velohead66

Hi All,

Anyone been to Cape Town in Sunny South Africa, and if so just wondering what there is to see and do there, in the city, and also in areas surrounding (or near to) Cape Town, ie can get there and back in a day with hire car.

Looking for diverse things, so don't hold back.
Just cos it's on this list doesn't mean I'll necessarily do it.
Likewise, new stuff outside my interests / comfort zone may be interesting too. Nice to cover new ground sometimes.

Thanks All.

edit - opps wrong section, thought I wasin NSR, d'oh.

marshall332bhp

Cage diving with great whites. One thing ad love to do before I die

juggers

iTrader: (1)

Stick your arm out when you do

hodgy0_2

Evening meal on the see front at camps bay

Boulders beacH to see the penguins

Meal at mariners Whalf - Hout bay

Walk up table mountain -- hard work but worth it

Lots to do and see

nickscooby

iTrader: (1)

Just to add to others,

Take a drive upto Chapmans Peak, very tight and twisty but well worth it, Kirstenbosch botanical gardens, Rhodes memorial.

If you are feeling plush go to the Twelve Apostles hotel, got married there and it is amazing.

Best thing to do is hire an AC Cobra replica, Cobra + mountain roads =

Fat Boy

Robben island trip , brass bell pub in Kalks Bay for a crayfish curry lunch, die strandkombuis restaurant in Yzerfontein, long street, wine regions ( stellenbosch and Franschoek, more than Paarl), the four passes drive ( in a good car), cape point/ cape of good hope, Gansbaai for diving with the Great Whites, panama Jacks seafood restaurant in the docks, I could go on but.... one of my favourite cities/ regions in the world - I've been there about 50 times with work.
Enjoy

velohead66

All good stuff from ALL posters, thanks.

Fat Boy - you have a wealth of experience in CT - this is the kind of stuff i am looking for.
But don't hold back, as this info is very useful to me.

And anyone else, for that matter.

Fat Boy

If you go down to Cape Point divert down to Cape of Good Hope (in the same place but it's right turn off the road to Cape point about half a mile before the main car park) as it's usually quieter and there is usually a couple of ostrich and, if you're lucky, their chicks that seem to always be in the area. You can get reasonably close to them but be careful if they have the chicks - they can run as fast as a horse and can rip your guts out with a kick (but they only kick forwards so if you're at the side you're ok ). Lots of baboon families around there too and all the way along the road from Chapmans paek through Scarborough etc. Boulders beach for the penguins, as mentioned, but don't go to the main beach with all the tourists up on the boardwalk, go to the little beaches further along the path (south). Beach 4 is best - you can swim there with the penguins all around you! The water on this side ( the False Bay side) is significantly warmer than the Atlantic side despite being only a couple of miles apart.

Talking of beaches - Clifton 1- 4 on the Bantry Bay/ Camps Bay side is good too - lots of resting models (mainly on 4) Almost no one swims, however, unless they have a wetsuit as it's about 16C. I went in swimming in trunks a few years back (as it's the same temp as Ireland where I hail from) and there were people taking photos of me and all sorts.

To stay - V&A waterfront for a couple of days - I used to stay in the Cape Grace if my boss was paying, but the Radisson is also good or any of the more tourist package type hotels in the area, or, if I was paying, i used to stay in a basic but nice hotel called the Ambassador in Bantry Bay. It only looks one storey high from the cliff top road, but that's because it goes down the cliff to the sea so if you get sea side bedrooms on the lower floors you can fall asleep to the sound of the waves. Hire a car - driving is really easy and it's a bit like the States - people drive everywhere. I also used to stay in the wine farms. Delaire Winery on the Hellshoogte (hell's heights ) Pass between Stellenbosch and Franschoek has 3 bed log cabins at the top of their vineyards that look out one way to Table Mountain (which is where the sun goes down behind in November/December) and the other way at the alpine size mountains all around Franschoek/ Boschendal. Great food in most of the wine farms - Neetlingshof, Spier, Boschendal, etc to name a few, and La Petite Ferme in Franschoek (or rather its on the Cats Pass road north out of Franschoek - well worth a drive in a decent car).

Everything works - tap water etc is perfectly fine to drink. No bugs or injections needed.

Safety - Waterfront and town centre are fine - don't go the the Cape Flats and be careful on Muizenberg Strand at the Cape Flats end. I also saw a teenager get bitten by a (baby) great white there when he was in waist deep water. It was only about 6 foot long and they dragged the kid and the shark still attached to his thigh on to the beach and killed the shark only to get into trouble with the Shark Protection Board... but I've surfed on that beach many times without seeing anything apart from mile after mile of perfect white sand and turquoise breakers so it's not as dramatic or dangerous as it might sound.

Spier wine estate is on the R101 road that runs between Muizenberg strand and Stellenbosch and is the closest big winery/ restaurant/ bars / etc to the airport which is also on the Cape Flats so one of my other travellers' tips was to check in luggage etc at the airport, but hang on to the hire car so you could then leave the airport for a nice meal and drinks before heading back at the last minute (10 mins drive) to get the plane rather than hanging around in the airport.

