Check out was 11am, but we sorta ignored that as we had paid in full for the last day (trying to get a refund for it).
Internet vouchers in batches of 100MB or 500MB at the apartment.
The internet appears to be rationed in Cape Town or at least at our apartment.
We got up early, packed then organised a taxi to take us to the Canal Walk Shopping Mall. Taxis are not cheap here in Cape Town, when on meter the fare does rise quickly. If you know the rough amount you can agree a fare up front to make a saving.
Inside the Canal Walk Mall
The Canal Walk Mall boasts 400 stores and is meant to be the biggest in the area. The main reason for heading here was to visit the Kingsley Heath store, the African version of Abercrombie & Fitch. Turned out there are two imitations here, both with similar layouts and pumped fragrances in the air.
The food hall in the Canal Walk Mall
Leaving our Habouredge Apartment
We didn’t stay too long at the mall, got back to the apartment and checked out. We took a taxi (agreed up front on the price) to the airport for our 18:50h flight back to Dubai. We did get to the airport some 4 hours early.
Cape Town International Airport
Cape Town International airport isn’t great for wasting time, but we had fun visiting the same stores a few times over. Security is very light, we passed through their screening process rather quickly, too quick in fact, which concerned us. Perhaps it is only on European/US routes where security is taken more seriously.
Cape Town International Airport
It’s an overnight flight to Dubai, taking over 8 hours. We arrive after 5am local time and look forward to continuing our adventure back in the safety of United Arab Emirates. Goodbye South Africa; Cape Town was a beautiful yet divided city which hopefully can move on and built itself without locals and tourists living in fear.
There are two ways to get up Table Mountain, hike or take a the cable car. Guess which option we took. Getting up very early for a long day of sightseeing we took the 9am tourist bus direct to the cable car base station. Today for the first time in a week we’ve been told, the mountain had no cloud cover, as a result the queue had formed by the time we got up.
It takes 5 minutes to rise up to the submit, some 1 km high. The cars themselves can carry 65 people each and have a rotating floor inside so everyone can take in the breathtaking views.
The Cable Car
The view down from within the Cable Car
Millions of years ago cape town was underwater, with table mountain being the only bit of land, acting as an island. The views from the top are incredible and highly recommended on a clear day.
From the top, Robben Island is 11km out from the land on the left here.
Patrick on top of Table Mountain
Vinnie on top of Table Mountain
Table Mountain
Posting the letters home from the top of Table Mountain. It's a UK post box.
About to take the tour over to Robben Island
From the mountain we descended down to connect with the tourist bus onward to the V&A harbourfront. We booked tickets over a month ahead for the Robben Island tour as it sells out well in advance. Robben Island is located some 11km out into the sea, made famous as the prison which housed Nelson Mandela. The boat ride out wasn’t too pleasant. No seats as such, just boards or standing room and the ocean crossing is far from smooth. Definitely don’t take this crossing on a full stomach.
Robben Island
Vinnie on Robben Island, our tour bus behind
The view of Cape Town from Robben Island
It took 45 minutes to get to the Island where we were divided into groups of 50, boarded a bus and taken on a 45 minute tour of the Island. Our guide was a political activist who was well traveled and knowledgeable about world politics including Irish. From there we ventured into the prison itself where an ex prisoner during the apartheid talked about how they were convicted and treated. Another 45 minute tour followed, finally ended in a viewing of Nelsons Jail Cell.
Nelson Mandela's Jail Cell
It was a very long afternoon, taking over 4 hours to get to Robben Island, tour and get back. All we really wanted to see was Nelsons Cell, which lasted a whole 10 seconds. Robben Island is a nice to see, but not wholly recommended. The boat crossing back to the mainland was rough, but we were treated to a beautiful sunset over the Atlantic ocean.
Sun set as seen from the boat
Sun set over V&A waterfront
That evening we ventured out to an american styled dinner called beefcakes which hosts a weekly bitchy bingo show. We arrived half way into it, but play the final two games. Thankfully the venue was only a 5 minute walk from the apartment as we didn’t fancy roaming too far into the city at night.
Like most things here, the show was over early, by 10pm, and we were home to prepare for the return flight to Dubai tomorrow.
