One Week in Cape Town, South Africa – Coffee Cups and Wanderlust (2024)

But let me back up a step. Once we started telling people we were going to Cape Town, we realized most of them were super excited, but a few were like, “Is that safe? Isn’t their crime really high?” We know a few people that have been to Cape Town and what they told us was basically to always use standard travel safety precautions and don’t go out after dark. So I didn’t worry about it.

At first.

Then I let it start bothering me about a week before our trip. (Great timing, huh?) I started Googling to reassure myself and, it didn’t help. I started freaking out a little bit that we would be so “locked up” having to be safe that we wouldn’t be able to enjoy ourselves and if we did venture out, it was very likely we would get robbed or our car would be broken into.

Yes, there is crime in Cape Town but if you do your research and avoid the high crime areas…YOU WILL BE FINE.

The flights to get from Minneapolis to Cape Town were KILLER! Neither of us can sleep well on a plane and after 8.5 hours to Paris, a short layover to stretch, and an 12-hour haul to Cape Town, we were exhausted. We picked up our rental car and ended up pulling up to our Airbnb in Fish Hoek around midnight.

Our hostess was gracious enough to stay up for us to show us around. I think typical flights from Europe arrive late so she’s used to it, but I always still feel bad when I keep our Airbnb hosts up late. We crashed immediately onto the bed and slept. Until 2 pm….lol! Yeah, large time zone changes will always mess with us for at least a few days. We found that after that first day our routine seemed to fall into having a midday nap and maybe 4 hours of good sleep per night.

View from our private patio at our Airbnb –Heaven Sent – A little Seaside Gem by Bev:

Our first adventure was down to Simon’s Town to see the African penguins. It was a fairly short drive from our Airbnb to Boulders Beach where the African Penguins hang out. Here’s a great article that will tell you all about them, how they got here, and the best times and places to see them.

We started off at Seaforth Beach where we were quickly up close and personal with the penguins. They clearly are very used to the humans using the beach as well and seemed to wander through, stress-free.

Back in 2013, Mark ‘adopted’ a penguin for me for Christmas and named him Maverick in honor of my cat that had passed away earlier that year. It was through an organization called Southern African Foundation for The Conservation Of Coastal Birds (SANCCOB).

At the time he adopted Maverick the penguin, we had only traveled a few places together and would never have thought we would end up visiting the place where SANCCOB is based. So, when we walked into the Boulders Beach gift shop, I stopped and gasped at the sign on the door that stated purchases benefitted SANCCOB. My penguin, Maverick, was found in Cape Town. And while life isn’t the easiest for penguins in the wild, their average lifespan is 20 years so technically…..Maverick could still be hanging around somewhere. We could have even seen him. (Heart melting….!)

This route was the “easy” route, but it was no joke. In 1.1 miles (1.8km), we hiked up 2,200 ft (670km). It was gorgeous and worth it in the end but, on our way up, as the sun started to bake our backs, we were contemplating our life choices…lol. At the top, it is pretty much a giant plateau. Hence the name, Table Mountain. There are trails to take in all the views from each side of the mountain top and even a restaurant to rest and recover at.

Definitely happy we got up to the top early in the day because by 11 am or so, the gondola was bringing up loads of people and it was getting a bit crowded.

Mark found a place for dinner on the way back that had some great reviews, Jakes on the Common. Unfortunately, when we first arrived, they didn’t have power. This is due to an antiquated electrical grid and the current solution is a loadshedding schedule that rolls daily throughout the entire country. Most places have backup power, but their generator blew leaving the restaurant without power. Thankfully after reviewing the menu and working through our first flavored local gin drinks, the power returned. Learn more about loadsheddingand its economic impacts on South Africa.

And then we had the most delicious meal!! Now we watch enough Food Network shows, follow enough Top Chefs and go to enough trendy restaurants that we like to call ourselves “foodies.” This place did NOT disappoint and provided us with an appetizer that I’m pretty sure we will continue to talk about and compare future food to for a long time.

I will forever remember the “In the CLAUDS” appetizer which was cheese ravioli in a parmesan cream sauce. That sauce was heavenly and should be bottled and sold for a lot of money. Yum!!!! We also had a Cheese-n-Butter Board of creamed butter, feta, cream cheese, caramelized onions, confit tomatoes, crispy capers, pumpkin seeds, peppadew chutney, and rustic toast.

Our main course’s were Crispy Hake and Chips (fish and chips) for me, and the Kimchi Korean Burger. Both were also amazing. We were stuffed at this point so sadly, we skipped dessert this time as I’m sure it would have been heavenly. Once again….all the above for about $45.

