Sunset from Signal Hill

When I did the Table Mountain and Signal Hill post the other day I could not find a picture that I particulalry wanted to include. I am glad to say that I have come across it. It was taken a few years ago after a drive to Cape Point. What a lovely way to end a day out sightseeing and what a great spot to watch the sun go down.

Table Mountain and Signal Hill - why you should visit them both

How time flies. A few months since my last post and since I returned from wonderful Cape Town. My plan to do posts every day didn’t quite work out.  Back to retrospectives and it is logical to pick up where I left off.


Almost every set of pictures you see of Cape Town in a brochure will include one of Table Mountain and it is certainly high up on any list of must visit sites. A less obvious site, but one where you can get some of the best pictures of the mountain from is Signal Hill. It is just a short drive (less than ten minutes) from Table Mountain and a good option to do on the same day.

Table Mountain is just a short drive or taxi ride from the main tourist hotspots of the city. The best advice is go up on the first clear day. Even on a nice sunny day the mountain is often covered in cloud or as it is sometimes referred to, ‘the table cloth’. The vast majority of people go up and down on the cable car. Queues can be quite long, so you need to be patient or be lucky; there are times when there isn’t much of a crowd, it isn’t a precise science though. The cable car revolves so be sure to get to the edge and enjoy the 360 degree panorama. The more energetic can walk up and it takes a couple of hours. Stick to the advice in guide books and stay on well established paths. An alternative for walkers is to tackle the walk from the Kirstenbosh Botanical Gardens side, this means a thirty minute drive out of the city, but the gardens are wonderful and I will cover them in a future post. Some friends did this walk a few years ago and rate it highly, particularly good as you are in the shade much of the time.

Once on top of the mountain you may find the weather is drastically different from what it was like at the bottom. I have been up on days when it has been cold and extremely windy on top and glorious sun bathing weather at the bottom. This isn’t always the case though and the weather up on top of the mountain can be just as good as below. Up on top you can walk an easy loop among guided paths and clouds permitting get city and seascape views. There is of course a gift shop and cafe. A few years ago there was a bar up next to the cable car station, which could be reached up some steps. It has floor to ceiling windows and balcony so the views are amazing. Inexplicably it is now closed. What are they thinking of? Unless you want to do some serious exploring an hour is plenty to take in the views.

The big mistake many people make is not to include a trip to Signal Hill after or before the visit Table Mountain. This is such a shame as from the Signal Hill viewing area you get a lovely perspective of Table Mountain and also views of the sea, the city and the new football stadium at Green Point. The one time when the area gets busy is sunset, it is great to get there early with a picnic and enjoy the views.


Table Mountain fom Signal Hill

Lion's Head

Camps Bay from Table Mountain

Seascape view from Table Mountain

Cape Town to Cape Point - a perfect day out

A visit to Cape Point and Boulders Beach is a fabulous day out combining spectacular scenery and opportunities to see wildlife. You can do an organised trip, but the best option by far is to hire a car and do it at your own pace. You leave Cape Town by Camps Bay on a road which hugs the mountains and gives you amazing views. After this it gets even better as you drive along Chapman’s Peak. It really is a drive which has to been seen and experienced to be fully appreciated. There are various stop off points where you can take your pictures and will just stare in wonder. Chapman’s Peak is all too short a drive, but there are plenty more attractions when it has finished. There are numerous small coastal towns where you can stop for lunch. Simons Town, with its naval base is one option, but I prefer the livelier Kalk Bay. If you want to rub shoulders with local people and enjoy some tasty fish and chips, then go to Kalkys. Next stop is Boulders Beach where you can see a penguin colony up close. It is likely to be very windy, but you will see lots of penguins from the viewing platforms. If you avoid weekends and the middle of the day you may be able to stand near the penguins on the beach or the rocks, watch out though they peck. The final stop is Cape Point and the Cape of Good Hope; both are close to each other and offer walking opportunities as well as a chance to see ostriches, baboons and other wildlife. We were lucky to see a couple of families of baboons and I got some pictures of them. We also saw a wild ostrich by the road gazing into the ocean, what a great picture that would have been. Never mind at least I got a picture of the ostrich. This is a rewarding and memorable day out as anyone could wish to do and an easy drive from Cae Town.


