Capetown, South Africa Days 9 - 15

Cape Town

Day 9: Van pick up and transportation to Nelspruit for our commercial flight to Cape Town. Mid-afternoon check in to An African Villa, 19 Carstens Street, Tamboerskloof, a lovely B&B in the old Victorian townhouse section of the city (wonderful neighborhood). Both the proprietors were charming and very helpful in giving us maps accompanied by a personalized overview and recommendations of sites of interest to investigate in the city and surrounding area. In addition they instructed us as to where and what to avoid for our personal safety.

Day 10: An African Villa.

Day 11: Check out of An African Villa, pick up rental car and check into A16 Soho on Strand, bordering the Waterkant section of the city, a 2 bedroom 2 ½ bath loft apartment including underground parking we found on VRBO and rented for five days through the BIP Group, a management and rental agency (good local restaurant within walking distance, The African Café). Our daughter Tiffany met us here fresh from a week in Johannesberg and Swaziland.

 Days 12, 13, 14, 15: Cape Town and environs, A16 Soho on Strand

Cape Town: There is so much to do in this beautiful African city at the southwestern tip of the continent, and we attempted to do it all! Each day we mapped out an excursion that would occupy us for the entire day and often into the evening. The objective was to cover all the highlights in a logical, sequential way without redundancies or back tracking. Cape Town is a very manageable city to explore. It was a great advantage to be able to spend a full week there in a centrally located apartment (near a very hip, Greenwich Village/SoHo like neighborhood, the Waterkant, oozing with charm, good restaurants and shops) and with our own transportation. It is a vibrant urban environment possessing natural geographical beauty, fascinating history, cultural enrichment (museums, gardens, theater, music, historical landmarks of interest, etc), great restaurants and world class shopping. Our guide book was an invaluable resource. Sixty one pages with street maps, directory, street finder and many color photographs were devoted to covering all aspects of the city and surrounds.

Points of interest not to be missed: Table Mountain, Camps Bay (two great restaurants on the strand facing the ocean, Paranga, The Kove), Robben Island, the V&A Waterfront (great restaurant on the water, Harbour House) tour of the harbor by water ferry, Kirstenbosch National Botanical Garden, Groot Constantia Wine Estate founded in 1685 (great venue for touring, wine tasting and lunch at the on-site restaurant Jonkerhuis), walking tour of historic down town. 

Lyell Franke 2012