When we started back to the car, we were met with….ostriches! We actually had to detour around them to get back to the car. How many people can honestly say they were almost trapped on a beach by ostriches?!? (look closely in the photo below)

There wasn’t a lot of traffic in the park as it was Friday. A few cars and a handful of tour buses and the only place we really encountered traffic was at a random spot heading back north through the park. We got caught in a traffic jam thanks to a troop of baboons that decided to chill right in the middle of the road.

One of the main points of attraction we were after today was a shipwreck that you could hike out to. The American Liberty ship Thomas T Tucker struck Albatross Rock on her first voyage of the war (1942). The trail starts at Olifantsbos and took us about 45 minutes one way. It was stunning and mostly all along the shoreline. We saw NO ONE the entire way out and back. It was crazy and beautiful to have that much scenery all to ourselves.

Well….we had to share the area with the ostriches again. A couple times going out and back we actually had to move out of their way to avoid coming too close to where they wanted to go as we were sharing the same trail. We weren’t about to put up a challenge. They are incredible animals but also terrifying since they are so powerful. If they wanted to kill you, they could with one swift kick.

But back to the hike to the shipwreck… The trail out is sort of marked. I was assuming it would be fairly well beaten down by humans but surprisingly, it seems like a fairly unused trail. Obviously, it’s hard to get lost though since you are basically just following the coast to the shipwreck. The hike out isn’t technical at all and for you beach lovers like me, there is plenty of opportunity to rock hop and take your feet through the surf. It was so peaceful, and we couldn’t get over the fact that this massively beautiful, natural beach area was untouched and completely void of humans. There wasn’t any garbage anywhere. Just massive amounts of kelp and seashells.

Out at the shipwreck itself, we were able to walk up to and even on to parts of the remains. There are pieces strewn all over the area and it made for incredible photography for Mark.

We had also been trying to get a photo of the Oyster Catcher bird and had a great opportunity right at the main shipwreck site. I think he was protecting a nearby nest somewhere since he let us get pretty close and kept squawking at us the entire time we were taking pictures.

Exploring the other pieces from the ship that were scattered about, we were surprised to see a giant whale bone. It was almost hard to believe it was just sitting there perfectly in the sand. Clearly beaten up and worn down by weather but very much intact.

I can’t say it enough how memorable this little trek/hike was for us. Beautiful and peaceful on an absolutely perfect day. The only downside was that clearly we both had some misses with our sunscreen application and came out completely ROASTED! I spent the next two days paying for it with some pretty serious sunburn on the back of my legs and behind my knees.

Worth it? Totally.

Today started out realizing we were going to be nursing some pretty epic sunburn from the day before. Did you know that burning the skin behind your knees is really, really painful?? Well I sure do now….lol

Thankfully today was a planned day for some inside activities. Mark found a spot to get a really stunning “up shot” of a spiral staircase. The photo below is mine, not his. Mark’s photo is incredible and you can find on his Instagram feed.

This stairwell is in the Zeitz MOCAA – Museum of Contemporary Art Africain the V&A Waterfront area. This building is amazing as it was carved out of old concrete grain silos. The museum had multiple floors of pretty amazing art and for only about $12/pp, it’s definitely worth a stop if you are visiting the area. From their website:

The Zeitz Museum of Contemporary Art Africa (Zeitz MOCAA) is a public, not-for-profit institution that exhibits, collects, preserves, and researches contemporary art from Africa and its diaspora; conceives and hosts international exhibitions; develops supporting educational, discursive, and enrichment programs; encourages intercultural understanding; and strives for access for all.

It was interesting too to notice the little differences in how the running event was managed and how the runners interacted. A little different from the US where fellow runners and spectators are all about encouraging each other with a “good job!” In South Africa, it’s “well done!” Plus, there was a strong encouragement to bring your own collapsible water cup to refill on the course. They had paper cups too but clearly, their waste in this department is much less than what we are used to in the US. Pretty cool.

One other huge difference is the post-run area had snacks for runners, but they were all for purchase. No giant tents/tables filled with bananas, chips, protein snacks, water bottles, etc. Granted this is the only event we’ve done in South Africa but overall, we were really pleased by how eco-friendly it was.

Before we headed out, we peeled off our shoes and socks for a nice, icy cool down in the tidal pool.

Later in the day, we decided to visit the famous Muizenberg Beach. Mark was hoping to get photos of the colorful beach huts, but he miscalculated the sunlight and which way the huts face. The fronts were in the shadows and even though they are incredibly colorful, they are pretty roughed up and don’t currently look like what we saw in pictures onlin.

On our way back to the car, we stumbled upon random people starting to pull on what seemed like an endless rope on the beach. We were a little antsy to get going to the Botanical Gardens but our curiosity got the better of us. We couldn’t help but stick around to find out what the heck was on the other end of that rope.

