Cape Town, South Africa

A couple days after Christmas last year we hopped on a plane and headed to the other side of South Africa to spend some time exploring one of the world's most beautiful cities, Cape Town.

My sister and her husband recently made the move from Johannesburg to The Cape and I couldn't be happier for them since that is the #1 place in South Africa that I would love to live.

A view of the city of Cape Town from on top of Table Mountain

As our plane touched down in the darkness of night we saw the fires burning in the shanty towns of this beautiful diverse city and on a morning drive the next day, we took in one of the most spectacular landscapes that I have even seen. Mountains towered high on one side of you and the sea showed off all kinds of turquoise and crystal blue waters on the other. Along the way we stopped at a harbour in Kalk Bay where we took in the aroma of fresh fish being caught and saw a baby seal begging for scraps.

Next up was a trip to the oldest wine estate in South Africa, Groot Constantia, to meet up with my cousin for lunch at "Jonkershuis". Its not every day that it states on the menu "Don't feed the baboons" and as we walked back to the car we realised why when all of a sudden a huge baboon came running past us, through the parking lot and into the vineyards.

The next morning we woke up really early to try and get tickets for a boat trip to Robben Island, but unfortunately they were all sold out for the whole week which was a little disappointing, but with such an early start on the day we decided to head to Cape Point instead. On the way, we stopped at Boulders beach to have a look at the huge colony of African penguins that call the beach their home.

Penguins at Boulders Beach

Back in the car and a few minutes later we suddenly spot a whole troop of baboons running out of a house after raiding it for apples and whatever other food they could find. The cheeky guys sat proudly on top of the roof chewing away on their newly looted treasure before being chased away by a security guard. They then sat on the side of the road right next to our car and I got to snap some pictures (through a very small gap in the window).

We finally arrived at Cape Point and within minutes of driving through the reserve we spotted ostriches, buck and even a tortoise. We caught the "Flying Dutchman" Funicular to the South Western most tip of Africa and witnessed some stunning views.

The funicular that saved my pregnant self from having to hike up to the top of the cliff.

My sister and I

The next morning, we (once again) woke up really early. This time it was because we were headed to Cape Town's main attraction, Table Mountain. Unfortunately with some strong winds hanging around, the cable car was temporarily closed. Boo! 

With our head start on the day, we changed up our itinerary and decided that a boat ride to Seal Island was a must, and after that we had lunch at an authentic fresh fish shop where Mike shared his food with the seagulls.

View from the boat

Seals, seals and more seals

Attack of the birds

After an afternoon nap we discovered that the cableway was back up and running and we quickly rushed over to the mountain before they changed their minds. We jumped into the cable car and headed 3,563 ft above sea level to the top of Table Mountain and stepped into what felt like a different world.

Table Mountain

Catching the cable car

The air was brisk and the winds were still blowing pretty strong, but there was nothing like the feeling of being at cloud level. We walked around and soaked up the views over Cape Town and were even lucky enough to come across a whole family of "dassies" (rock hyrax) who didn't seem too worried about the huge gusts of wind while they climbed bushes and nibbled on flowers.

My sister, Mike and I on top of Table Mountain

The clouds rolling in.

The next day was New Years Eve and we decided to take it easy. Around lunch time we headed into town, slurped up some milkshakes and took a drive through the cobble stoned streets of the Bo-Kaap to see the multi-coloured houses.

Later in the afternoon we went down to the Victoria & Alfred waterfront because we were planning on ringing in 2012 there as it claims to be one of the best spots to do so. Unfortunately, the crowds just got too much for us to handle and every restaurant was either full or offering a set menu at a crazy price so we did a bit of shopping, walked around for a bit and then headed back into town to find somewhere that would take us without a booking for our New Years Eve dinner.

The V&A waterfront on New Years Eve

We ended up at an Italian restaurant where I indulged in (ONLY) 1 glass of wine and probably the best steak that I have eaten in a very long time. After dinner we decided to take a drive up to the top of Signal Hill to view the city at night and we could hear all the festivities going on below us.

The view from on top of Signal Hill

Now, this is where my New Years Eve takes a bit of a turn for the lame. By about 10pm I was exhausted so we headed home and lay in bed watching back to back episodes of "Faulty Towers" (don't judge, I'm pregnant! haha). I then proceeded to fall asleep, but woke up at 11:56pm to be able to ring in the New Year. I was then fast asleep again by 12:05.

On the first day of 2012 we spent the morning at Rhodes memorial and indulged in a very yummy lunch before it was time for us to say goodbye to my sister, brother in law and the beautiful Cape as we boarded our plane back to Durban.

Rhodes Memorial