Cape Town Trip

Old Sep 25th, 2014, 01:43 PM
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Cape Town Trip

Life has been crazy since I returned from Cape Town, so I am late on my trip report. I will post pieces as I have time in repayment for all the help I get on this travel board.

I only had 2.5 days of free time around my work to get and out in the city at the end of August, but I lucked out on weather, arriving just as cold rains moved out and had warm sunshine (some wind) for my entire visit. I am sure that colored my opinion of the area. I had only been to Johannesburg and the Kruger area before. Each of the three locations are so different. South Africa is a large and diverse country.

I did make use of the hop on - hop off bus on my first half day to get around town sightseeing. I purposely did not have a schedule for the day. I was interested in the walking tour of Bo-Kaap, but my timing wasn't right, so I got off the bus at the Gold Shop stop and walked around on my own. It was a nice place to stretch my legs and take some photos. I already knew a lot about the area, but I am sure a tour would make it even more worthwhile. I am an architecture buff, so I enjoyed. I felt perfectly comfortable walking in the neighborhood with many residents out and about for their day.

The clouds were clearing and I had heard the advice to head to Table Mtn anytime you see the sun or you might miss your chance for the view, so I cut my time in Bo Kaap shorter than I would have liked and returned to wait at the bus stop. The bus was well off schedule, but if time is flexible, one knows that a bus will eventually arrive. The recorded commentary was informative.

A short line at the Table Mtn cable car ticket counter, then a wait for the second cable car, and I was on my way up to a cold, windy Table Mountain. I had my windbreaker hood cinched as tight as possible and the wind still could whip it free. I saw one child about 7 years old that a family had wrapped towels around his legs and body to keep him warm (why did they have towels, but not clothes?). I hopped around and walked through puddles to see views in all directions as well as the dassies. I like mountains, rocks, and the like, so I was happy. Watching my time for buses and cable cars, I again felt rushed as I made my way down and continued on my open air tour around the coast and back to the V&A waterfront to my hotel.

I took lots of photos and enjoyed the sightseeing. If I had an entire day, I would have stopped off at the coast for sure, spent more time in Bo Kaap and on the Mountain. If I had a second day in town, I would have gone to the city center sights and the fort. All that will have to wait for my next visit.

My in-town hotel was the Commodore. Just blocks from the V&A and a buy 2 get 1 free night B&B deal. I got a better room (executive or premium?) that I think meant larger and a view of marina/mountain. The view was great. The room was fine except a noisy toilet and wind howling in around the heat/ac unit. Breakfast was good. Staff was fine. Walking in the area was safe. Fit my needs exactly.

I did go to V&A to buy groceries at the Pick N Pay. Restaurants were tourist prices and mall stores no different than anywhere else. I wanted to be near someplace I could go out on my own in the evening and a destination in case I got all rainy weather and V&A seemed to fit the bill.
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Old Sep 25th, 2014, 02:30 PM
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Thanks for sharing. I'm looking at a potential trip to Africa for 2015, and Cape Town is one of my priority stops, so I appreciate all the info that I'm getting here. Just not sure of my timing though (late-June / early-July); not worried about the cold, just the wet.
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Old Sep 25th, 2014, 03:41 PM
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Going there this winter, appreciate you sharing.
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Old Sep 26th, 2014, 06:47 AM
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I did hear often that the weather I experienced in Cape Town was unusual and how my timing was just right, so I would listen to the locals about June/July weather.

I used my full days to get out of the city. One day I took a group tour (van with up to about 10 people) of the Cape Peninsula with Daytrippers which includes an optional short bicycle ride in the park. Mostly folks in their 20s, but up to age 60 and a very international group.

I did the seal island boat trip and it was better than I expected. So many on the rocks and swimming around the boat! Again, the nice weather made for a pleasant short ride.

We made the usual stop for the penguins (I love penguins). It was a very short time there and I could have used longer waiting along the boardwalk as individuals would walk underneath through the brush, working their way down to the shore or standing at the end of the boardwalk watching them come ashore. The area does have lots of brush, but if you watch closely you see many penguins lying under the brush and walking around. The end of the boardwalk is a good distance from the place on the beach where they were mostly going in/out of the water.

When we entered the park, the guide/driver unloaded the bikes and told us to ride to the visitors center where he would serve us a simple picnic lunch. One girl may never have been on a multi-speed bicycle and needed more instruction than was offered. I think it is always best for the guide to assume nothing and not wait for someone to admit they need instruction. It was a short, easy ride to the visitors center. The picnic was mediocre. The break here could have been shorter as there is little to see. Then back in the van to drive to the funicular and lighthouse. Some chose to walk up/down and others to ride. With limited time, I chose to ride up and walk down, but I think it took me as much time up because I just missed a car and had to wait for the next one. Saw a baboon snatch a bag of chips from a lady just outside the restaurant. Lovely views of a beach from top. Once down, we drove to the Cape Point sign and beach. Too much time there in my opinion.

