Part 8 -- Cape Town and environs

During our two-week stay on the Cape Peninsula, we stayed at a 3-4
star hotel in Fish Hoek on False Bay. Cape Town was heavily booked
when we made advance reservations -- not to mention pricey during this
peak holiday period. The Avenue Hotel where we stayed cost about $75
per night and offered free secure parking and a large breakfast each
day. The staff was extremely nice and very helpful, and we found the
location perfect for our purposes.

It was a two-block walk to the lovely beach, but the constant presence
of the Cape Doctor (a more-or-less constant stiff southeasterly wind)
limited the time on the beach. The town was just the right size for us
and offered a good balance of services and privacy.There is no night
life there, which was just fine with us. There are several good
restaurants in the town which we regularly visited.

There were also several banks in town offering ATMs in guarded areas
even when the bank itself was closed. As you may recall, one of my
original posts here asked about whether my debit card would work in
South African ATMs. The answer was that it worked in all of them -- we
never found one where it wouldn't work.

There are people here who know the Cape Town area far better than I
ever will, so this following will only be a brief listing of what we
did during our stay:

The unmissable Robben Island tour was as educational as expected --
hosted by a former political prisoner who was there with Nelson
Mandela during the apartheid period, and saw his cell.

The Cableway to the top of Table Mountain was as great as expected,
despite a 45-minute queue at the bottom station. But it was a calm day
so we hiked a bit on the summit plateau to enjoy the view.

The obligatory trip to the Cape Point (of Good Hope) was quite
interesting and scenic despite the threatening presence of hungry
baboons. We later ate at the Boulders Restaurant near Simon's Town and
watched the penguins fornicating on the rocks below.

We did a guided three-township tour (hosted by a Langa resident) with
Zibonele Tours, and considered that a highlight of the trip. Very
different than expected, and not at all scary. The residents (mostly
refugees from the Eastern Cape) were delightful and very welcoming.

We did several wine tasting tours, but especially liked the visit to
Klein Constantia (and bought several bottles of their great shiraz).
We had a fine lunch at a nearby vineyard restaurant called The Ranch.
Also wandered around the impressive Botanical Gardens in the area.

We drove along the Atlantic and Indian Ocean coasts, plus to the
Stellenbosch-Franschhoek area, and down to the Gordon's Bay area on
the east side of False Bay. We ate steamed clams that were outstanding
(very unlike the frozen Chinese steamers we were served on the Oregon
and Washington coasts last summer). Here, you get the real deal.

But our favorite restaurant was the Brass Bell at Kalk Bay, just up
the coast from our hotel. There we had the "aquarium" selection -- an
amazing array of fresh food from the sea (including raw shellfish
which we wouldn't dare eat in the US these days due to pollution),
lobster, prawns, etc. The serving sizes in South Africa are amazing.

The Waterfront in Cape Town also had some great restaurants -- where
we ate ostrich, kudu, and other South African specialties, and toured
the harbor, a terrific shopping mall, and enjoyed nicemountain views.

Cape Town is a beautiful city full of wonderful people and offers a
long list of places worthy of a visit. During our stay we only managed
to scratch the surface of what this region offers.

Highly recommended.