Cape Town is world-renowned for its impressive and affordable diamonds, a hotspot for models and foodies, that’s pretty much all I had in mind when it came to that city.
When I found out my boyfriend and me gonna spend New Years there I was excited, cause I love to explore places I have never seen and been. Due to our work, it’s pretty easy to combine work and pleasure and so we decided to extend our business trip and exchanged it overnight with some holidays. For those days we had no hotels booked and decided to challenge our inner adventurers, which worked out to be the best holidays I have ever had.
credit: Andreas Zopf
Sharing is caring!
Before we went on our adventure I asked some friends for tips, which I was pretty grateful for. As I truly live the saying “sharing is caring” I wrote down everything you need to know about this lovely city and country, including hotspots, does & don’ts! Let’s go!
The Sea
Oh the sea, it’s the Atlantic, which means it’s pretty wild and did I mention that it’s pretty cold? It’s freezing and directly in Capetown, it is too cold for most people. But I’m sending help, continue reading and I will tell you a location where the sea is a little warmer.
The Safety
We have heard some shocking stories, stuff that actually happened to friends of ours and things that happened whilst we have been there. Yes, it's dangerous and yes you should take this serious!
1. take an Uber at night, even when the walk is just 5min
2. never walk in lonely streets
3. try to be surrounded by people, always
4. try to not have that much cash with you
5. never go hiking alone
6. if you have a bad feeling, take it seriously and change the situation immediately
Although people are extremely friendly, there is lots of violent crime in this city.
People
Never have I ever been in a place, where people have been that friendly. Smiling all day and taking care of you, I could get used to that!
Transport
Take Uber, which is extremely cheap there or if you plan to discover a little more rent a car (also extremely cheap).
The Accommodation
Find the nicest villas or rooms in the best locations for almost no money.
we booked everything on the same day - I told you, we were taking the „adventurer“ thing serious!
https://www.airbnb.com & booking.com
The Food
One word: yummy
They have a great variety of really cool and healthy restaurants. We have never been disappointed, no matter where we have been eating it was always delicious.
If you have the chance to be part of a real authentic Barbecue, do it!
Day Zero
I need to admit, I have only heard of Day Zero 2 weeks before I headed to South Africa and it’s shocking. Shocking the fact itself and even more, I haven’t heard of it yet. In case you haven’t either let me fill you in.
Water is rare, we all know that. But have you heard that Day Zero, the day there won‘t be any left should have been this year in March? The mayor of Cape Town, South Africa predicted in October 2017 that the city would run out of water by the following March. Since then, the date for what officials are calling “Day Zero” has shifted from April 21st, to April 12th, and April 16th. They evaluated the day there won‘t be any left and the outcome was shocking. Due to a worldwide campaign of this Day Zero, they pushed back to 2019, but what happens after that day?
The Vegetation
In Capetown, you can find some really tropical parts, lots of green, mountains and the sea. Yeah, this city got it all!
Restaurants in Capetown
(reserve in advance)
Die Strandloper
This one deserves its own paragraph, cause there is a warm-hearted story behind.
We rented a car and decided to go to Langebaan a hotspot for a surfer. Whilst driving down long empty roads we got super hungry and thanks to my tripadvisor skills, we found this unreal place by the beach.
A Barbecue experience which lasts 3 hours, cooking the freshest seafood right in front of you!
As we arrived there we realized it is that rustic, we won‘t be able to pay with the card there. True that the owner of this experience tough, saw our hungry eyes and invited all 3 of us to eat the freshest and finest homemade food for free. This was so unexpected for me and truly made my day. And yes I will go back to that place, cause it wasn’t only delicious it was breathtaking!
Plan a road trip!
You don‘t even need to plan it, just do it. We booked every hotel we stayed at, the exact same day and it worked out perfectly!
The Garden Route
if you have a week or even more for the roadtrip only, I‘d recommend the garden route. If not, follow my unplanned plan :)
The Plan
1. Stay a day or 2 in Constantia
visit the vineyards, go hiking and visit the botanical gardens.
2. stay 2 days in Franschhoek
enjoy the beautiful nature, visit vineyards and stay on a real farm.
3. spend a day in Langebaan
visit the west national park and swim in the sea, a lagoon with warmer water k?
HotSpots Todos
Babylonstoren - Heaven on earth
Lionshead
Boulders Beach
Table mountain
Die Strandhoper
Waterfront
Clifton Beach 3&4
Camps Bay
Botanical Gardens
Cape Town was not what I expected it to be, it was breathtaking. I was wondering why it took me so long to finally visit this heaven on earth!
I would recommend anytime!
Enjoy Cape Town!
Natalie