Slowly, more and more people, young and old, joined in to help pull on the rope. There were actually two lines being pulled on. Maybe 50 yards apart to start. We weren’t sure at first if these were two operations or two ends of the same. As we watched in wonder, everyone on the beach seemed to be enjoying the activity. Whether they were jumping in or just spectating with their camera phones.

After asking a few locals and doing a little Googling, we learned what we were witnessing was a group of men trek fishing. If you looked around the crowd, you could pick out a few of the men in tattered wetsuits barking orders and a few others with walkie-talkies. Trekking is a traditional way of catching fish that has been done for centuries. It’s eco-friendly, sustainable, and fair. In the 1970s, there were dozens of trek fishing crews. But today, only a handful of fishermen in False Bay still use this traditional method. It was quite impressive to watch as the excitement continued to build.

After what seemed like miles of rope, eventually a net appeared from the sea and the two lines of people pulling on ropes started to move together on the beach. Clearly there was a huge net strung between the two.

One lady next to me mentioned that it had been slow for the fishermen the past few weeks so this was a big catch for them and there was excitement all around.

What a rush. Check out our Instagram Reel to see the whole experience

After that epic high, we still had a little bit of time to get over to the Kirstenbosch National Botanical Garden to check out their Boomslang Canopy Trail before closing time. Parking was CRAZY and as we entered, we found out there was also a concert going on at the garden’s venue that night too.

As we enjoyed the gardens and tried not to look severely winded walking up the hills on tired legs from the morning run, we came across a sign telling us all about the native snakes that can be found in the park which can kill you. Fun huh? Lol. Don’t worry, we stayed on the paths and saw exactly zero snakes 🙂

We had seen the tree-top walkway on a number of Instagram posts and had to check it out. The Boomslang Canopy Trail was built in 2013 to celebrate the centenary of the gardens and opened to the public in May 2014. It is 130 meters long with amazing views of the gardens and surrounding mountains. While the park was super busy, surprisingly we were able to get a few moments with no one on the walkway to take some photos.

On the way out, we decided to see if we could get to the area where the concert was getting ready to begin. Playing this evening was the Cape Town Philharmonic Orchestra. Unfortunately, you had to have additional tickets to actually get in where you could see the stage. But looking all over the gardens, friends, and families were grabbing spots in the grass to hang out, enjoy the evening and listen to the music. You could hear it well enough from really anywhere in the park. We parked our butts on a nearby bench and took in the music for a few minutes before our ever-growing hunger had us looking forward to dinner.

We ended up at stopping at Cape to Cuba in Kalk Bay on our way back from the botanical garden. Cape to Cuba, which is right on the harbor in Kalk Bay, is a restaurant we had looked up earlier in the day and were looking forward to trying.

The owners of Cape to Cuba were inspired after their first trip to Havana 20 years ago and they have created an authentic Cuban experience which happens to include Havana Club, one of our favorite rums that you can not get in the United States. Cape to Cuba was no Jakes on the Common, but it did not disappoint and was a pleasant way to finish up the day.

This was a perfect day to NOT be walking around as our legs were a bit tired from the day before. It was about an hour and a half drive from Cape Town to get to Franschhoek. Franschhoek is the well-known area for wineries in South Africa. Thankfully the experience we booked didn’t start until 10 am so we had some time to take it a little slower this morning and stop for coffee and a few bites to enjoy during the drive.

When we walked into The Stag & Maiden Café, the barista notified us that their load-shedding timeslot was about to start at any second and therefore, their espresso machine would go down. She was happy to try to rush an order for us. She was so nice to quickly get in our order and didn’t run our credit card until she knew for sure the drinks could be made. Another moment where we could really see the heavy impact that the forced load-shedding has on the small businesses of South Africa.

Our drive over to Franschhoek was uneventful as it was mostly freeway along the N1 and N2, both national routes similar to our freeway system. Once we got to Franschhoek, we quickly found the Tram depot and checked in. We had signed up for the Exceptional Wine & Cuisine Experience and one of the reasons we chose that particular tour is because it said that you start the day with coffee and a beignets.

Unfortunately, we were never asked if we wanted anything to drink and were never offered any beignets. As it was getting closer to our loading time, we inquired about the coffee and beignets and were told, “oh sorry it’s too late and time to load the tram.” Argh! One should be able to assume it would have been provided as it was part of the listed experience. But I guess we had to ask. Quite a disappointing start as we were looking forward to them. So much for an “Exceptional Experience.” #EndRant

Once we got going, our first stop was at Sir Richard Branson’s winery, Mont Rochelle for breakfast and wine pairings. Our guide had our small group go around and introduce ourselves since we would be spending the day together. Like it or not. Lol And wouldn’t you know, there was a couple from Wisconsin in the group. Seems like no matter what part of the globe we are one, we bump into someone from the Midwest! 🙂

Our second stop was at Grande Provence, one of the oldest wineries in the Franschhoek Valley, for lunch and wine pairings. We rode the train tram to Grande Provence but that is as far as the train tram goes. For any other wineries, you need to be transported in vans or in open-air tram vehicles. Before lunch, we got a tour of the wine-making facilities which provided some opportunities for photos.

