A holiday in Cape Town South Africa offeres culture, waterfront, beaches, gardens, history, adventure and stunning views. Three days there will give you just a taste of what this beautiful region has to offer. Cape Town South Africa sits between Table Top Mountain and where the Atlantic and the Indian Oceans converge.

Table Top Mountain is what immediately catches your eye as it stands watch over Cape Town. Whether you are viewing Table Top with it’s table cloth of clouds or on a crisp blue day, it is always stunning. Table Top boasts some of the most exquistie plants and florals on the planet. Many rarely seen anywhere else in the world.

 

Getting to the Top of Table Top

For those up to the challenge you can take a beautiful hike. One of the most popular routes is through the Platteklip Gorge. The incline is quite steep, but steady and would take 1-3 hours depending on your pace. A far more difficult route would be the India Venster trail which takes more skill. The easiest route is on the Atlantic side, Kasteelspoort, with spectacular views of Camps Bay.

By far though the easiest way up is the cable cars. The cars slowly rotate as you climb so you will be able to take in every view……if you can open your eyes. I am not a fan of heights, but I did manage to open my eyes and it was gorgeous!

What to Do On Table Top Mountain

There is a curio shop at the top for water and snacks. There is also a restaurant. But the best thing to do at the top is to take in the views as you walk the 3 easy walkways along the plateau. You can even take a 1 hour tour. Don’t go to the top of Table Top Mountain without your camera. Some of my most favorite pictures are of the flora and wildlife we saw on our visit.

Wine Tasting on the Cape

There are numerous wineries near Cape Town and you can easily catch a private or semi-private tour. We chose a semi-private wine tasting tour. Chauffered in a nice touring van, we stopped at 2 wineries, one featuring petting cheetahs and another goats. Both produced excellent wines. We opted for olive oil tasting as our third stop. Lunch was included in a cute little town.

Shark Cage Diving

We were at a oceanography park in Durban when I saw a picture of a great white breaching out of the water. I thought it was so amazing that I actually took a picture of the picture. When we were in Cape Town South Africa I learned that one of the very few places in the world where sharks breech was not far from and there were tours where you can get right in the water with the great whites within the safety of a shark cage. I wanted to do it!

It’s something you will probably only have the oppurtunity to do once in a lifetime, so if you are there, go for it! There are tours that go out daily, weather permiting. The day we went, the only tour that was left with a last minute booking was the earliest departure in the morning. We were however warned that the sea was kind of rough and there was a chance that our tour would be cancelled. Sadly friends who were to go out with the tour scheduled after ours was cancelled and this was something he had wanted to do since he was a child.

I am prone to sea sickness, but was able to find some sea sickness tablets that I took the night before. The patches were not available at the time in South Africa. We were bused about an hour away to the boat yard where our boat was launched. It was much smaller than I expected which was a bit of a concern considering my sea sickness issues. We were given our safety training and off we went.

The sea was pretty rough but while cutting through the water, I was fine. When we reached our location and anchored, the boat started rocking and bobbing. Not real bad, but bad enough for me. I got REALLY sick. The boat crew started chumming the water to bring the sharks closer and well, I helped if you get my drift.

They lowered the shark cage in the water and people started putting on the provided wet suits and given everyone was given instructions on what to do and what NOT to do, like stick your hand outside the cage in an attempt to pet the passing sharks.

Unfortuneatly, I was so sick I was unable to get in the cage. I watched as best I could while lying down on the front of the boat, sitting up with my camera to take pictures every time someone yelled SHARK!! It was incredible even at that.

If you do decide you might want to do this on your trip, just make sure to get a precscription from you doctor for those patches from home.

 

These are just some of the highlights to our Cape Town South Africa vacation. There is so much more. The harbor and waterfront have many delightful shops and restaurants to chose from. There is a beautiful botanical garden in city center. You can go to the end of the cape which isn’t to far to the lighthouse and see the penguins. I know penguins in Africa? If you are in South Africa, don’t skip Cape Town thinking it’s just another city. It’s not. You will have a fabulous time.