Cape Town, SA,  iMasTravel,  TRAVEL/HOLIDAYS

Cape Town Day I: Getting familiar with the town

Just when I thought my body was adapting well to the cold weather, the 5-day vacation was over. My blocked nose suddenly turns runny as I stepped down from the airplane. I was like an ice melting. Just few days ago when it was so windy and cold at Cape Town, I was praying for a warm weather. But now I am praying for a cold weather.

Haha. But yeah, home sweet home; regardless what the temperature is.

me at the reception counter

The trip to Cape Town, South Africa was great. It was a vacation that my husband and I had been awaited for. Our little boy could not skip school, so, he was left under the care of his grandmother. We felt so guilty but my mother said, “go and enjoy!”

Upon reaching Cape Town, we were fetched by a driver to the hotel where we were staying. The arrangement has all been made by MAS as part of the deal for winning the iMasTravel contest. Many thanks to MAS for the great prize and most importantly many thanks to the judges who gave me good scores not forgetting friends, relatives and bloggers for voting my blog entry for the contest which contributed to 30% of the total 100% scores.

Day 1

As we reached Cape Town early in the morning, we thought that it was a good idea to roam the cape as soon as possible and decided to walk to Victoria & Alfred Waterfront which is not far from the hotel. As my dear husband had made his homework few days before leaving KL, finding our way was like piece of cake. Clad in our jackets and a backpack each on our back, we walked hand in hand through the cool and breezy 14°C weather. From where the hotel is situated–Adderly Street, we walked past Thibault Square, Southern Sun hotel and City Lodge. From City Lodge, we could already see the waterfront.

Great Southern Sun building

Southern Sun is a hotel situated about 10 minutes walk from Victoria & Alfred Waterfront.

Our first stop was at the red Clock Tower. Situated near the site of the original Bertie’s Landing Restaurant (now Dock’s Restaurant), the Victorian Gothic-style Clock Tower is an icon of the old docks and has become an important focal point in the waterfront’s recent urban design. This was the original Port Captain’s Office in 1882 and it was restored in 1997.

 

clock tower

With over 450 retail outlets selling everything, the V&A Waterfront is South Africa’s most popular shopping destination. Famous shopping outlets in this area include Alfred Mall, Victoria Wharf Center, Waterfront Craft Market, Cape Union Mart, African Trading Port and many more. As for food there are wide ranges from seafood, fast food, pizzas and halal food. Halal food can be found easily in Victoria Wharf’s food court.

Victoria & Alfred Waterfront

After walking around the waterfront, we took the Hop-On Hop-Off City Sightseeing Cape Town bus. We chose the Blue Mini Peninsula Tour which offers scenic drive around the Cape Peninsula with 13 stops including Kirstenbosch Gardens. We got down on stop 20 to explore the gardens.

Kirstenbosch Gardens

After Kirstenbosch, we waited for the tour bus, hopped back on the tour bus and continued with the sightseeing. The view was breathtaking.

Views of the Cape Peninsula

We took the bus until we reached city center and hopped down at the nearest stop to the hotel. It was almost 6pm and some of the shops were already closed for the day. Street traders were packing and ready to get home. I am not sure whether this is normal or just during the winter but when we went out again to find dinner at 7pm, the streets were all empty. The only shops opened were KFC and Texie’s. We settled for Texie’s fish and chips and calamari rice and walked back to the hotel.

On Day 2, we visited Robben Island and Bo-Kaap. Will cover both in the next entry. I hope you enjoy my story so far. Here’s two sketches from the waterfront. Just got them scanned this morning.

yacht

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