Durban to Cape Town Road Trip
Dec 11th, 2019, 05:07 AM
#61
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We had unplanned time left at towards the end of our trip before our final week in Cape Town. We had a choice of either heading north to Paternoster, a beach town on the Atlantic Coast or South to Simonstown on the Cape Cape Peninsula. We chose the latter and on the recommendation of mlgb, whose stellar accomdation recommendation have served us well in South America, we stayed at delightful apparement, SALT, just yards from the colonies of penguins on the famed Boulders Beach. A great apartment where the owners had clearly thought of everything and provided a huge range of unexpected extras,
Not really appreciating how close we were to suburban Cape Town, it was nice to be able to drive easily to several key sites nearby. Houts Bay, the Chapmans Peak Drive and the Cape of Good Hope were within very easy reach. All these places are just stunning and we could have spent a lot more time in the area. Indeed once we hit Cape Town, we wished we had, but more of that later.
Simonstown Harbour - Great fish and chips right on the habourside
So many penguins
A bad hair day for my better half!
Where there are penguins, there are also ..... tourists!
The Cape
The Chinese tour buses arrive in town
How could I forget the name of this beach?
Kirstenboch
Not really appreciating how close we were to suburban Cape Town, it was nice to be able to drive easily to several key sites nearby. Houts Bay, the Chapmans Peak Drive and the Cape of Good Hope were within very easy reach. All these places are just stunning and we could have spent a lot more time in the area. Indeed once we hit Cape Town, we wished we had, but more of that later.
Simonstown Harbour - Great fish and chips right on the habourside
So many penguins
A bad hair day for my better half!
Where there are penguins, there are also ..... tourists!
The Cape
The Chinese tour buses arrive in town
How could I forget the name of this beach?
Kirstenboch
Dec 11th, 2019, 07:52 AM
#63
It is Noordhoek Beah !
Dec 11th, 2019, 09:17 PM
#65
"Indeed once we hit Cape Town, we wished we had, but more of that later."
That doesn't sound good.. I hope it just means you liked the southern Cape better.
Glad SALT worked out for you. It's a great place to unwind, not to mention the penguins.
I'm guessing you are home, or nearly so, for the holidays. We look forward to more photos when you have a chance.
That doesn't sound good.. I hope it just means you liked the southern Cape better.
Glad SALT worked out for you. It's a great place to unwind, not to mention the penguins.
I'm guessing you are home, or nearly so, for the holidays. We look forward to more photos when you have a chance.
Dec 11th, 2019, 11:14 PM
#66
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Spot on mlgb! We loved the Cape Peninsula area but were pretty ambivalent about Cape Town. Yes it has one of the stunning settings of any major city we have visited in the world BUT... it just didn’t gel with us. It didn’t seem to be the cosmopolitan place we had been led to believe. I don’t think the incessant power cuts helped much. Many shops and restaurants were just closing as soon as the power went off. Which it did regularly. Yesterday we had three blackouts of 2-3 hours. It does seem as though that issue is getting worse and worse and most locals we spoke to seemed to think that it will continue to get worse. I get very impatient/ frustrated when faced with incompetency anywhere but here, more than most places, it seems so avoidable.
The city didn’t seem anywhere near as edgy/dangerous as we had been led to believe, but it was definite here that the yawning chasm between the haves and have nots, was most apparent. Lots of beggars on the street. Hardly surprising I suppose with unemployment running at 30% and refugees coming from all parts of Africa. Got some very strange looks from white South Africans when I sat down on the street and started chatting to one of these homeless people.
On the positive side, we had some pretty good meals here and really enjoyed wandering around the V&A waterside area which was very similar to where we used to live in the UK. The areas around the peninsula like Camps Bay, Hout Bay where stunning and, in hindsight we wished we had stayed longer around there and less or no time in Cape Town Central. Our original plan was to rent an apartment in CT for a month or so as we had done previously in places like Lima, Buenos Aires, Saigon - I am happy we didn’t but would consider renting in one of the beachside suburbs.
We eventually, made it up Table Mountain by cable car after many false starts because of technical issues, power cuts, weather etc. When we did arrive yesterday , as soon as we reached the gate - a technical issue!! 90 mins later we eventually got a car up. The views are amazing. Thankfully we got back down ok , unlike te 500 people who got stuck up there the previous day.
Currently waiting for our car to pick us up for our homebound flight but will post some more details and photos here and on our blog when we get back.
