Photography by Paul Dishman: South Africa - Cape Town and the Cape Peninsula

Just come back from a trip taking in Cape Town, Hermanus, Knysna, a safari near Addo Elephant Park at Kuzuko Lodge, Oudtshoorn and Stellenbosch. A lot to do in 12 days with self drive built in! As usual so well put together by the Holiday Place in a great deal published a while back on Travelzoo top 20 deals.
Wow - had such a great time! It was springtime which offered the best time to see spring flowers, whales at Hermanus and the animals in the bush so weather was mixed. Poor in Cape Town but glorious once we moved down the coast.
This first blog on South Africa covers Cape Town and the peninsula. The usual "big country" mentality applies in South Africa whereby they think nothing of driving huge distances on a day trip and what a big country! South Africa alone is 10 x bigger than the UK within the huge continent that is Africa.
First mistake - our flight with Emirates. Great airline, great service and fantastic plane food but the mistake was flying via Dubai without a stay. 17 hours flying out coupled with an 8 hour wait in Dubai airport for the connection. Fly direct people or at least have a stay in Dubai to break the journey - but then if you take the cheap deal you pay your price in time sometimes!
Transfer to cape Town and I find my case has been dropped from a huge height - cracking the shell case and breaking the two rolling wheels! Why didn`t I spot that earlier - guessing my claim with Emirates will not go far but it was cheap and survived the rest of the trip albeit carried and wrapped in clingfilm on the trip back.

First Hotel - Hollow on the Square. Solid, comfortable place trying hard to give good service from some cool looking staff - if a little lacking in training. Had to call the desk guy three times for the safe. usually work them out OK but try as I might. Ended up it was 5 figure code and not 4 with a trip button back of the hinge. Then the code failed and the guy came with the key to reset it. Great charade where he hid in the bathroom with his back to me whilst I inserted a new code - both knowing he had the key to override whenever he wanted! Food and drink so cheap though - first discovery. Snack of calamari / samosas / fries / salad , a large beer and large wine for £7!

Other key points about Cape Town before I show you the pictures:

Downtown Cape Town is largely ugly with lots of 70`s type concrete buildings broken up only by a few grander buildings and some colourful colonial ones
Personal security is a bit issue - not just in Cape Town but in every SA town and city we visited. Every home has a board mounted warning of armed response security services and the hotels and guides all say if going out after dark use door to door taxis and don`t walk. Park your car and an unofficial "car park attendant" will offer to watch your car for a tip - some will even wear a semi-official bib but I`m guessing they are not. Took me back to my childhood and watching cars for the Newcastle game ;-)
The Red and Blue Hop On Hop Off buses are a great way of seeing the city and working out when to go back
The waterfront has had huge investment and is a stark contrast to the city. Great cheap restaurants and the best souvenirs we saw which we assumed were over-priced but were not . Get any you want there - don`t make our mistake.
Clifton and Camps Bay areas are beautiful and worth a visit
What makes Cape Town is it`s position under Table Mountain. If you`re lucky you`ll see the top and the cable car will be open - we made it 2nd day after a first day of cloud. be careful if you walk up. Our guide on a trip told us how two f his friends were robbed at knife point using the tourist trail in broad daylight the weekend before we went.
Seems to be that bit cooler, windier and wetter in Cape Town than further along the coast and inland. Guess it`s the position.
It`s not the Cape of Good Hope where the Atlantic and Indian Ocean meet but along the coast at Cape Agulhas. We missed that out as the weather was dull and it was quite a detour.

Typical 70`s buildings

The waterfront is very exclusive

Township craftsman guitar maker

Thank god he didn`t die whilst we were there or everything would have shut down!

Don`t mess with my toot toot!

Seals on the boardwalk

Sunday Times awarded best afternoon tea in the world to Nellies - Mount Nelson Hotel

So we had to go for this unlimited buffet tea - exquisite!

The next day was much brighter and off we went on the Peninsula tour - this was superb and a must if you like wild flowers, penguins and great scenery and walks. Had a great day and made Table Mountain on the way back in some much better weather.