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***image2***Kite surfers rule the water as locals and foreigners alike sit outside eating fresh
seafood with Table Mountain perched up from the ocean in the background. It is a
typical day in the gorgeous city of Cape Town, South Africa.
The city is located on the southern tip of Africa and tourists will be amazed to look into the night sky and see constellations only seen in the southern hemisphere. The locals speak English and Afrikaans, and the currency is the Rand. The weather is beautiful, but the water remains cold from the Benguela Current from Antarctica.
As you walk along the beaches, you can see hundreds of kite surfers that ride the small, but constant, waves that allow them to jump up to 100 feet high. Past the kite surfers is Table Mountain, which plateaus approximately two miles from side to side, surrounded by steep cliffs. Tourists can take an aerial cableway to the top of the mountain or a four-hour hike. If you do take the cableway, you are guaranteed a spectacular view as the car rotates 360 degrees during your ride to the top. There are several hikes up top with breath-taking views of the city as well as the
Atlantic and Indian oceans.
After hiking Table Mountain, you can drive south to Simonstown. The beach town is famous for its African Penguin colony. There is no snow in this town; the flightless birds have adapted to the warmth of the Cape summer by moulting, or losing, their feathers. For a small fee, you can walk around the colony and watch the penguins up close.
Keep driving south to the Cape of Good Hope. It’s a common misconception that the Cape of Good Hope is the southern tip of Africa but, in fact, the southernmost point is Cape Agulhas, about 90 miles to the southeast. The Cape is truly remarkable with rugged cliffs, steep slopes and sandy flats.
***image1***When you drive back to Cape Town, take Chapman’s Peak Drive. The drive is considered a major feat in engineering as the road hugs the near-vertical face of the mountain from Hout Bay to Noordhoek. It’s a drive you will never forget.
Once back in Cape Town, be sure to stroll down the V&A Waterfront for
souvenir shopping, dining and entertainment. Or you can get some “retail therapy” at the Canal Walk Shopping Center, the biggest mall in the Southern Hemisphere.
After an afternoon of shopping, it’s worth the drive out to Durbanville Hills, located 20 minutes from the city center. South African wine is among the best wine in the world. Their reds and whites are famous and shipped worldwide.
And if wine tasting is not enough excitement for your Saturday afternoon, you can go cage diving with Great White Sharks. Several charter companies offer the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to dive within inches of the feared sharks while your adventure is videotaped for years of memories.
From kite surfing to wine sipping to shark diving, Cape Town offers it all to those seeking paradise.
