The next morning was Saturday. South Africa prides itself on their farmer’s markets. We got up early and caught an Uber downtown to the Waterfront district. I have never been to a market as diverse as this. In addition to all the produce vendors, there were food stalls from every corner of the globe. We sampled some pork buns and shawarmas
We walked back to the waterfront. It is a pretty touristy spot, but we were there early so it was not terrible for a Saturday.
We then caught another Uber further into the heart of the city to the Company’s Garden. It was land cultivated by the early white settlers and they have kept it as a sort of public park. Nothing special
Walked down Long Street
This is the backpacker hostel/nightlife spot. It looked a little rough but is probably where I would have ended up on the cheap if I was alone about 10 years ago. Had a completely different vibe than our beach spot and I am glad we didn’t stay downtown. I wonder how many of the other cities I have written off when staying on the cheap may have registered higher on my list from a different perspective.
Another Uber to the Biscuit Mill market a few miles outside of town. This place was a little sketchy if you walked out of the market area….so we did not.
A long day of bouncing around and back to the condo
We showered and headed to the beach. We tried Beta Beach. It was secluded somewhat compared to the South Beach-like mob at Clifton Beach.
The water was cold this far south. I could only swim around for a few minutes before retreating back to my beach towel
This guy below had a pretty sweet setup. His garage was actually a boat ramp. We just slipped it right down into the ocean. And he was constantly surrounded my scantily clad partiers. I guess it could get old fast.
We crossed over Table Mountain from our beachside into the city for some more groceries and dinner. We stopped at a ramen place. The TV had rugby on. It was live match between South Africa and New Zealand. It was a major 4 nations tournament and I had no idea it was going on while we were there. The bars were just getting rowdy as we headed back home
The next day we decided to drive along the cape peninsula that extends south from Cape Town. After morning coffee I agreed to get back into the car and pray for survival.
We stopped at another beach just South of Beta beach for a couple hours of relaxing.
We drove about 15 miles on windy cliffside roads
Our next stop was a farm converted into a few shops and restaurants
Another few miles and we were at the tip of the cape peninsula. This is the Cape of Good Hope. A cape is a headland or a promontory of large size extending into a body of water, usually the sea. A cape usually represents a marked change in trend of the coastline. It is not the southernmost point in the continent, that lies a few hours east, but it is where the explorers stopped after heading south down Africa on their way east to the spice islands in Asia.
All over we had seen signs to avoid feeding the Baboons. We finally spotted one chillin’ (read defecating) on top of someone’s car in the parking lot
Fish Hoek was our lunch stop. Parking is always an adventure. In addition to finding a spot to park you have to deal with people “helping” you park who expect a gratuity for guiding you into the spot and for watching the car while you are gone.
After lunch we visited Boulder Beach. It was another African Penguin nesting area. I bit more crowded with both humans and penguins than the spot a couple days ago.
Traffic got backed up on the way home and it took us a couple hours to get back home. I don’t think we ate dinner that night. I may have just filled up on wine and cheese while watching the sunset
The next day was our last full day in Cape Town. We did not have much planned so we spent the morning back at the beach from yesterday. A trip to the Cape would not be complete without a trip up to the top of Table Mountain. There is a hiking trail, but I was not able to handle it, and no way Amy would agree to that.
It had an ominous start as I got into a little verbal spat with someone tailgating my ass in the “parking area”. As if I am not under enough stress with the reversed controls and lack of traffic rules and parking regulation, but now I got someone honking and yelling at me. To top it off they were not even driving, but passengers in an Uber that yelled at me. The uber driver was just sitting quietly as I had a polite conversation with his passengers.
We parked and thankfully did not see them in line for the gondola.
After we got back town we hit the Dunes Bar on the beach for some fish and calamari.
That night we wanted a decent meal to cap phase 1 of the trip. We neded up at the Kloof Street House .They were booked in their regular dining area but accommodated us in the lounge. It had a cool speakeasy vibe.
I had ostrich while Amy had Skipjack fish. I liked the Ostrich, had a real gamey taste.
The next morning we were to check out of our Airbnb and take a flight 2 hours East to Johannesburg. Safari time!
Until Tomorrow
Darren
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