Breathtaking views over the city from the cable car station on Table Mountain
Sun Set from Camps Bay over the ocean
The table cloth over Table Mountain
After a good nights rest we woke to glorious sun shine. The apartment has windows facing all directions except north. The morning sun arose from the ocean lighting up Table Mountain that was quite stunning. A tablecloth-style cloud covering lay across the top of the mountain; this is common for this time of year.
For the first time in the holiday we prepared our own breakfast (we had brought our own Irish Corn Flakes!). Still on alert over the previous day, we used the vantage point we have from the apartment to observe local behavior. Tourists and locals mingled outside. The tourists did stand out. At traffic intersections men dashed around primarily white-coloured cars to sell all sorts of newspapers and goods. Elsewhere men in brightly coloured uniforms cleaned pavements; others watched over car lots, others just waited by street corners. It seemed relatively safe, but we took no chances only taking a little money out with us. For the first time in 14 years I left home without my phone or mobile Internet access, relying on a paper map that I was too frightened to take out
We used the view to observe local behaviour before heading out!
We tried to look local and walked with purpose. We retraced our steps from the previous night to visit the supermarket. We walked in the middle of the road to get the best view around corners in case of gangs. We did get accosted right in front of the store, but thankfully made it in safely. Spar stores back home aren’t known for their upmarket styling or selection, this one was. It had everything including a very large vegetarian and vegan selection from “Frys” foods, which are actually a local company here. We had bought their foods before back home, but the selection here was phenomenal. We made a point to return back to the Spar at the end of the day to stock up on food for the apartment. Outside the population was primarlly black, inside this store however, the customer demograph was white. We did continue to see a trend in white/black throughout the city and did feel uncomfortable in places where we stood out, as if we were not welcomed.
Venturing into the city center we made certain to stay close to groups of professional looking people. But this didn’t stop the homeless or less fortunate from hassling us at every opportunity. Worse was at traffic lights where we were captive to their attempts to gain money or food from us. Venturing into a small local mall we stood out like a sore thumb being two of the few whites there. Inside one store we oddly had to get a dated sticker placed on our coke bottle that we had brought in with us. Prices here were very cheap, so we picked up some snacks and continued on with the exploration.
O'Driscolls Irish Bar
The plan was to find the famous Long Street and soak up its atmosphere. Feeling thirsty I tried to find a coffee shop. This is near to impossible in the city. Coffee culture doesn’t appear to have made it here in Cape Town. All we could find was a McDonalds in a shopping mall that used to be the main train station at one point. They do have McCafés. Opting to sit inside for a while we grew nervous as we noticed a few men outside looking in at us since our arrival. We felt we were being watched. Thankfully there was a second exit straight out to the street, so we made a dash for it in an attempt to locate the sightseeing bus tour and safety.
On the Bus Tour
Township - or slum area
The Atlantic Shoreline
We’ve taken quite a few of those red bus sightseeing bus tours over the years but the Cape Town one has to be one of the best. A two-day ticket gives you access to two main routes, one city the other coastal (in addition to a vineyard/wine tasting tour and canal cruise). We kept to the main city and coastal tours, taking in the coastal first. Something we discovered on this tour is the white population of the city tend to live on the Atlantic coast areas, like Camps Bay. Here perfect white sands hug the shoreline whilst massive waves roar in from the Atlantic carrying in freezing cold waters from the South Pole. These coastal areas and the V&A docklands area are meant to be the most tourist friendly and mainly white orientated. You see the theme again. This sadly is really a divided city. This explains what we experienced yesterday as we are staying on the fringes and arrived right in the heart of the central business district via public transport.
Hout Harbour
V&A Waterfront
Mug and Bean for a maple cinnamon latte
The scenery here is breathtaking. Cape Town is a beautiful city once you look past its rough edges. Table Mountain with its 12 apostles facing out to the sea provides a dramatic backdrop dominating the skyline. Our bus tour took us around all the major sites including botanical gardens and district 6. The city line even took us up to the cable cars on Table Mountain, however as it was 5pm by the time we got up there, the cars where closed for the day.
V&A Waterfront
South African Countryside
Vinnie on the Bus Tour
Mountain
Camps Bay
We took the bus back down to Camps Bay were we alighted for a stroll along the perfect white sandy beech and watched the sun setting over the ocean before rejoining the bus back to the V&A waterfront and heading back to the apartment before it got too late. By this stage we were becoming more confident with the city, knowing where to avoid and how to react. However, we still found ourselves restricted at night, it was just too dangerous to venture into the city by foot.
