This year we traveled on New Years Eve to visit Capetown, South Africa for a week. We are thankful for the opportunities to travel to many places in 2022 around Turkey, Georgia, and Greece, and we were exited to check off another continent on this trip. This was midnight in Istanbul, waiting for our flight that left at 2:30am.
We arrived in Captetown around noon the next day. It’s a long flight, but we were only 1 hour behind so there was no jet lag!
We stayed the first two nights in the V&A Waterfreont area. After checking in, we explored downtown and got a bite to eat. It is summertime in South Africa, so schools were out, and like us, people from all over the world were visiting to get the sunshine, so it was crowded!
Fish and chips is popular there, so we ate that and tried a local beer. The kids did not :)
The restaurant was right next to this park where kids were playing, splashing in the fountains, and there was music. It was very lively and busy.
This is a view of Table Mountain, from the main downtown area. You can see why it has that name :).
View of the city and port from our hotel.
The next morning we went to visit Table Mountain, which was about a 15 min drive from downtown. There is a cable car to take you to the top, and this is the view from the waiting area. We stood in line almost 1.5 hours and it was hot, compared to Turkey, so we enjoyed some Italian ice and the misting water they sprayed while waiting. You can also hike to the top, which takes 3-4 hours.
This is Lion’s Head peak, which is to the west of Table mountain.
It was finally our turn to ride the cable car. Table Mountain’s plateau is about two miles from side to side, with lots of rocky cliffs and beautiful views of the city and the surrounding beaches. The cable car held about 70 people and it had a rotating open window so everyone had their chance for a view.
Views from the top of Table Mountain. The beaches there were incredible, lined by mountains, rocky coasts, and rough water.
Hello from the top!We only stayed on top for about an hour, which is about how long the line was to get back down. Poor Nathan stood in the sun waiting while I took the kids for a snack then we rejoined him.
That’s the line to get back down…..
Behind me on the left is Robben Island, where Nelson Mandela was imprisoned for 18 of his 27 years, before being elected as the first black President of South Africa in 1994. Interestingly, two additional former inmates of Robben Island have also been elected as president since Mandela.
Next we drove around and stopped by Camps Bay, which was one of the nearby beaches. We didn’t have swim suits with us, but walked around and enjoyed the nice weather.
These were typical views when driving along the coast.
We stopped at another secluded beach along the drive.
The next day we went to the Two Oceans Aquarium. It was nice setup and the kids had fun seeing fish, sharks, sting rays, penguins, and reptiles. So many Nemo fish!
This display was made from recycled plastic and aluminum cans.
The kids enjoyed the penguins in the aquarium, and were exited to see the ones in their natural habitat the next day.
We had a fun time exploring the city…next stop is Kalk Bay, where we stayed for the next 5 days.
