Next stop: Cape Town. This involved travelling to the far south-west of the continent. Considering I’m now writing this from the Zambezi River in Zambia, essentially midway between Kenya and Cape Town, perhaps I’m not the most efficient travel planner. Cape Town
Cape Town has been described to me as a non-African city, due to its European influence and general day-to-day functioning which cannot be expected across much of South Africa. Although I don’t completely agree with the non-African description, the range of cultures from significant different parts of the local has transformed Cape Town into a bustling, culturally rich and exciting place to be. I imagine many long weekends spent in the warmer months exploring the Cape region!
I visited Cape Town five years ago, and did a lot of the touristy activities then. I lay pretty low this time, soaking up the sun and checking out a number of different cafes and bars in the city centre (including the Steampunk culture – are hipsters not enough?!). I made an escape to the Kirstenbosch National Botanic Garden though which was beautiful, particularly due to the mountainous escarpment of Table Mountain in the backdrop. There is a range of walking tracks through the broader landscape and up the back of the mountain, which I intend on sussing out in the near future.
Hermanus
After a couple of days in Cape Town, I took a car down to Hermanus, approximately 1.5 hours east. I was staying with my cousin, Gill who was spending some time there from her home in Johannesburg. She has recently founded African Sunroad, a travel company that is organising a number of walking and food-oriented trips particularly in the Cape region. I can see why – the area features a stunning coastline, emerging wine industry and a great range of sights and foodie delights.
Hermanus is an old whaling town, but is now a hub for whale watchers, particularly the southern right whale that comes in really close to the shore. It turns out I missed the whales though as it’s a little early in the season, although again, this is a great excuse to return later in the year. This region is also home to a sizeable (and popular) colony of African penguins. A BBC film crew was in town spending a month filming these guys. This must be a sign I’m exploring the right places. Penguins are pretty cool and cute, but I think watching them for a month would get fairly mundane!
A new update is on its way soon-ish on Zambia: Lusaka, South Luangwa National Park and the Lower Zambezi.