Cape Town, the legislative capital of the country and the coastal city in South Africa is definitely a part of the phenomenal world. I can say this with all my heart because I have just experienced it in real and it is too good to be true. In 2014, when Cape Town was named the ‘best place in the world to visit’ by two coveted newspapers, I had curiously read about it to be filled with respect and admiration for the mother city of South Africa. The world-famous table mountain, amazing natural settings, cape point, golden beaches, clear skies, fascinating coastal drives and Cape Town being declared as the ‘World Design Capital’ had caught my fascination.
The traveler in me had promised to myself ‘One day, I ‘ll stop and experience it all’.
The magazines that waited for me in my beautiful guest house – Jardin D’ebene in Cape Town
Table Mountain along with Signal Hill, Lions Head and Devils Peak gives all the strength and power to the city.
Cape town- It happened!!!
This weekend, it all came true and I visited the most popular international tourist destination in South Africa. I was not only bowled over by its well-developed infrastructure but also smitten by its astounding natural beauty. Once you will see the pictures below, you will know why everyone calls it an African paradise. Not once but many times, I actually pinched myself to do a reality check. And every time, when I found it for real and the blissful surroundings, I thanked God for his masterpiece creation and my husband for gifting me this trip of a lifetime. South Africa had been truly amazing each day. I say this after spending 30 days in Johannesburg and 3 days in Cape Town.
The view of the City bowl from the edge of Table Mountain!
This is Kalk bay on the False Bay coast! This beautiful coast makes for stunning beauty, shark sightings, seals-feeding, picturesque village, penguins and more.
5 vs 2 days in Cape Town!!
Ten days ago, I was still not sure if the trip was happening. I had neither booked the flights nor the accommodation. There was a reason for the delay. With my SA sojourn nearing an end and hubby not having more than two days (weekends) to spare, I could only play ‘touch and go’ with Cape Town. Ideally, this was not my plan. I needed five days. I was ready to come down to four but two days were just not enough for my itinerary. The self-confessed traveler in me doesn’t like chasing touristy attractions and adding the count of cities seen. For me, it is important to live in a place and soak its vibrancy. I did not see this happening in the Mother City and thus was not very keen on planning a two nights trip. Thank God, it was my husband who insisted, ‘Lets just do it for less this time and we will go again’. Honestly, now that I am back, I can totally vouch for it that even if you get a chance to explore it for one day, don’t dare to miss out on the dazzling city of Cape Town.
No doubt, you will be left craving for more but you will come back with lots of love in your heart- love for the city, love for the one with whom you did the trip, love for your own-self for making it happen and love for God for creating something so pristine and gorgeous.
Cape-Point
The coastal beauty is breath-taking.
Every picture on Google speaks of its pure and breathtaking beauty but when you see it in all real, every part of your body dances in joy.
Right from the beginning, we knew our trip was time-pressed but what we didn’t know was that even in two days we would be able to bring back amazing experiences. It wasn’t very difficult to decide what to do first because no trip to Cape Town makes sense without doing a trip to the top of the iconic Table Mountain ‘newsevenwonder of natural ‘. Bird’s view of the city and the protected area for more than hundred years (national park) made for the first half of our first day. The Table Mountain Aerial Cableway is a superb piece of engineering. The quick and thrilling ride to the top saved us so much time and gave us the chance to view the best of the city. In the evening, we were happily digging into the signature chicken curry and swearing on the desserts at the 19th floor of Westin Cape Town. ON19 restaurant just made it so beautiful for us. (Trust me, no money can buy me these beautiful blogging experiences.) It was a perfect dinner date with 360-degree views of the twinkling city.
Jardin D’ebene- My boutique guest house in Cape Town
Dinner at On19 Westin Cape Town
On the second day, we explored the Cape Peninsula!
This made for a magnificent trip of my life. I couldn’t thank my husband enough for driving me around South Africa’s most spectacular scenery and coastline and letting me experience each and every place listed below. This perfect itinerary was suggested to us by our host Roland at Jardin D’ebene Guest House and I am really grateful to him for this. We couldn’t have done it so well without him. But before heading for the below I did not miss visiting the cute ‘Bo Kaap houses’ on the street famous for its colorful houses and for being the historical centre of Cape Malay culture in Cape Town.
Itinerary of the Peninsula drive!!!
Boye’s drive
Kalk bay
Simon’s town
Penguin colony
Cape Point
Cape of Good hope
Ostrich farm
Scarborough
Misty cliff
Kommetji light house
Oceans View
Noordhoek beach
Chapman’s drive
Hout bay
Victoria road
Camps bay
Green point
Sea point
VA Waterfront
The penguin’s colony at Boulders beach
Sunset at Camp’s Bay
By the time we reached Camp’s bay in the evening and captured the sunset, there were many beautiful experiences playing in my mind but of all that, there was one emotion that was playing strong and had made me heady. It was a feeling similar to what I had felt in Oslo. Yes, as I have always said, of all the places that I have seen in 15 countries and 10 Indian states, Oslo in Norway is exceptional. It had done something magical to me. After four years, the feeling was similar. I knew I was smitten with Cape Town. I was in love once again!