Cape Town, the Cape of Good Hope, Boulders Beach, and Stellenbosch.

I fly from Melbourne to Cape Town through Doha, arriving in Qatar 23:04, too late to take advantage of a city tour during my ten-hour layover. Instead, I find a soft bench and do my best to sleep through the night.

At 08:51 I’m back on board for the almost ten-hour flight to South Africa, hugging the eastern coast of the continent. I watch movies and nap and am happiest when we land at CPT, some 33 hours after I left Australia.

I was last in Cape Town in 2010 for the FIFA World Cup. It was part of a month-long trip I made to the country, two weeks during the event and two weeks after. It was an amazing time; the country was in thrall of the matches and it felt like a non-stop party. Until the games ended and everyone remarked on how sad they were that the World Cup had to end.

This time I’m back to meet up with a couple of my cousins who have spent some time in and around Kruger. I’m the first to arrive in Cape Town and take a cab to the AirBnb my cousin has reserved. It’s a beautiful home in a great location between the waterfront and Bo Kaap. I check in and then head to the grocery store to pick up some items. Unfortunately, it’s too late to grab a bottle of wine; alcohol sales have just ended for the day.

At an Italian restaurant next to the apartment I ask if I can buy a bottle of wine. I can, but I can’t take it with me.

I fall asleep on the couch waiting for my cousins to arrive. It takes them longer than I expect. It turns out there’s been an issue with the rental car. I get a text with their ETA and step out onto the balcony to watch for their arrival.

The next day we walk to the Victoria & Alfred Waterfront in search of lunch. My cousin Debbie wants Asian food and we look with little success; we end up eating sushi at a seafood restaurant overlooking the harbor. It’s a beautiful day and a great spot for lunch.

The next day we decide to drive down to the Cape of Good Hope and Boulders beach to see the penguins. I suggest we drive to the Cape first and stop to see the penguins on the way back to the city. On my last trip to South Africa, we did the reverse, visiting the penguins and then having lunch in Simon’s Town. By the time we reached the Cape of Good Hope the entrance had just closed.

It’s overcast as we head south towards the South-western most point of Africa. After entering Cape Point National Park we stop at the info center and walk through an exhibit of our prehistoric past before continuing on to Cape Point.

We hike the path up to the Cape of Good Hope Lighthouse for the views. We’re rewarded with fog, which is not uncommon. It turns out it’s not a great place to build a lighthouse and a newer one has been built further along the coast, where the visibility tends to be better. A funicular runs alongside the path; we missed seeing it when we arrived at the car park, but on our way back we stop in the gift shop and see people headed towards it.

We drive inland and around to the Cape of Good Hope itself. A wooden sign marks the latitude and longitude and a long line of people wait to get their picture with it.

Paul, Debbie, and I step out onto the rocky beach to walk towards the ocean. Small pools of water collect, left over from the tides, and creatures scurry away from us as we step in and around the seaweed.

On our way back north we spot an ostrich by the side of the road. Cars have stopped and people lean out of their windows to take photos. We drive on.

At Boulders Beach we park in a lot and head straight for the water, taking a coastal route to the entrance. It turns out there’s a sealed path inland we could have taken, but the views of the ocean from the beach make the detour well worth the effort.

At Boulders we pay our entrance fee and step out onto the wooden boardwalk. It’s much as I remember it. There are a lot of penguins about and we slowly make our way to the large viewing platform at the end.

On our way back to the entrance we follow another board walk to the other side of the beach where the penguins collect. Looking back we can see the platform we were on and penguins everywhere.

We eat fish and chips at The Salty Sea Dog in Simon’s Town on the recommendation of a local, bypassing a Korean restaurant that Debbie looks at wistfully.

On Wednesday we drive out to Stellenbosch to tour a few wineries and have dinner. Our first stop is at Spier wine farm, a large complex with outdoor tables overlooking a pond. We order various wine tastings that manage to cover the gamut of what’s on offer and a few snacks. I choose to taste the organic wines and end up liking a few enough to purchase some to send back home.

From Spier we drive to Haute Cabrière. The drive is beautiful, winding up and into the mountains until we arrive at the tasting room.

There, we’re greeted and welcomed with sparkling wine, the bottle opened via sabrage. I ask if I can try, but am told we didn’t book the option.

Before we settle down for our full tasting we’re lead on a tour of the cellars, a beautiful space lined with barrels of wine. They hold weddings down here, and I can imagine how beautiful the photos must be.

For dinner we head to Tokara, another winery set on a hillside. The sun is starting its descent and it’s a beautiful spot from which to watch the sunset. In the distance we can see Cape Town, past rows of grape vines.

Most of us opt for the pairings with dinner. It’s a fantastic end to the day, and we’re rewarded with a magnificent sunset to boot.

The next day Debbie and Paul have errands to run and Alice decides to visit Table Mountain. I join her and Greg and we drive the short distance to the parking lot where we board a bus to the cable car.

The floor of the cable car rotates as we climb up to the top, something I hadn’t remembered from my trip in 2010. It’s a terrific solution for those who get stuck looking the opposite way from which they hoped.

From the top the views are stunning. The weather couldn’t be better; it’s almost the opposite of what we encountered on our trip to the Cape of Good Hope. What clouds do appear seem to roll off the top of the mountain, as if created by the mountain itself.

We follow the path around the top of the mountain, walking in a clockwise direction so that we first admire the views over Cape Town. In the distance I can see the football stadium that was constructed for the 2010 World Cup and remember the walk to the stadium and the match I saw played, Spain vs. The Netherlands, vuvuzelas in full effect.

Coming back around we can see the hiking trails that lead down from the mountain back to the city. Had I the time I’d have loved to do the hike up the mountain, always preferring to climb; going down kills my knees.

Back at the cable car terminal we stop for a glass of wine at Views, a wine lounge atop the mountain. It’s a warm afternoon just out of the sun and the wine is a perfect cap to our visit. We linger on the terrace, admiring the view before us and the South African wine in our hands. 🇿🇦