Hello hello! I’ve got a bit of catching up to do! It has been a whirlwind of a week in Cape Town, such a truly lovely city, and we’ve had so many great experiences here I don’t know where to start! But, in line with my system, I’ll go through our day to day happenings! Hope you enjoy!

Day 12, Thursday May 4

Orange River to Cederberg

We had quite a bit of ground to cover today as our last big overlanding travel day was coming to a close. We packed up before sunrise and bid adieu to the Orange River and set off south. Today was all paved roads once we made it back to the highway from the campsite, so, although it was 500km+ we arrived in Cederberg around 4pm. The grounds where we were camping were part of a beautiful vineyard and had two lovely dogs that greeted us, along with the host. We chose to upgrade – our only real upgrade of the trip – and immensely enjoyed the soft beds, pillows and hot showers. Also, tonight would’ve been our final night tenting, and honestly, it was pretty cold. No regrets. Before our final dinner the majority of the group partook in a wine tasting put on by the host, which was lovely. We had braii again, delicious seasoned grilled meat, with salad and veg, at a long table with the whole gang. It was very wholesome, and a great final bonding experience.

Day 13, Friday May 5th

We depart around 8, it’s a very short drive day south to Cape Town. We arrive close to noon, and it was a bit of a chaotic mess to be honest. It really feels like the trip is over at this point, although the night is included. We hastily unload the truck, gather our things and check in to the hostel, Never at Home. Pretty nice, clean, new and safe. It’s 5 bunk dorm rooms, mixed, and communication broke down. We all had to sign in, and it appeared that we’d be sharing a room with strangers, (personally nbd) since strangers names were on our sign in sheet. I understand how hostels work, and I am in no way against this type of travel. We would’ve upgraded but it was overpriced and not available anyway. Sister was getting stressed, attempted to get an early check it to where we would be staying for the remainder of the time in Cape. Eventually, everything worked out. We ended up in a room with just the two other aussies, and we invited Rebecca from NZ to join us since she was in a full dorm of mostly the Slovenians. We had 2 pairs of Cape Town locals on the tour and they both opted to go home once they were basically home anyways, and some folks upgraded. So there were unfilled gaps in the dorms, win for us!

Back downstairs we said our goodbyes and thank you’s to the crew, delivered their tips and bid farewell. The younger two members of the crew were heading out to find trouble, and Johannes, the quiet cook was heading up to his bunk for a well earned nap. Although the tour officially ended the following morning, our group divided and it felt like the end. For those wondering, the two week tour came to $827.50CAD each, plus upgrades and optional activities. Not including flights of course. And that’s with a hefty promotion and a little repeat customer $50 discount. Very very worth it.

We stashed our goods and followed our tour friend Kim – from Berlin – down to the V&A Waterfront to a cute spot for drinks. I had actually looked into the Silo Hotel, but it was grossly out of budget. But – had an amazing rooftop bar with an epic view and gorgeous drinks. It’s not particularly open to the public, but if you ask nicely, look cute, batt your lashes and it’s not too busy they’ll loan you a keycard and let you go up. The staff go above and beyond as well. We lingered until well after dark, snacking and chatting, and eventually called an Uber to bring us back to the hostel.

Day 14, Saturday May 6th

Our tour is officially finished!

We store our bags at the hostel while we head out for breakfast and to locate our new digs for the next five nights. Sister had found us a real winner, Mountain Marina Luxury Apartments, in the V&A – prime location – very affordable, washer/dryer, full kitchen, harbour side pool. Highly recommend. It took a bit of getting lost to find the place, but after we did we were very pleased. We managed an early check in, retrieved our things from the hostel, settled in and walked over to the stadium from our new accommodation and watched an impromptu rugby game! Random I know, but why not. Even in the morning we noticed straight away that the city was buzzing. Loads of people were wearing jerseys, or fully decked out. The Stormers (CPT team) were playing the Bulls (Pretoria) and it was an absolute vibe. SA vs SA.

Kickoff was set for 330, we left on foot at 230 with plans of meeting our tour friend Rebecca at the seats around 3. We literally just fell in with the swarms of people headed in the direction of the arena, it was madness. We were through the gates and browsing the merch by quarter to, grabbed some beverages and headed for the $6 nosebleeds. It was the fullest house they’d had for a game, with over 45,000 patrons in a stadium built to hold 60,000.

Admittedly, I’ve never watched rugby, or a live sports game of this magnitude, so it was very entertaining to say the least. It’s like American football, but quicker, less timeouts and it’s limited at 2 halves with 40 minutes each. We were rooting for the home team – go Stormers! – and they won, so that was nice. It was a pretty apparent who was going to win right off the bat, as the stormers were in the lead the whole time. We stopped off for sushi on the way home, along with 50,000 other people getting dinner at the waterfront. It had started raining lightly, like walking through a cloud. We arrived back at the apartment to no power, the joys of load shedding (I’ll explain later), tucked into bed and called it a night.

