Cape Town has recently been voted one of the more beautiful cities in the world. With its scenic mountains, tranquil seaside, and vibrant culture, the city is definitely a destination for many avid travelers.
Flying in to the Cape Town airport. Remember that summer in the Northern Hemisphere is 'winter' here, so bring clothes for chilly weather!
Lion's Head, a harder climb than expected, complete with metal chains and ladders. Definitely a feat for those have a fear of heights (me). But worth the hour and half hike, especially to watch the sunset over Cape Town.
A great excursion outside of the city is to opt for a wine tour in the Stellenbosch region. Relatively close to Cape Town, the region not only boasts excellent wine, but absolutely beautiful wineries.
I chose a tour operator called Wine Flies, which took us to five different wineries in the span of a day, and offered pairings with cheese, chocolate, and Biltong (dried, cured game meat native to South Africa). Needless to say, it was an enjoyable day.
Though I'm not very knowledgeable about wine, the day was quite informative. I must admit, however, my processing ability had an inverse relationship with the number of wineries visited. Don't underestimate the amount of wine they pour, it adds up over the course of the day.
Overall, an incredibly enjoyable experience.
A restaurant suggestion for African fare in Cape Town: Gold Restaurant offers nightly tasting menus and traditional performances with your meal, for a very agreeable price.
The Cape of Good Hope, as the designated official southernmost point of the African continent, is a popular as an day-trip outside of Cape Town. Its just a few hours outside the city, and has interesting stops that each feature a different animal, it seems, along the route.
A typical first stop along the way is Hout Bay, where one can go on a boat excursion to see nearby seal island, named for its dominant inhabitants.
Stop number two was Boulder's Beach, famed for its abundance of African penguins. If you have trypophobia, I apologize in advance for the third photo.
Prior to our destination we arrive at Cape Point, which features a lighthouse, and interesting enough, lots of baboons. A word of warning, though used to the public, male baboons will get very excited around those wearing pink pants or shorts. I'll leave you to google the biological reason.
And at last, we arrive at the Cape of Good Hope. Someone happened to have a South African flag on hand for the photo opp, it seems.