The start of the winding roads along the atlantic shoreline
V&A Waterfront
Nelson, Vinnie and Coke Status
The Wheel of Cape Town at V&A Waterfront
Tomorrow we have an early start as we plan on taking the 9am direct bus up to Table Mountain to attempt to take the cable cars up.
It was a 5:30am start for us allowing time to finish the packing, get down for breakfast and head to the Airport. Thankfully our hotel is close to the Airport, only a ten-minute journey so we didn’t leave until 7am for our 8:50am flight to Cape Town. A bonus of getting up early was getting to see Sun Rise light up Downtown Dubai. The view from our hotel room is breathtaking. The light glistened off the Burj Kalifa.
The sun rise lighting up the buildings
Again we are flying Emirates and departing from terminal 3, which is mainly all Emirates. Boarding was slow as our plane was a good 10-minute bus ride from the gate itself. The flight was relatively smooth, but long. This was our first time to fly a distance like this during daylight, overnight at least the cabin can darken and we can get some sleep.
O'Briens Irish Sandwich bars even have a store located in the massive Dubai International Airport
Waiting to board, surrounded by lots of South African accents
Arriving into Cape Town we felt the cold. It’s only the start of Spring here, whilst the sun is shining there is a definite chill in the air. Picking up the cases we faced our first challenge, how to get into the city. Options are a metered taxi, which didn’t seem popular, a shared shuttle-type taxi or a bus. The bus network was only launched last year and the airport route costs around €7 one way. Another option which was offered to us from the official cape town tourist rep was a pick up from his friend who would take us to our destination for a competitive price. We didn’t know how to take this offer, alarm bells did ring. We opted for the bus hoping the short walk from the bus terminus to our apartment would be refreshing and provide a good glimpse into downtown Cape Town. It didn’t fail to provide this glimpse!
The bus ride took some 20 minutes taking us past a few outlying townships. These are those corrugated metal housing districts, slums. It was rather tough having to see this, a side of Cape Town which exists but us as tourists we tend to only want to see the gloss and not this real side to the city.
Arriving into Cape Town we were taken aback by the lack of people and activity. Stores close around 1pm on Sundays and the city was a ghost town with the exception of random men hanging around corners. The central part of the city is relatively built up, some small towers, the biggest being the Vodacom Tower (Vodafone). We did get some odd looks from people as we dragged our bags around. Crossing a road a man approached us asking where we were going. He appeared to be some sort of police officer but we later found out he was a public safety patrol guard. They are dotted all over the city, almost every street, filling in the gaps for the city police. He escorted us to our apartment warning us about the city, the dos and don’ts. We were both taken back by this. Along the short walk with him we passed by another patrol guard and two police. The apartment had two guards in reception. All this security - for what?
Checked in we evaluated the situation. Is Cape Town safe? We had been given mixed reports beforehand. We’ve been to worse places before, from Beijing to Kuala Lumpur and have always grown to love a city. We were booked to stay here for 9 nights and our first impressions were not positive.
Quick view of our apartment
The kitchen area of our apartment
After settling in a little, we asked for directions to the local supermarket, which was a Spar (yes they have Spars here). It was only two blocks away. By now it was dark and raining. We didn’t quite make it as we were approached by one homeless man who hassled us for money, saying he wouldn’t hurt us but his friend (who was crossing the road to us) .... we didn’t wait to hear what his friend would do as we dashed into a petrol garage for safety. We entered via the exit door, the security inside made a deal over this until I told him we were being followed and to give us a break. He did. Thankfully the garage had a good sized food selection so we picked up provisions for the night and morning and planned our exit to leg it back to the apartment.
The decision was made to leave Cape Town early. We got onto Emirates and changed our flights back to Dubai 6 days early and booked another hotel in Dubai to stay out the remainder of our holiday.
Our attempt to secure the apartment (just in case)
We didn’t leave the apartment and settled in to watch some videos we brought with us. By the way our apartment is MASSIVE. Putting the negative experiences we encountered aside we do have a fantastic apartment which is large in size with an open plan lounge, dining area and kitchen, separate laundry room, two bedrooms, two bathrooms with showers, one bath, two balconies including one facing Table Mountain itself. I’ve attached a video tour below.
(Note: As this blog post is about Sunday - please don’t worry. We survived day six and seven. We leave Cape Town today, Wednesday).
