We were booked into a beautiful home, a 3 bhk flat near a sea shore. We could see the beach and a mountain behind it from the terrace with unending sea on one side and village homes, mountains and part of sea between those mountains on the other side.
We had a few places in mind that we definitely wanted to visit. The owner of the house had kept a book about Capetown and n number of brochures about many activities to do and places to visit.
It was cloudy for 2 days and we couldn't go to the table mountain, which was a big attraction. Instead in the morning we went to the Boulders beach. It is a small beach having African penguins and their breeding colony by the shore. It seemed a good option as it was nearby and children would love it too. A nice pathway is build for tourists to walk. A few colourful birds, sea gulls, darters and a dassie rat were sighted in the bushes around the penguins colony.
After lunch we went to the National park area where the cape of good hope is located. It was an amazing drive through beautiful mountains at far, land in between, cloudy whether yet amazing landscapes. Once we could see the sea, it was around 5pm. Sun was about to set, still behind the clouds, roaring blue sea in front. An awesome place to be and an amazing scene to experience. We could spot 2 adults and 2 small wild Ostriches. After spending a few minutes there, we went ahead towards one of the Southern most point of South Africa, The cape of good hope. It was very windy, beautiful mountains and waves meeting the mountain. There was a small hike on the mountain which gives a majestic view of Cape point, another mountain where an old lighthouse is present, a vast sea where Indian Ocean and Atlantic sea meet. While looking at that view we can feel on top of the world, it still triggers the feeling of how small we are in front of the nature. In few minutes we climbed down and suddenly the clouds cleared a bit so we could watch the sunrays shining on the water and through the clouds giving them a majestic look. Amazing way to end a day!
The next day the whether was still going to be cloudy so we decided to visit the Capetown city area and V&A waterfront and seals island. We had to book tickets before hand. We took a cruise and it took us to see the island full of seals lying on the rock. It was raining throughout the ride and sea was rocking the boat however we could see the seals from distance.
The V&A waterfront has many malls, shops, restaurants, aquarium etc. we decided to visit the 2 oceans aquarium where the sea creatures from both Indian Ocean and Atlantic Ocean could be seen. It had other activities like puppet show, watching penguins being fed etc. we roamed around the shops and near a mall there was a play area. Along with aquarium and snake park visit, we explored malls and shops, had dinner in restaurant by the waterfront and harbour.
The next day we went to see the Table mountain. We booked tickets from the table mountain website. Capetown activities are indeed quite pricy but the Table Mountain is worth a visit.
It was a bright beautiful morning. We drove from the scenic route along the shore. Originally this route was built for pleasure rides. And it indeed has scenic landscape. Majestic mountains by the sea, few plantations done where people can wait to enjoy the views. We could see the harbour from where we had taken the seals cruise a day before. We couldn't stop ourselves from stopping on the way a multiple times to take photos and enjoy the views.
We reached the Table mountain base around 12:30pm. There was a queue to go up to the cable cars.
A signal hill, another place to visit is near this and we can see a town, harbour and this hill at a distance followed by the sea.. after waiting in queue for atleast half an hour we finally got in a cable car. It was quite big and had a revolving floor for everyone to be able to see all the views around.. a pretty amazing ride.
Like every other tourist place first thing I found from the direction plates was a restaurant, washroom and a souvenir shop. Overall at tourist places and public places in South Africa they have very clean toilets, very well set directions and rules to follow and it definitely helps enjoy the visit, may it be Kruger or city like Capetown.
The longest trail takes around 1.5 hours one way. In between there are multiple trails to return. At the junction of these trails small maps showing where we are and what flora and wildlife is found in particular area are mentioned.
From the opposite cliff of the mountain, majestic mountains are spread. It is a mesmerizing view of the blue green sea and the whitish mountains.
It was very windy and cold on the top and it was a relief when the sun came out of clouds for a while.
We spent some time on top, had lunch and got down by cable car. From the cable car a trail can be seen which people use instead of cable car. Other than 2/3 birds, no wildlife was visible in the area.
We went back home from the mountain. There was a play area near the beach. And Children were excited to go on the beach and in the play area. Since it was our last evening in the city we relaxed a bit while children tried going in the water. Once they realised how cold the water was, they were happy to play in the play area.
The next day they were happier to spend entire morning playing with lego kits we had bought the other day and watching tv.
In the afternoon we started journey back to home. With the tv in flight and good night's sleep, we were back to the regular routine very soon.
