Cape Town

Jan 3, 2007 - Jan 3, 2007
view from the traintownshiplong streetcamps bay beachthe beachfort with table mountainchurchmonument with table mountaindaddy long legs hotel - emergency roomlolas - our breakfast jointenjoying the night outview of cape townclifton beach number 4

After a long flight spanning three different continents and a couple of hours of sleep in a hostel on the outskirts of Johannesburg, we found ourselves on the Trans Karu train for the 26 hour journey to Cape Town. In our small, but clean and safe two bed compartment, we finally started to relax and let the stress wash away. We enjoyed the company of a 3 generation family heading down to Cape Town for holiday and watched the bleak landscape roll by.

Once in Cape Town, we settled in at our hostel on Long Street, and that night found out that staying on Long Street gave us easy access to restaurants, entertainment and loud noise all night long – good thing we brought our ear plugs. Our first day we summoned a Rikki (a bastardized cross between a rickshaw and a small van), and made the treacherous drive around table mountain to Camp’s Beach, with our driver ensuring we skidded around every corner. Gunjan received her first sunburn ever at the beach, and my feet were an amazing red and purple color after getting burnt walking around for an hour in flip-flops without sun screen. Beware of the South African sun!

We had planned to climb table mountain the first couple of days, but sun burn prevented that, and instead we enjoyed two day trips, to Cape Point and the Wine Tour. After four nights at Inn Long Street, we moved to Daddy Long Legs Art Hotel, into the "Emergency Room", complete with a doctor and nurse outfits. With wi-fi access, I was able to spend a day working in the comfort of the hotel. We explored the city, walking around a fort and through the gardens. We enjoyed an amazing game meal at a small restaurant and had an amazingly mediocre meal at restaurant called Mama Africa's. On our last day, we went to Table Mountain, but the cable car was closed for the day due to high wind. Feeling the effects of our night on the town, we decided not to hike up and down and opted to head to Clifton Beach. Wanting to be active and catch great views of Cape Town, we were disappointed we missed out on Table Mountian.