I’m finally ready to get back to writing about my current travels now that I’ve wrapped up my account of Thailand. 

This summer I had the pleasure of joining my parents on a trip to South Africa! I always get questions of how I choose my destinations, so let me break it down for you. 

Though I do enjoy returning to countries occasionally, I’m always looking to try something new and different. With the benefit of not traveling solo, I knew this expanded my options as well. My family and I discussed doing another trip together. We are all three in teaching so do have summers off together. So we agreed it might be fun to try somewhere new like Argentina or South Africa. South Africa ended up winning out as a destination that sounded new and fun to try.  

Getting all the way over to South Africa can be tricky, but thankfully we managed to get airline tickets from our city directly to Atlanta and then from Atlanta to Cape Town (roughly a 15 hour flight). Though it’s still a long journey, only having two flights was a nice way to break it up and we didn’t at any point feel we were backtracking. 

We arrived late our first day and simply grabbed an Uber to get to our hotel. We stayed at the Altona Lodge. We headed down the road to a German restaurant our host recommended called Cafe Extrablatt. As we were tired and jetlagged we didn’t invest too much time into finding a good restaurant and instead opted for something quick and easy. 

After a good night’s rest we all managed to grab some breakfast at our hotel before heading out for the day. The hotel manager had warned us it was election day in South Africa, and therefore she advised sticking to more touristy things to avoid running into any conflicts or closures. We therefore opted to do the City Sightseeing Hop On Hop Off Bus. We also felt it would be a good choice as it was supposed to rain the next couple days, so would give us a chance to see the famous Table Mountain. 

One of the things I’d always heard about Cape Town was about the beauty of the dramatic landscape of mountain overlooking town right on the edge of the water. So our family felt Table Mountain was a big priority in our time. For that reason, we opted to take the bus up to that stop and get off there first to prioritize it.

On the way over to the bus stop, we passed through Green Point Park.  Anyone who knows me well is aware I’ve become a birding enthusiast in the last couple years. Walking through a beautiful green space like the park provided views of all kinds of amazing birds. As we had plenty of time before the bus left, we spent a bit of time admiring the park as well as its feathery occupants.

After some birding and admiring the ocean, we did finally catch the bus. We rode up to Table Mountain, enjoying the views on the upper deck and enjoying the comfortable temperatures. The bus provided free earbuds to be able to listen to some information about the city as we drove.

Up at the stop we headed to buy tickets for the cable car to the top of the mountain. For any looking to visit Cape Town, you can hike up to the top, but if you’re out of shape or limited on time, the cable car provides a fast option to get up. 

Up at the mountain top, we admired the gorgeous views of Cape Town. We had been warned by our host that it might be rainy the next couple of days, so we were glad to get such good weather for this important activity. 

After a bit of hiking around admiring the various flora that grows on the rocks and looking for little rock hyraxes (small rodents the locals call dassies), we opted to head back down and catch the bus back around. 

At the final stop in the bus we got off and switched over to the blue line bus this time heading out to the beautiful Kirstenbosch National Botanical Garden. 

At the gardens we stopped for a quick snack lunch at the cafe before heading into the gardens to wander through the various paths. Once again, I had the opportunity to do some birding, but also to admire the beautiful plants that grow in abundance in South Africa. 

We wandered for a couple of hours, though the wind was picking up. After a bit we did grab the bus back towards the center of Cape Town. We had some beautiful ocean views as the sun was going down, before getting off and heading towards our hotel for a bit of downtime before dinner.

That evening we walked down to the Victoria and Alfred Waterfront to find some dinner. 

We decided to try a restaurant called Mozambik on the waterfront. It’s a chain with locations in a couple of African countries and considered an Afro-Porto (African and Portuguese) fusion restaurant. We figured it sounded good. 

I had a pina colada as well as a delicious steak with coconut rice and roasted vegetables. It really hit the spot after such a busy day! 

We walked back to the hotel to get some good rest for the next day. Stay tuned for more South African adventures!