Day 15, Sunday May 7th

A fine Sunday morning for a walk through the manicured exotic grounds of Kirstenbosch Botanical Gardens. My main modus operandi was the precious protea, and I was left far from disappointed. We headed out in the morning, collected Rebecca, ubered over and as we were collecting beverages from the chaotic cafe we noticed the hop on hop off bus was pulling up and dropping off folks. And, to our absolute delighted amusement, travel parents were part of the crowd. Our dear Tracy & Graham from Australia, who we never really had the opportunity to said a proper goodbye to. We hustled over to greet them and spent the morning exploring the hillside gardens together. Our little hodgepodge travel family.

Day 16, Monday May 8th

Day trip day!

A month or so before leaving we had perused my precious “AirB&B Experiences” for things available in Cape Town and we elected this experience due to the sheer volume of things we wanted to do and how much you get out of one day. And we weren’t disappointed. So far, they’ve all been wins. While still on tour we convinced Rebecca to join us as well, so she signed up in advance. We started out by ubering over to The Strangers Club, an amazing little co-operative with a cafe, gallery and a few little shops selling curated ethical goods. We had a quick hot beverage, shopped around, vowed to return and loaded into the tour van with a couple German sisters that would be joining our tour.

Heading south, our first stop was Muizenberg Beach, about 30 minutes south of Cape Town situated on the Indian Ocean side. Boasting the iconic colourful beach huts, used as changing rooms nowadays, (with a much seedier past), the 200m long soft sand beach encompasses a large bay where it is said is the birthplace of South Africa’s surfing culture.

Continuing south along the coast we arrive for an early lunch at Kalky’s. A holdout from days past, serving fresh local fish & chips from daily catch. Now, it was good, I can’t really say anything bad, but… I have extremely high fish standards, and I like what I like. So, it was alright. Please don’t hunt me down. To each their own. Also, the ketchup was definitely sketch. And the fish was hake, different ocean, different fish. I’m a cod, or halibut stan over here. It was authentic though, I’ll give the tour organizer that, and that’s why we’re here.

We had time for a little meandering walk along Kaulk Bay Main Street, fetched a couple pressies. Poked around cute shops, antique stores and ornate alleys. We rounded up and headed further south, to the land of penguins.

Now, I should preface by saying, we saw the penguins at boulders prior to our departure from Cape Town before Namibia. We chose to stay (slight cringe) an hour south of CPT at Boulders Beach Hotel in Simons Town for the mere desire to ogle the little flappers of these adorable birds. Again, not disappointed in the slightest. On todays jaunt, there was entrance to both access points included, so we started on the boardwalk over the colonies and headed further to the beach access section as well. On our previous visit we merely accessed the free boardwalk connecting the two sites, the weather then was atrocious- but we were still highly amused by the close sightings. On todays visit there were loads of penguin chicks to be seen, either in nests under mama penguin, or wandering about the area with their cute penguin afros. Love them.

We made our way to the accessible sandy beach at the south end of the boardwalk for in ocean penguin viewing. Scaling the massive boulders can be a bit tricky, so dress accordingly, and keep an eye on the tide. My only tour qualm was the time restrictions, but it was understandable. Although we could’ve spent the day at the beach, we had more stops to make!

Roughly 45 minutes south from Simons Town is Cape Point, the most south western point on the continent. Just open ocean looking south towards Antarctica. The oceans meet and trade winds collide at this rugged point, and the view from the lighthouse is rather epic. A quick gaunt up for pictures and we’re back in the car for another view point of the point, a mandatory pic and back on the road, heading for second lunch. Our driver had collected take away lunch from the Stranger Club prior to our departure, and grabbed these delicious roasted veg sandwiched that were actually mind blowing. Beautiful homemade sourdough, hummus, roasted eggplant & peppers, seeds, fresh greens. Perfectly balanced, salty, crunchy, umami. It’s been like three months and I still salivate at the memory. So good.

The plan was have lunch at a beach where there’s a little boat launch, but as we roll up we spot some baboons – not to be messed with – like at all. Rules are rules, and there is no exiting the vehicle with baboons present. They can be very aggressive when food is at play, they’ll sneak up behind you while you’re distracted by other baboons… if you leave your window open a crack they’ll reach their grubby little arms in and flail around trying to hijack your lunch an/or eyeballs. So we ate in the van. Also I don’t like monkeys, and baboons, same same but different. So we finish up, then next stop is Chapmans Peak. And all I can say is epic. Sun was setting. Etherial. Dreamy. We stopped at the peak for local artisan gin & tonics (no waraji here) and to take it all in. It was hella beautiful and the perfect end to a perfect day.

