Unlimited Possibilities: Beautiful Cape Town

Our Airbnb in Cape Town is located in the building of a small mall, in the Woodstock district. We are waiting for the check-in with coffee and cake, which is only possible from 3pm. We have a 1-bedroom apartment with a kitchen, bathroom, and balcony. Since Woodstock, except for the area around the mall, is not considered a particularly safe neighborhood, we have a ticket for the somewhat overpriced parking garage. We'd rather not have to use our comprehensive insurance...

In the afternoon, we meet up with Silke, who we know from Berlin, to go to Muizenberg with her, where we take a walk along the beach. There are many colorful cottages right on the beach, which are slowly decaying but still nice to look at. You can also watch the many surfers in the waves.

A short walk away, there is a small street food and design market in an old airplane hangar today. Here we can fill our bellies with various specialties and admire handmade jewelry and vintage items.

As true tourists, we take a hop-on, hop-off bus tour of Cape Town the next day. From the top of the double-decker bus, you have a good view of the sights, and the audio guide provides some interesting facts about the city. The tour also takes us to the vineyards on the outskirts of Cape Town, where we let ourselves be guided through the variety of local wines at the oldest winery in South Africa, "Groot Constancia". Since we get along well with the waitress, we are allowed to taste a few extras, like an expensive dessert wine and a brut. The further drive takes us past a township of Cape Town and along the coast to the wealthy neighborhoods, where the luxury villas can hardly fit next to each other. Quite extreme contrasts!

Finally, we end our tour in the Waterfront, where we stroll through the shopping passages and admire the harbor. Here you can leisurely walk, watch gospel choirs sing and dance, or enjoy yourself in one of the numerous restaurants.

Day 3 in Cape Town starts at the Neighbourgoods Market next to the "Old Biscuit Mill," which is only a few streets away from our Airbnb. The market, open on Saturdays and Sundays, is pretty crowded, but here again, there is super delicious food from all over the world and a lot of arts and crafts, fashion, etc. You can find the most peculiar birds, alongside many beautiful people; people meet for their first cold drink at 11 am to dance to good electro music from a live DJ, and there is something new to discover around every corner - we almost feel like we're back in Berlin...

Afterwards, we drive to the city center, where we initially wander around aimlessly, but then join a free walking tour. The tour focuses a lot on apartheid and the political situation up until today. We already know some of it from the Apartheid Museum in Jo'burg, but there are still a few interesting extra facts.

Tina can't resist the fresh proteas at a small flower market, which fit perfectly into the picture of our next stop: the colorful houses of Bo-Kaap. A wonderful place to take photos, but you also have to be careful not to go down any side streets, as the more dangerous townships start right behind them. Just when Carsten thinks that we should not walk there, two other tourists come toward us and tell us that they were just threatened with a knife and robbed about 200 meters away from us. We are reminded once again that Cape Town is not as safe as it seemed to us in the last few days... After this story, we quickly take the next Uber and drive back to our Airbnb.

What would a visit to Cape Town be without having been to Table Mountain? An absolute must-see! That's why we put on our hiking boots on the morning of the fourth day and meet Silke at the foot of Table Mountain. For people who are not good on foot or don't want to tackle the steep climb in a dress and sandals, there is, of course, a cable car. Out of approximately 300 different hiking trails on and around Table Mountain, we choose the fastest one ("Platteklip Gorge") due to time constraints. So we go up the steep mountain over rocks and stones in the blazing sun but always with a fantastic view of Cape Town and a fresh breeze in our noses. After about 2.5 hours, we arrive at the top and have a great view in all directions: over Cape Town, the ocean, the coast, Lionshead, Signal Hill, and the vineyards. Since we have more on our agenda today, we take the revolving cable car (about €11 one way per person) for the way back and are back down in about 2 minutes.

After a quick shower, we buy some snacks and drinks for a picnic and drive to the Kirstenbosch Botanical Gardens, where a free (only the entrance fee of about €12 for the park needs to be paid) summer concert takes place this evening. We have Silke with us again and meet some of her friends there, who have fortunately reserved a spot for the picnic blanket. Because, of course, we are not the only ones with this idea, and today a very well-known rock band is also playing. Unfortunately, we don't understand a word because they sing in Afrikaans. But the atmosphere in the park with the setting sun behind Table Mountain is still unique! We end the evening in a nice restaurant on the beach in Clifton.

On our last day in Cape Town, we drive a bit along the Cape Peninsula. We make a short stop at Llandudno Beach and enjoy the sun for a bit.

Then we continue to Chapman's Peak Drive. Here, a picturesque road winds along the coast to a viewpoint from which you have a great view of the wide bay. When we open the car door, it is almost ripped out of our hands by the wind, and otherwise, we have to be careful not to be blown off the cliffs, but other than that, today we have beautiful sun that turns the water into a glittering sea.

On the other side of the peninsula, we want to go to Boulders Beach. There is a colony of African penguins living on the small beach. From a specially built boardwalk, you can watch the animals breeding, swimming, sunbathing, and waddling around. Really cute little guys! Through the side entrance, you can also reach a small beach with not so many penguins but also not so many people. With a little luck, you can even snorkel and swim with the penguins here. But we have no luck, and besides, the water is a bit too cold for us in the strong wind and without a wetsuit...

Carsten has not given up his dream of surfing in South Africa and it finally comes true on the beach of Muizenberg. The conditions are not as optimal due to the wind as during our last visit there, but he still catches some waves and has fun, while Tina sits freezing on the beach and is assigned to taking photos. As a result, she unfortunately ends up in bed with a fever in the evening... Time to go back home!

Since we have a very long distance ahead of us to get to Jo'burg, we finally get our tires repaired. If we had known that it only takes 5€ and 10 minutes, we would have done it a long time ago... Then it's time to say goodbye to the South African coast.