies of universities and scholarships are overshadowed by the brutality and misery inflicted by his plans.The one person there is no lack of statues of in this country is Nelson Mandela. It is hard not to be in awe of him as you learn more about the modern history of this country.We stayed in an apartment in the neighbourhood of Woodstock for the first 9 days we were here. Lots of street art and friendly locals. Unfortunately we spent the first 3 – 4 days sequestered in the apartment recovering from head colds. All better now.Though there are still a number of rundown and empty buildings in Woodstock, it is uplifting to see the effort to continue to improve the area.
In an effort to see and understand more of the city we have moved to another neighbourhood for the next 12 days. Stay tuned for more of our Cape Town wanderings.
We found the food to be fabulous. From little dives to full-scale gourmet restaurants and their tasting menus we delighted in the good. And Uber actually works there and is inexpensive. We love following your journey.
John & Bev
We have wonderful memories of our time in Cape Town and the surrounding areas. It felt surreal to be there at times, especially as we immersed ourselves in the history. V&A was delightful. We never did get up onto the top of Table Mountain thanks to wind and fog.
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