If you go on the Robben Island visit ( to see where Mandela was iimprisoned and which i recommend. 3 hours door to door - boat leaves from the Waterfront) they will definitely take you to a perfect photo spot as part of the bus tour around the island for classic shots of Table Mountain. If you don't go you can drive out the Blouberg Strand north of the City for an almost as good photo opportunity. By the way, I normally get the cable car up Table Mountain and then walk down (it's quite a walk on a hot day). Watch out for the Rock Dassies up on top - they're cheeky buggers who will nick your sandwich out of your hand before you know it and although they are kind of rabbit sized thingies that look like rodents they are actually the closest living relative to the elephant despite being about 1000th of the size

As i said - enjoy- it's pretty much impossible not to.

DaveMiddleton

Spent about 5 days in Cape Town and surroundings in November with my 2 grown up sons.

We did the full day to Gaansbai and the Cage Diving . Apparently up to 10 different Great Whites the day we did it. Was fantastic getting up close and personal with these brutes. Ranged from 2-1/2 Meters to just over 4 Meters.
Also stopped for whale watching on the return journey!

For anyone else going to Cape Town I highly recommend visiting Groot Schuur Hospital museum which in 1967 was where Dr Christian Bernard carried out the world's first heart transplant.

I had not been there on other visits and thought it was brilliant!

hodgy0_2

The problem with cage diving with great whites (as much as I would love to do it)

Is that with all the chumming of water and people and boats, it simply teaches the sharks that humans equal food

Which is probably not something that should be promoted

hodgy0_2

The problem with cage diving with great whites (as much as I would love to do it)

Is that with all the chumming of water and people and boats, it simply teaches the sharks that humans equal food

Which is probably not something that should be promoted

Fat Boy

Whale watching in Hermanus from the cliff is good or in Hout Bay, but you were there in the peak month for it - November. Just so the OP knows.

velohead66

Thanks Fat Boy for your time posting - great to hear of all these places etc.



So where in CT is Groot Schuur Hospital Museum - it sounds interesting ?

RobJenks

I would strongly recommend rabies immunization before entering Africa.
This terrible disease is rife across the whole continent.
It is mandatory for BP employees.

dpb

Central cape town , really !?
I'll be in SA , Zambia ,Zim for a month from next week . Wasn't on doc's list

Anyway , Gugulethu. Lol. See how the other half live

RobJenks

Change doctors !

Check out WHO

RobJenks

http://www.who.int/rabies/en/

DaveMiddleton

It is very close to the foot of Table Mountain. Any taxi will take you there. Do remember and get the telephone number (off Google) and check times of tours as each tour is 2 hours!

DaveMiddleton

Ther is a limit per boat of 25kg of chum (bait) and when this is gone that is that.
Also , I was told (and witnessed on 18 close passes by Great Whites on my times in the cage) that the sharks do not differentiate humans from the outline of the cage.

Fat Boy

yep when you drive in from the airport on the motorway you will see it in front of you near the highpoint of the road / just where the road turns right and down into the City Bowl

Fat Boy

Completely unnecessary for Capetown. There are only 5 countries in Africa that I haven't been to so I have a bit of experience.

BP employees also have to put down a cup of coffee to walk up a flight of stairs in their UK offices if they are carrying anything else in their other hand...

Fat Boy

Their preferred food is seal and I was told (after my various swim bys in the cage) by the guys on the boat that they don't like the taste of humans and will normally spit one out after an initial chomp, but the problem is that an exploratory bite from a great white is kind of game over... Mind you I don't know what scientific evidence they are basing their taste test on

velohead66

Mmm, I'm open to most experiences, but might give gugulethu and kheylitchia a miss, just this time.

velohead66

Sounds like you are well traveled in Africa.
I've been to Uganda and thinking of Ethiopia next big holiday.

So what are the 5 countries you haven't been to, yet ?

Fat Boy

Burkina Faso, Central African Republic, Gabon, Somalia, Mali, and South Sudan - oops 6 although to be fair there was only one Sudan when i was last in Khartoum

Former international banker (I know, I know, I apologize!)

Ethiopia is an amazing place of many contrasts, like a lot of Africa- well worth a visit.

velohead66

And now for the big question on Cape Town - law 'n' order.

I'm thinking of living in Cape Town, as it's closer to the UK/Europe then where I live in Australia, and I find the long haul flights from Oz tedious, suffer from jet lag badly , and find the heat/humidity in Brisbane summers a bit overwhelming.
Also would be handy for African trips.

I like the idea of Blaauberg, with fantastic view of table mountain.
I would not work, hence the need for an ample list of things to do etc.


What are peoples views on crime in Cape Town, and of course long term political / economic trends.
Would I be foolish to even contemplate such a move ?


thx.

RobJenks

You are correct about that !