Overall, the usual group tour in terms of too hurried here/too slow there, a few people who delayed the group when they wanted to shop after using the allotted time to visit the site, but a compatible group overall and the tour delivered all that was promised at a very reasonable price. I did like the option to cycle a bit. I like to be outdoors if the weather is good, so it provided a nice break from riding in the van. The bicycles looked well maintained and helmets were required/provided.
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Old Sep 28th, 2014, 01:48 PM
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Ha--just to show you how frazzled I have been, I realize I had 3.5 days, not 2.5 days in Cape Town. I don't want to lose that day of vacation, even in my mind!

Another day of sunshine and I took another day tour. This time to Hermanus with Cape Team Tours. They offered the opportunity to join a shared tour if others signed up for the same day. Ended up with 4 people in the van. Everything went smoothly and I would recommend.

I opted for the whale watching boat trip. Although I liked the idea of watching from shore and getting some exercise walking or biking along the waterfront, I knew the chances of seeing whales up close were much higher on the boat where the captains share info about where the whales are each day. The water was calm enough despite what felt like a strong wind up top. We did see multiple whale (parts). It was difficult to tell how many were in an area with a back, then a head, then a fin, then a tail emerging. No breaching. But a couple did swim very close to the boat before diving underneath. We had plenty of time just sitting and watching, taking photos. I forgot to take binoculars on the trip to SA! The guide talked a lot once we were in the area of the whales, but I spent my time hanging on the railing to watch the whales and missed most of the information he imparted. I did pick up that the difficulty in determining number of whales comes from multiple males pursuing and hanging out around a single female.

The tour included a stop at the penguins in Betties Bay and a cheetah conservation place. I enjoyed the penguins here more than at Simon's Town. Although there were not as many penguins walking directly under the boardwalk, the walk took me to a good viewing site to watch them diving in/jumping out of the surf and then paddling in a pool among the rocks. The area had less brush, more rocks. There were fewer people. The stop was a decent length, but again I am easily mesmerized watching such behavior and could easily have stayed longer.

I would have passed on the cheetah conservation place. They have rescued animals of various kinds in cages, raise dogs to put with livestock to discourage cheetahs, and offer the opportunity to go in the cage and have a photo taken of you stroking a cheetah. The pens are large and the animals appear well cared for by the volunteers. Just after seeing such animals from the truck in the reserves near Kruger makes seeing them in such unnatural situations sad. And I don't need to pet a wild animal. Others enjoyed.

The drive to Hermanus and back was not too long and the route to/from varied, so we got the coast and then the pass; different scenery. We also spotted a couple of whale enroute.

All in all time well spent with good company.
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Old Sep 28th, 2014, 04:17 PM
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Still following along.
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Old Sep 30th, 2014, 01:28 PM
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I used Centurion Tours for transport from/to airport. I would recommend. I booked the shared service, but both times had a private van/car for 250 to/from my hotels. There was a person with a name card before reaching the exit who walked me to their counter. I paid and a driver was ready for me within 5 minutes at midday. To the airport my car was early and waiting at the hotel. If paying cash, driver must wait for someone from the counter to meet the van at the airport, take cash, and give receipt.

Reservation online and with text followup was good. They caught a typo in my online reservation and got it straightened out. Both drivers were safe, courteous, and anxious to share information about the city. I was a little confused when the car at the hotel had a different name on it. Centurion had acquired another company and retained that name because of market recognition. The driver was anxious to show me the logo on his shirt in case I was afraid of getting in the car, but I figured if he knew my name that Centurion must have sent him.

I also used Elite taxis a couple of times. I booked by phone with the dispatcher, the cabs arrived promptly, used the meter, good price, safe driver. Satisfied.
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Old Sep 30th, 2014, 01:44 PM
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I did one day trip that is unusual. I wanted to see if I could catch the wildflower bloom somewhere. No organized group tours. I called the wildflower hotline and no one answered. I found a list of locations and status online that was a couple of weeks old. I called a West Coast Tourism Office and got a nice person who read me a list that was not very helpful. The bottom line hard information seemed to be that it was past peak in Cedarberg and uncertain where the peak was occurring further south.

I hired a guide/driver from CapeTeam and we headed to the West Coast National Park to check it out. A section of the park is only open to the public for a couple of months during bloom season. I enjoy any national park, so I was pleased to be outdoors. The flowers were mostly patchy with one or two full hillsides. The variety was amazing in terms of color and design. Lots of mixed colors scattered across open spaces. The wildlife viewing added to the scene with zebras, wildebeest, ostrich, bonteboch, tortoises, and maybe others that I forget.
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Old Sep 30th, 2014, 05:03 PM
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This can be a slow forum Kay...I appreciate your posts, thanks again.
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Old Oct 8th, 2014, 03:47 PM
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My husband and I are to fly into Cape Town from Kruger Nov 15-18th. They told us we needed to rent a car to get to our hotel down the coast. Any thoughts on this?
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Old Oct 13th, 2014, 02:07 PM
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Whether or not you need a car depends on how far down the coast your hotel is. Taxis are relatively cheap in Cape Town. If you want to travel down to the Cape of Good Hope, Simon's Town, Hermanus, etc. the car will be very useful. If you do rent a car, do NOT rent from Europcar. Their City Centre office charged us half again more than the "guaranteed price" we'd been promised by adding on all sorts of bogus charges (e.g. a Documents Administration Fee) and they have been totally unresponsive to my attempts to communicate with them since we received the invoice.
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