Overall my impressions of South Africa are very, very positive. Looking back it was without a doubt the countryside, the scenery (whether that be desert, mountains, national parks or coast) that really appealed. It is frustrating at times, I got a little tired of people repeating "this is Africa" . I could bang on about the incompetency of the politicians, bureaucracy, etc, but who are we in the so called developed world to lecture any other country?
Overall, I was quite happy with the itinerary as planned although would make a few minor adjustments. Less time in the cities for one thing, add a day to a few places We will definitely return at some point, probably combining with another country - maybe Namibia, Mozambique or Zimbabwe.
We have been delighted with the Accomodation we chose ( with a couple of notable exceptions!). The standards have been exceptionally high, the service very good and value for money, excellent. Very happy with the Accomodation in the national parks and glad we chose small local places rather than big chain hotels.
We leave for Japan in three weeks so now I am off to take another look at our itinerary for there. Just to make sure....
The city didn’t seem anywhere near as edgy/dangerous as we had been led to believe, but it was definite here that the yawning chasm between the haves and have nots, was most apparent. Lots of beggars on the street. Hardly surprising I suppose with unemployment running at 30% and refugees coming from all parts of Africa. Got some very strange looks from white South Africans when I sat down on the street and started chatting to one of these homeless people.
On the positive side, we had some pretty good meals here and really enjoyed wandering around the V&A waterside area which was very similar to where we used to live in the UK. The areas around the peninsula like Camps Bay, Hout Bay where stunning and, in hindsight we wished we had stayed longer around there and less or no time in Cape Town Central. Our original plan was to rent an apartment in CT for a month or so as we had done previously in places like Lima, Buenos Aires, Saigon - I am happy we didn’t but would consider renting in one of the beachside suburbs.
We eventually, made it up Table Mountain by cable car after many false starts because of technical issues, power cuts, weather etc. When we did arrive yesterday , as soon as we reached the gate - a technical issue!! 90 mins later we eventually got a car up. The views are amazing. Thankfully we got back down ok , unlike te 500 people who got stuck up there the previous day.
Currently waiting for our car to pick us up for our homebound flight but will post some more details and photos here and on our blog when we get back.
Overall my impressions of South Africa are very, very positive. Looking back it was without a doubt the countryside, the scenery (whether that be desert, mountains, national parks or coast) that really appealed. It is frustrating at times, I got a little tired of people repeating "this is Africa" . I could bang on about the incompetency of the politicians, bureaucracy, etc, but who are we in the so called developed world to lecture any other country?
Overall, I was quite happy with the itinerary as planned although would make a few minor adjustments. Less time in the cities for one thing, add a day to a few places We will definitely return at some point, probably combining with another country - maybe Namibia, Mozambique or Zimbabwe.
We have been delighted with the Accomodation we chose ( with a couple of notable exceptions!). The standards have been exceptionally high, the service very good and value for money, excellent. Very happy with the Accomodation in the national parks and glad we chose small local places rather than big chain hotels.
We leave for Japan in three weeks so now I am off to take another look at our itinerary for there. Just to make sure....
Dec 12th, 2019, 02:15 AM
#67
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Hout Bay is a great place to rent a house or apartment. We've done that on previous visits. It's the perfect distance to get to Cape Town for visits. With a Woolworths in the shopping centre, it makes preparing meals in your rental property really easy and there are several nice coffee shops in the area. A good website for local accommodation:-
https://www.sa-venues.com/
https://www.sa-venues.com/
Dec 12th, 2019, 10:49 AM
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While I like Cape Town for the ease of being in the central part of the city, I can appreciate why you may prefer to be based somewhere on the peninsula. I'm surprised at how much the infrastructure in Cape Town seemed to have declined since we were there in 2014; we hadn't heard about power cuts let alone experienced issues.
Safe travels home. Looking forward to your insights on Japan too.
Safe travels home. Looking forward to your insights on Japan too.
Dec 12th, 2019, 11:31 AM
#69
Safe Travels
BTW, it isn't just Cape Town, there have been rolling power cuts all over South Africa, issues with Eskom. They are supposed to warn about them. The local term is "loadshedding". It can be bad luck if you aren't expecting them. I only stayed two nights in downtown Cape Town last year (at Cape Heritage), and the other nights were split up around various suburbs and near the entry to the botanic garden. Most providers had prepared the rooms with battery operated lights, etc. One of the B&Bs was fairly new and I suggested to the owner that she needed some battery operated lanterns, which she promptly went out and bought! I made sure to keep my cellphone topped up and a flashlight at hand. I had no luck with the cable car. Neglected to buy the ticket online even finding a parking spot I still gave up when I saw the line, but I had been up to Cape Point and Chapman's Peak and was satisfied with my scenery views.
