Good Morning Fellow Explorers,
Every year I select a country to go and explore for about two weeks to a month, this past year was South Africa. I went October to November of 2016 visiting Cape Town, Johannesburg and Kruger National Park. There is so much to see and do in Cape Town that seven days hardly seemed to be enough time. Here is my seven day itinerary.
The best way to get to know Cape Town is to get on the red double deck hop-on/off bus . It is probably one of the best tours that I have been on. There are four different lines: red, yellow, blue and purple. Red is an outer city tour stopping at the V&A Waterfront, Table Mountain, Camps Bay and much more. The Yellow line takes you around the downtown area of Cape Town stopping at a number of different museums and historic areas such as District Six. The blue line is the mini peninsula tour stopping at 14 different locations including Kirstenbosch Gardens and there is a spectacular view of Table Mountain from all sides. Last but not least the Purple line which is the wine tour bus. It stops at three different wineries and is accessed through the blue line. I recommend getting a two day pass to visit all the locations and really get the full Cape Town experience. Also, when you purchase the two day ticket it also includes a sunset and cruise tour for free.
Hiking Table Mountain can be tricky not because of the trails but the mountain best hiked when the winds are good and the sky is clear. There are about 12 different trails to hike up to the top of Table Mountain ranging in different price and skill level. For the first time I would recommend India Venster as it has some scrambling and great views. Starting from the base of where the cable car is making our way to the back of the mountain and up to the top. It will take about 3.5 hours and leaves really early in the morning as the temperature is a lot cooler then and winds tend to be low. You will definitely want to have at least two litres of water with you and some light snacks. I picked up a pack of GOO from MEC, which gave me the boost I needed to finish the hike. DO NOT try and hike Table Mountain by yourself many people have gotten injured/lost and there are a number of guides that can take you up for a reasonable price. The company I used is called Hike Table Mountain just click the name for other routes and prices. I was really happy with the level of service I received with them. They were very knowledgeable about all the routes, history and pointed out some dangerous plants. If you do not like to hike there is a cable car that goes up to the top and it is open dependent upon the strength of the winds – it is more satisfying to hike up though.
If you didn’t get a chance to visit some of the places you wanted to on the hop-on/off tour like the aquarium or museums within the city after the hike is a good time to go. Finish your day with dinner at the V&A Waterfront.
It does not really matter which you do first. I decided to spend my morning at Kirstenbosch Gardens and my afternoon at Robben Island. There are many different paths to take when you enter Kirstenbosch. The cost of entry is R40 for adults and R10 for children. They have a variety of sections from fragrant plants, to healing plants, ancient plants and a tree top walkway with a view of Table Mountain. All-in-all dedicate an hour or two to really get around, if you choose to have lunch here add another hour.
 I had my tour for Robben Island around 1500 and it lasts about 3-4 hours. When you arrive there is a bus tour that takes you around the island and gives you an idea of what it was like to be an inmate. Then when you arrive to the jail there is a former prisoner that takes you around the jail and gives you the history from a first person point of view along with some information about Nelson Mandela and his time there. One thing about Robben Island is to book as soon as you can if you want to have your choice in tour time as it does fill up quick, tickets can be purchased in advance online. Tour prices are R320 adults and R180 children.
Wine tours! This is an absolute must if you are visiting South Africa and be close to one of their oldest wine regions. I booked through the hostel I was staying at and the company they use as called Wine Flies. The guide we had was absolutely awesome. Getting picked up around 0730-0800 visiting five different wineries trying about twenty-five different wines paired with cheese, meats and chocolate. There are opportunities to purchase wines at each location and each winery has shipping information and costs for every country they deliver to in the world. Lunch is also included which features a true South African Braai – which is like a BBQ but never tell a South African that. One of the coolest features about this trip is tasting a wine that is finished but has not been bottled yet. It is astounding how different it tastes. The cost was R750 adults only, booked through my hostel.
There are only a few places where you can do shark cage diving. Some of the best places are Mexico, Australia and South Africa. During the time that I was there the closest shark diving experience was in Gansbaai just a couple of hours outside of Cape Town. I believe the company we were with was called Marine Dynamics which is a Fair Trade operator and they are an ecotourism and conservation company. It was a really cool experience at no time did I feel like the shark was going to come into the cage as you may have seen on a youtube video. However, looking back on this trip I might have not done the shark diving experience as I felt that is was unnatural to bait the shark to come to the cage just so a bunch of tourists can capture a few pictures. Also, I saw more of the shark and its beauty outside of the water which I could have done a simple marine boat tour for that. This was R2400 adult, also booked through my hostel.
This day I did not have much time to do any activities as my flight was really early in the morning however if I had a full day here are some other things that I wish I could have done:
Hike another Table Mountain Route, i.e. Lions Head
Wine tour in the Paarl region
There were opportunities to do a Safari in this part of South Africa as well. I never did it here as I was going to Kruger National Park to do it. I had also heard that the safaris in this part of South Africa were not good as they do not treat the animals well. However, I have no factual information to support that.
As always I look forward to any questions or comments you may have. If you have been to Cape Town please let me know of places you went to and enjoyed. Bo-Kaap in the picture below.
Amber Leigh
@travel.explore.repeat
 Cape Town, South Africa Good Morning Fellow Explorers, Every year I select a country to go and explore for about two weeks to a month, this past year was South Africa.
