Capetown, South Africa Days 9 - 15
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| 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