Load shedding is a bigger problem than just inconveniences for tourists, it's affecting their economy.
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/artic...-to-fix-plants
BTW, it isn't just Cape Town, there have been rolling power cuts all over South Africa, issues with Eskom. They are supposed to warn about them. The local term is "loadshedding". It can be bad luck if you aren't expecting them. I only stayed two nights in downtown Cape Town last year (at Cape Heritage), and the other nights were split up around various suburbs and near the entry to the botanic garden. Most providers had prepared the rooms with battery operated lights, etc. One of the B&Bs was fairly new and I suggested to the owner that she needed some battery operated lanterns, which she promptly went out and bought! I made sure to keep my cellphone topped up and a flashlight at hand. I had no luck with the cable car. Neglected to buy the ticket online even finding a parking spot I still gave up when I saw the line, but I had been up to Cape Point and Chapman's Peak and was satisfied with my scenery views.
Load shedding is a bigger problem than just inconveniences for tourists, it's affecting their economy.
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/artic...-to-fix-plants
Last edited by mlgb; Dec 12th, 2019 at 11:39 AM.
Dec 12th, 2019, 06:35 PM
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Houts Bay is probably where we would elect to stay next time.
re the declining infrastructure; just about every white South African we spoke to was very concerned about the increasing decline in services, mainly water and power. Load shedding is increasing at an exponential rate. We experienced no episodes until we hit Cape Town for our last week when we were getting two power cuts each day increasing to 4 on our last two days.
We lived in Sierra Leone for a while and had no power there at all and our water came from a well so we’re sort of used to this, but didn’t expect it to be quite so bad in SA. Perhaps it was just a particularly bad episode.
As tourists we can cope with it easily enough but as mlgb points out it is already doing significant damage to their economy which usually means that it is the poorest sections of society that suffer. Seeing mile after mile of tin shacks in the townships all with overhead power cables running to them ( and, bizarrely, most with satellite dishes) one wonders how they will cope with no power. Restaurants that have to close day after day must be losing revenues and I imagine the smaller places won’t be able to cope. Big hotels will have generators to keep guest comfortable but smaller B&Bs won’t be able to afford that. Many WSAs seem to lay the blame at the positive discrimination in job appointments since the end of apartheid. How true that is I don’t know.
Anyway, I have just been sitting in a lounge at Dubai airport with two San Franciscans discussed UK and US politics on the day of the U.K. elections - I guess we all have our problems...
re the declining infrastructure; just about every white South African we spoke to was very concerned about the increasing decline in services, mainly water and power. Load shedding is increasing at an exponential rate. We experienced no episodes until we hit Cape Town for our last week when we were getting two power cuts each day increasing to 4 on our last two days.
We lived in Sierra Leone for a while and had no power there at all and our water came from a well so we’re sort of used to this, but didn’t expect it to be quite so bad in SA. Perhaps it was just a particularly bad episode.
As tourists we can cope with it easily enough but as mlgb points out it is already doing significant damage to their economy which usually means that it is the poorest sections of society that suffer. Seeing mile after mile of tin shacks in the townships all with overhead power cables running to them ( and, bizarrely, most with satellite dishes) one wonders how they will cope with no power. Restaurants that have to close day after day must be losing revenues and I imagine the smaller places won’t be able to cope. Big hotels will have generators to keep guest comfortable but smaller B&Bs won’t be able to afford that. Many WSAs seem to lay the blame at the positive discrimination in job appointments since the end of apartheid. How true that is I don’t know.
Anyway, I have just been sitting in a lounge at Dubai airport with two San Franciscans discussed UK and US politics on the day of the U.K. elections - I guess we all have our problems...
Dec 13th, 2019, 10:15 AM
#71
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I had no idea SA had power supply problems. Wow!
Talking to people from around the globe is one of the things we love about having the ability to travel.
I know a SA surgeon from his residency days in Chicago who had top qualifying marks for acceptance into a plastic surgery practice in Cape Town but had to bide his time as a general surgeon first due to the same situation the people you spoke to noted. His current reviews by verified patients are top notch too.
India has similar issues too with the reservations for the previously discriminated against lower castes.
Talking to people from around the globe is one of the things we love about having the ability to travel.
