We flew to Cape Town from Johannesburg on Fly Mango. Cape Town is the gateway to Western Cape, Northern Cape and Namibia. The city is nestled between the mountain and the sea and has a spectacular landscape - mountains, coastline and natural fauna. It's the second most populous city in South Africa (SA) and the legislative capital. It is located on the shore of Table bay.
We stayed at the Queen Victoria hotel near the Victoria and Alfred (V&A) waterfront, its actually a new extension of the V&A hotel, a very beautiful trendy boutique hotel with great customer service.
We walked around the V&A waterfront and mall. There were many shops and restaurants. We had dinner at the OYO restaurant at the V&A hotel - very nice food and service. Also at the Baia seafood restaurant, Karibu restaurant and food court. We also took a ride on the Ferris wheel where you can see a great view of the waterfront from the top, the craft market and Nobel square which pays tribute to South African's Nobel peace prize laureates.
Also at the waterfront is the Nelson Mandela gateway to Robben island. We visited and toured Robben Island where Nelson Mandela and many of the South African political leaders were imprisoned. We took a ferry from the waterfront to the Island. The tour of the prison was actually conducted by an ex-political prisoner. Nelson Mandela was imprisoned for 27 years in total and 25 of those years were spent on Robben Island - we were also shown his tiny cell - horrific!
We drove from Cape town through amazing scenery to the beautiful winelands of Stellenbosch and Franschhoek, about 28km from Cape Town, known for quality wines and surroundings. Stellenbosch is one of the oldest towns in SA next to Cape Town. Franschhoek, located between two mountains, is known for quality French food and wine culture adopted by the Huguenots who settled there over 300 years ago. I personally prefer Franschhoek to Stellenbosch. You can feel the hsitory walking down the Main street with the Huguenot memorial monument at one end of the street. The shops on the street are historic in themselves and have very interesting architecture. There are artworks, restuarants and antiques shops on the streets and churches. The main highlight on the street is the 'Le Quartier Francais' one of the 50 best restaurants of the world for several years. We tried to get a reservation in their Tasting room but of course it was fully booked until next year :-(
Just when we thought we wouldn't be able to go up to the top of Table Mountain on this visit because it had been windy for several days and it was closed, we finally got a chance on our last day. Table Mountain has now been declared as one of the world's natural wonders. We took the 5 minute ascent by cable car to the top of the mountain where we could see a spectacular 360 degree view of Cape Town, the ocean and the neighbouring peaks, roughly over a thousand metres above the city. Table mountain is also a national park and a world heritage site, so at the top we were able to see different creatures, vegetation etc.
We also got to see other parts of Cape Town such as the central business district and Long street with the museums, walks in The Company's Garden, shops/markets, theatres, parks etc. The beaches such as Camps bay and the Castle of Good Hope. We visited The One and only hotel resort where we had drinks at the Vista bar & lounge and dinner at Reuben's restaurant and also the Table bay hotel.
We walked around the V&A waterfront and mall. There were many shops and restaurants. We had dinner at the OYO restaurant at the V&A hotel - very nice food and service. Also at the Baia seafood restaurant, Karibu restaurant and food court. We also took a ride on the Ferris wheel where you can see a great view of the waterfront from the top, the craft market and Nobel square which pays tribute to South African's Nobel peace prize laureates.
Also at the waterfront is the Nelson Mandela gateway to Robben island. We visited and toured Robben Island where Nelson Mandela and many of the South African political leaders were imprisoned. We took a ferry from the waterfront to the Island. The tour of the prison was actually conducted by an ex-political prisoner. Nelson Mandela was imprisoned for 27 years in total and 25 of those years were spent on Robben Island - we were also shown his tiny cell - horrific!
We drove from Cape town through amazing scenery to the beautiful winelands of Stellenbosch and Franschhoek, about 28km from Cape Town, known for quality wines and surroundings. Stellenbosch is one of the oldest towns in SA next to Cape Town. Franschhoek, located between two mountains, is known for quality French food and wine culture adopted by the Huguenots who settled there over 300 years ago. I personally prefer Franschhoek to Stellenbosch. You can feel the hsitory walking down the Main street with the Huguenot memorial monument at one end of the street. The shops on the street are historic in themselves and have very interesting architecture. There are artworks, restuarants and antiques shops on the streets and churches. The main highlight on the street is the 'Le Quartier Francais' one of the 50 best restaurants of the world for several years. We tried to get a reservation in their Tasting room but of course it was fully booked until next year :-(
Just when we thought we wouldn't be able to go up to the top of Table Mountain on this visit because it had been windy for several days and it was closed, we finally got a chance on our last day. Table Mountain has now been declared as one of the world's natural wonders. We took the 5 minute ascent by cable car to the top of the mountain where we could see a spectacular 360 degree view of Cape Town, the ocean and the neighbouring peaks, roughly over a thousand metres above the city. Table mountain is also a national park and a world heritage site, so at the top we were able to see different creatures, vegetation etc.
We also got to see other parts of Cape Town such as the central business district and Long street with the museums, walks in The Company's Garden, shops/markets, theatres, parks etc. The beaches such as Camps bay and the Castle of Good Hope. We visited The One and only hotel resort where we had drinks at the Vista bar & lounge and dinner at Reuben's restaurant and also the Table bay hotel.
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