Actually. That wasn’t even the end. As our driver was getting back to into CPT he asked what our dinner plans were, we said none, he highly suggested a place that his friend was running, Den Anker, which was a stones throw from our apartment, he offered to make us a reservation and we said yes please sir, got dropped off, changed and scooted down for an amazing meal. Sister had a main as an appy, I had the pork belly, and we all shared the crepes flambeed for dessert. Did I mention sister Rebecca was with us? Such a peach. With very fully bellies we bid adieu and headed to our beds, it was going to be another busy morning tomorrow!

Day 17, Tuesday May 9th

Like silly little creatures of habit, we made plans to meet at the Strangers Club for tea & breakfast before starting our day. I had a turmeric latte & pan au chocolat – which were both exquisitely executed – with croissant snob standards.

After a little shopping we uber over to the table mountain cable car, and gawk at the enormous lineup to get in, I hold a spot while the girls sus out the situation, they return with cheeky grins and inform me we’re opting to skip the queue, fancy. We scoot through the side entrance, up a couple flights of stairs and wait in a sepate area for the next cable car. At this point I am wishing I had taken a childrens gravol, because this looks sketchy and motion sickness inducing, and my never before present fear of heights wants to say hi too. The car jostles into position and fills in an instant. With everyone clamouring for a window, little do we all realize it will rotate upon departure so everyone gets a view at one point, as long as you’re on the outer perimeter of course. So we’re off in a jiff, the cable cars are on a pulley/weight system so one goes up while one goes down, they seem to just zip along and before you know it you’re at the top – after a stress sweat inducing half minute of locking in via massive cables, like an air ferry.

We head for the least populous area, per usual, take in some incredible views, walk a permitter trail that kind of stopped being a trail and we had to be naughty and bush whack to the other trail. We spent a little over an hour up top, arriving at 1130 and departing close to 1. Epic views, but getting quite busy.

We had plans for lunch at Den Anker again, what can I say, creatures of habit, we couldn’t get enough. Mussels, burrata, ice coffee that turned out to be a milkshake. The nostalgia was already hitting.

Very rich, very delicious, understandably I needed a little lay down after all that. We vegetate temporarily, go for little walk around the V&A and uber down to Camps Bay for an evening beside the tide pool and sunset dinner. South Africa must have a dozen or more of these beautiful salt water swimming pools with manmade barriers and I wish to heck we had them in Canada!

Day 18, Wednesday May 10th

What can I say, we’re a sucker for penguins. The three of us girls decided, spur of the moment esque, to uber down to Boulders for the day to mingle and swim with penguins. The ride was reasonable for us to split, and how often are you merely an hour away from the cutest sea birds on the planet? We lazed about in the morning (much needed), so we didn’t get to the beach until the early afternoon, but we stayed until closing and enjoyed another scenic sunset drive along Chapmans Peak, stopping in Camps Bay – again – for dinner. A different spot, upstairs with a view of the strip, I had the ox tail with ugali, fitting. The perfect last day of our travels.

Day 19, Thursday May 11th

Departure Day

We had organized a late checkout from our rental as our flight left at 11pm. We spent the morning packing and downsizing – as you do when all your trinkets and souvenirs have to fit into your backpack. Our blasted flights wouldn’t let us check in on our mobiles, unlike all the flights it took to get to CPT, so unfortunately we had to wait for our airline counter to open before we could check in and go through security. We had a light dinner at the airport and killed time. Eventually we checked in, our massive bags were approved to be carry on worthy – a small miracle – and we breezed through security. Literally. No lines. A very efficient yet deserted operation. The minutes slowly ticked by and eventually we slipped off into the night, headed back to Amsterdam before continuing home to Vancouver then the island. I finally arrived home home the following day as my small town doesn’t have flights arriving after 5pm, and I just barely wouldn’tve made the connection.

All in All.

Of course it’s a trip. Beyond literally. Travel inevitably changes your way of thinking, processing and viewing the world around you. Namibia/South Africa was a complex mix of approachable and intimidating. In its own way. It was lovely and safe for 95% of the time, but like anywhere in the world, unfortunate things happen, conflict can be partially avoidable, and we avoid when possible. While Namibia is indeed a wealthy African country, there is greatly impoverished people, like everywhere, and given the opportunity to get ahead, anyone will. One of our tour mates had her phone taken from her pocket in Cape Town, which is just an unfortunate piece of the pie sometimes. Of course we all try to deter such behaviour, but it happens to the best of us. That being said, sister and I walked 15 minutes back to our accommodations in Swakopmund, after dinner, on dimly lit dirt roads, and other than our paranoia, were safe as could be. Same for Cape Town – but we stayed in a gated area in a tourist area. So – risk adverse. Travel smarter not harder? I’m not sure where exactly I’m going on this tangent, but all in all it was beyond lovely and I would absolutely recommend Namibia and Cape Town to anyone looking to explore this part of the world. I was truly sad to leave. Which says a lot, as I love where I live – and not a fan of big cities, but Cape Town really is a beautiful vibrant city with so much to do and see. Good vibes, good views and good people.