I know a SA surgeon from his residency days in Chicago who had top qualifying marks for acceptance into a plastic surgery practice in Cape Town but had to bide his time as a general surgeon first due to the same situation the people you spoke to noted. His current reviews by verified patients are top notch too.
India has similar issues too with the reservations for the previously discriminated against lower castes.
Last edited by jacketwatch; Dec 13th, 2019 at 10:28 AM.
Dec 13th, 2019, 10:57 PM
#72
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Interesting you should mention plastic surgeons. On our penultimate day, possibly the worst, we heard from the owner of te B&B that the plastic surgery clinic next door lost power in the middle of a procedure and had to transfer the patient to a nearby hospital by ambulance. I don’t know which I found more surprising, the fact that a clinic didn’t have a back up generator when doing surgery or our B&B didn’t have a gas ring on which to cook our eggs!
For the sake of clarity, it wasn’t just about the power issues, with the exception of the V&A area, and the restaurant scenery, we just weren’t that impressed with the city centre area like the Gardens etc. The museums were lacklustre, although the National Gallery was excellent - small but with some great exhibits, notably the very moving exhibits re violence against women. Generally though, whilst we loved the suburbs like Hout, Simonstown, Camps Etc.the centre, not so much. we will visit again but will do it differently.
will post som more photos and details but in the meantime, we leave for Tokyo in 3 weeks and I just realised how much in need to sort - off to the Asia forum..
For the sake of clarity, it wasn’t just about the power issues, with the exception of the V&A area, and the restaurant scenery, we just weren’t that impressed with the city centre area like the Gardens etc. The museums were lacklustre, although the National Gallery was excellent - small but with some great exhibits, notably the very moving exhibits re violence against women. Generally though, whilst we loved the suburbs like Hout, Simonstown, Camps Etc.the centre, not so much. we will visit again but will do it differently.
will post som more photos and details but in the meantime, we leave for Tokyo in 3 weeks and I just realised how much in need to sort - off to the Asia forum..
Dec 14th, 2019, 04:30 AM
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I think when people say that Cape Town is stunning, I wonder if they are referring to the scenery, views & lovely suburbs eg Camps Bay ather than the actual city. I know that's what I mean. Of all the times I've been to Cape Town, we've only stayed in the city centre twice (once on a business trip and another overnight stay in Long Street which was quite nice but noisy). Otherwise it has been Hout Bay, Sea Point and other suburbs with trips into Cape Town. My daughter stayed in Fishhoek once but that isn't a nice area although the beach is good for swimming.
Dec 15th, 2019, 08:31 AM
#75
Probably Odin. The setting is stunning, no doubt. The areas of Central Capetown that I found most interesting were the BoKaap and Greenmarket Square. Again, I was there for only two days, so I skipped out on the Zeitz MOCAA which I hear great things about. I did enjoy the two free walking tours.
I also liked the wonderful Kirstenbosch. And truly, the food and value are pretty great.
Hopefully some day I will return although other places beckon.
I also liked the wonderful Kirstenbosch. And truly, the food and value are pretty great.
Hopefully some day I will return although other places beckon.
Dec 15th, 2019, 09:40 AM
#76
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When I think about Cape Town, I think about the region. I agree with all that is said about the suburbs being beautiful, I also enjoy the city and Table Mountain. My favorites were Company’s Gardens, the Castle of Good Hope, the District Six Museum, and Greenmarket Square. I always find it interesting how we all arrive at different conclusions about various places, and factors such as timing, weather, and the people we interact with could make huge differences.
Dec 15th, 2019, 10:12 AM
#77
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I'm off to Cape Town again in a few days for the fourth time. I'll being staying again with in-laws who live in an area just below Table Mountain, with beautiful views of the city bowl and harbour. Last time I rented an AirBnB in Camps Bay, about three streets up from the beach road with sunset views from the terrace and swimming pool. It's easy to get into the CBD from Camps Bay via Kloof Nek Road, which goes past the Table Mountain cableway station.
Cape Town is one of my favourite cities, ranking up with Sydney Australia. Beaches, mountains, the winelands, and excellent food. In my previous three trips there was no problem with load shedding, but two years ago was a drought in the Western Cape, with severe water restrictions. My relatives from Joburg are familiar with load shedding, and the drought has moved north.
Cape Town is one of my favourite cities, ranking up with Sydney Australia. Beaches, mountains, the winelands, and excellent food. In my previous three trips there was no problem with load shedding, but two years ago was a drought in the Western Cape, with severe water restrictions. My relatives from Joburg are familiar with load shedding, and the drought has moved north.