One of the many spectacular views along Capman's Peak drive

Boulders Beach

Baboon family close to Cape Point

Ostrich close to the Cape of Good Hope

Dining on Kloof Street

Kloof Street brings you from the edge of the centre of Cape Town up a steep hill onto the slopes of Table Mountain. The hilly nature of the street and some of the architecture makes it feel a bit like the sort of street you find in San Francisco. It has a good choice of places to eat, testified by how many locals eat there and is a great alternative to the more touristy places like Camps Bay and The Waterfront. So where should you dine? At the top of Kloof Street is Baccinis, a cheap and reliable Italian restaurant which does great Pizza and serves draft Perioni. Shelly’s, is a nice place to go for lunch as it offers a good range of gourmet sandwiches and light lunch options. Inside is stylish and outside is a good spot for people watching and starring at Table Mountain. Right next door is Tonis, where you can get tasty and reasonably priced Portuguese – Mozambique food, which is quite spicy. A little further down on the corner of Kloof and Camp Street, Saigon serves the best Vietnamese food in Cape Town.

The Bo-Kaap, Cape Town

The Bo-Kaap is one of the oldest neighbourhoods in Cape Town. The colourful houses really stand out against the backdrop of Table Mountain and the high rise cityscape. The area has a high Muslim population and there are a few mosques in the neighbourhood. Unlike nearby District Six, the Bo-Kaap survived apartheid legislation which saw many communities forcibly displaced. The Bo-Kaap has an interesting museum on Wale Street, which is close to the city centre. Even if the museum isn’t open, it is still worth visiting and walking around the area soaking up the atmosphere and taking some pictures.

The Garden Route was more like Cloudy Bay

It was unfortunate that our time in the Garden Route was during a period of bad weather; it rained for much of the time and on some days the clouds were so low we saw very little. Our first stop was Mossell Bay, we then moved to Storms River Village and returned to Cape Town via Swellendam.

Mossell Bay is generally regarded as the first of the main seaside towns on the Garden Route and popular with tourists. Wilderness is a tiny town which has a fantastic long beach and unusual land feature called the Map of Africa. Knysna is the next main point of interest, with its lagoon and pleasant waterfront shopping mall. Plettenberg Bay is the next main town along the coast. Plettenberg Bay and Mossell Bay feel very much as though they have a large contingent of retired Europeans and South Africans. They are undeniably pretty, but some people may find them a little bland.

Storms River Village is in the Tsitsikamma National Park and just a few miles from Storms River Mouth. This is an idyllic setting close to woodland, the sea and with a mountain backdrop. It is a great base for outdoorsy types, with plenty of options for walkers. Those who want to live dangerously can do a bungee jump from Boukouran's Bridge (not possible when we went as it was covered in cloud). The village has a good feeling of community about it, for example one of the local tour companies, Tsitsikamma Canopy Tours is heavily involved with local projects and you feel local people are benefitting from the tourism. We finished our Garden Route trip with a night in Swellendam. It is a pretty enough town and a good stop over before moving on to Cape Town or the winelands of Paarl, Francheock and Stellenbosch.

Chanter’s Lodge, Livingstone – A good choice for budget travel

It is a week since returning from Zambia, but it has been difficult to do posts up until now. During the Zambia part of the trip our base was Chanter’s Lodge, which is a short walk from the town of Livingstone and owned by a British guy called Richard Chanter. It has ten rooms of varying sizes. The family room with its two double beds and bunk beds suited us (two friends who wanted a bit of personal space, but happy to share a room). It also has a restaurant and pleasant pool area. We only paid $79.00 a night and got good service and a nice breakfast. It would have been better if there had been a little more attention to detail here and there, but for the money we paid we were satisfied. Chanter's is located in a suburb of Livingstone which has a mixture of homes owned by local people and budget accommodation. Some of the properties are very desirable, others faded and in need of restoration. We have been to local bars, seen people going about their business and it has been good to get a sense of life in a Livingstone suburb.

We loved the facilities at the Zambezi Sun, David Livingstone Safari Lodge and most of all at the Royal Livingstone. The trouble with these places is that you are in a sanitised tourist bubble (albeit a very luxurious one) and are far away from the people whose country you are visiting. Having said that I like a bit of luxury and think it is good fun to mix travel styles. To find out more about Chanters Lodge see http://www.chanters-livingstone.com/