Lunch at Grande Provence was very good, but we were less impressed with the wines that were served. Taste is so subjective, and in this case, we both were not fans of the Grande Provence wines. But probably doesn’t help that we are not white wine lovers. The oysters were the best part of this meal.

After lunch, we returned to one of the trams and headed to our final stop of the day, Haute Cabrière. This was our final stop where they served our dessert and wine pairing. Haute Cabrière is very different from the other wineries as it is cellars dug into the side of the hill. Since it was hot out, this underground (and much cooler) location was very appreciated! We did get to go into the lower cellars and see where the wine is stored. It was there that we got a demonstration of Sabrage, opening a bottle of sparkling wine with a saber. After the demonstration and another opportunity for a few quick photos, it was back upstairs for dessert.

Again, the pairings were mostly white wines and for the second time, we were a little disappointed by the wines. We sat around for a little while, chatting about travel with our new pals from Wisconsin and then it was back out into the sun and onto the tram to take us back to our cars as it was quickly approaching 5 pm.

One thing to note is that even though the experience is from 10 am-5 pm, it is very planned out and you do not get much time to explore or enjoy the wineries. At times it feels like you are being rushed along. Our second stop at Grande Provence gave us a little time to walk and explore the vineyard, partially because we decided not to sit around the lunch table chatting with the others on our tour once lunch was over.

Overall it was a good experience, however, if we were to go again, we would probably just do the hop-on hop-off trams so that we could pick the wineries we wanted to visit and not be on such a tight schedule. Alternatively, maybe book a tour at just one winery and have a little more time to explore the town of Franschhoek. It seemed like a super cute, trendy spot but by the time our tour was done at 5 pm, the town was basically closing up for the day.

Our last day in Cape Town was fortunately still a full day as our flight home was not scheduled to take off until 12:30 am. We did not even need to head to the airport until about 9 pm this evening. The Cape Town airport is not that large and getting checked in and through security would not take us very long. With that in mind we decided to head back down to Cape Point and explore some more as we loved our time there a few days ago.

But first….breakfast! We wanted to start our Valentine’s Day morning at Waffle’s & Co over in Kalk Bay. We got there right when it opened and were seated on their outdoor patio overlooking the harbor. Score! Between the view, the good coffee, and amazing waffles, I’d call that a great start to our day.

Our next stop was to visit the Lighthouse at the end of the point. This is where we finally found all of the humans. This is clearly the spot everyone comes to see. When we arrived, it was close to lunchtime, so we grabbed our cooler and had an impromptu picnic overlooking False Bay. After enjoying our lunch, we rode the Funicular up to the top to check out the old lighthouse and the views did not disappoint.

The old (original) lighthouse was built too high on the cliff and it was frequently in the clouds where ships could not see the light. So, they built a second (new) lighthouse much closer to the water. From the old lighthouse, we couldn’t see the new lighthouse, but we could see the trail heading in that direction, so off we went to explore. The trail was fairly easy, but it took about 30 minutes to get all the way out to the point. You can’t actually get to the new lighthouse but from a lookout point just above it, you can see it. Along the way, you also pass a few old observation bunkers from WWII.

We easily could have stayed and explored a few more hours but our time was ticking down so we needed to head for the car. On the way through the parking lot, we saw a bunch of Jeeps that were part of a tour group. Mark stopped and grabbed a brochure from them. Jeep Tours is a woman-owned company in Cape Town that will drive you around, on and off-road while you sit back and enjoy. Hm….maybe we could move here and Mark would have a new career as a Jeep driver…. 🙂

Our last stop in the park before heading back to our Airbnb was Buffels Bay Beach to get in a few more minutes of beach/ocean time. And once again, we almost had this pristine beach to ourselves. Only three other people on the entire beach. Such a shame we could only stay a few minutes before we had to call it a day.

On our way out of the park, we decided to drive back along the west coast of the peninsula, which gave us an opportunity to drive through Scarborough and Misty Cliffs and along the half marathon course we ran the other day.

Although we were not looking forward to our 2 am flight (we were notified during the day that our flight would be delayed) it was nice to have essentially an entire day to explore and not feel rushed. We packed up once we got back to our Airbnb and even had time to make dinner before we had to head to the airport, ending our time in South Africa.

Our travel goals are to see as much of this world as possible and we rarely go back to somewhere we have previously visited. Iceland is one of the rare exceptions as we have been there 3 times and would go back again. Having said that, early on in this trip we decided that one week was not enough time in Cape Town/South Africa and we plan to come back again.