Dec 15th, 2019, 11:45 PM
#78
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Interesting to hear the perceptions of others on the city.
I didn’t hate the city, it just didn’t live up to my expectations. Bo Kaap was pleasant enough but I found Greenmarket Square a little tacky and it was overrun with refugees from other African countries. Several people advise us to be very wary around there ( not that we had any problems).
re your favourite places TP. We stayed quiet close to the Company Gardens and found that area very pleasant with great views of Table Mountain. District 6 museum I found interesting but was in great need of some serious curating . It could have been much better. The staff were unhelpful which was a great shame as it could be a great insight into the horrors of Apartheid. As you say, there are many factors which influence our opinion on a place. In my case, perhaps my expectations were too high. We really loved the rest of our trip leading up to Cape Town and in my mind were saving the best till last. In hindsight, if we had started in Cape Town, our impressions may have been more favourable.Our original plan was to spend a month there as we have done in many other cities around the world at the end of long trips. So glad we didn’t.
As an aside, we had heard and read a lot regarding the safety issues in South Africa generally and Cape Town specifically. We had read some dire warnings about crime, muggings etc. I have to say, we did not feel in the least bit uncomfortable during our entire stay. Most South Africans we met seemed to feel te safety concerns were being overdone ( but I suppose as most were involved in the tourism industry, they would say that wouldn’t they ?) The only warnings we got in Cape Town were about the refugees hanging out around Greenmarket Sq. there were a lot and maybe it is a relatively new phenomenon, but there didn’t seem any particular cause for concern. I have seen much worse in London.
Overall, Cape Town is a City in a stunning location with some wonderful beachside suburban areas but with the exception of the V&A Waterfront, it seems to me to be a city in decline. I hope for the sake of the South African people and their tourism industry, that those in power get a grip on their infrastructure issues before it is too late. The feeling seemed to be that power outages had escalated dramatically in recent months and there seemed no end in sight.
I didn’t hate the city, it just didn’t live up to my expectations. Bo Kaap was pleasant enough but I found Greenmarket Square a little tacky and it was overrun with refugees from other African countries. Several people advise us to be very wary around there ( not that we had any problems).
re your favourite places TP. We stayed quiet close to the Company Gardens and found that area very pleasant with great views of Table Mountain. District 6 museum I found interesting but was in great need of some serious curating . It could have been much better. The staff were unhelpful which was a great shame as it could be a great insight into the horrors of Apartheid. As you say, there are many factors which influence our opinion on a place. In my case, perhaps my expectations were too high. We really loved the rest of our trip leading up to Cape Town and in my mind were saving the best till last. In hindsight, if we had started in Cape Town, our impressions may have been more favourable.Our original plan was to spend a month there as we have done in many other cities around the world at the end of long trips. So glad we didn’t.
As an aside, we had heard and read a lot regarding the safety issues in South Africa generally and Cape Town specifically. We had read some dire warnings about crime, muggings etc. I have to say, we did not feel in the least bit uncomfortable during our entire stay. Most South Africans we met seemed to feel te safety concerns were being overdone ( but I suppose as most were involved in the tourism industry, they would say that wouldn’t they ?) The only warnings we got in Cape Town were about the refugees hanging out around Greenmarket Sq. there were a lot and maybe it is a relatively new phenomenon, but there didn’t seem any particular cause for concern. I have seen much worse in London.
Overall, Cape Town is a City in a stunning location with some wonderful beachside suburban areas but with the exception of the V&A Waterfront, it seems to me to be a city in decline. I hope for the sake of the South African people and their tourism industry, that those in power get a grip on their infrastructure issues before it is too late. The feeling seemed to be that power outages had escalated dramatically in recent months and there seemed no end in sight.
Dec 16th, 2019, 12:13 AM
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To be honest, we never spend much time in the CBD, probably because I am there as a guest rather than a tourist. My son-in-law sometimes goes to Bo-Kaap to buy samosas, and we do most of our shopping in the nearby Gardens Shopping Centre, which is a small mall with an underground car park and a good Woolworths food store, plus many other shops. For serious shopping we usually go to the large Canal Walk mall, which is comparable to good malls in the UK and USA.
Dec 16th, 2019, 12:50 AM
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I wouldn’t agree that Cape Town is in decline, as it has six lane divided highways, modern shopping malls such as Canal Walk, and further developments of The V&A Waterfront in the Silo District. Development of the waterfront itself in the 1990s transformed it from a 19th century working harbour to the modern tourist centre it is today.
