Crossing the Equator - Cape Town Part 1 :)

I'd never been to the Southern Hemisphere. So I was *pretty* excited when we booked our tickets to go to Cape Town in January! There was lots to see and do but here is my pick of things to do in Sunny Cape Town! 

Doha

We were flying with Qatar Airways and had a 12 hour layover in Doha. The airline offers free hotel for layovers of 8 hours or more (only if there isn't an earlier flight) so it was nice to leave the airport and discover a little bit of this city. Plus, imagine my excitement when I found that Doha's cab company's colour scheme was Tiffany blue. How fab!  

So Doha is this little itsy bitsy city with tons of money and a vicious competitive streak. From our cab ride to the hotel, we could see the bay that the city thrives on, surrounded by a lovely pavement (the corniche) and palm trees. And then, across the bay, you are faced with this magnificent cluster of sparkling skyscrapers, each more unique than its neighbour. I think the sight is made more beautiful because the blackness of the bay offsets the glittering lights. It really is an impressive sight.

We were on the north side of the bay where all the skyscrapers are housed and took lots of random photos - here's one of me and an Arab pedestrian sign! 

Cape Town 

Ah Cape Town. I'm not going to lie. The drive from the airport to our friend's flat was very scenic but I didn't fall in love with the city straight away. We passed by a Township, drove by Table Mountain and saw the harbour from a hill. The residential streets were lined with tall, strong trees and houses had pretty (and not so pretty) fences around them. There were people running *everywhere*. Our friend drove us along Camps Bay and Clifton beach, both absolutely stunning. The best way to describe them is: imagine you are floating on the side of the mountain, and if you look left, you see unconquerable rock and if you look right...the Ocean. And the Sky. And the Sun. And that is It. Stunning, absolutely stunning. ("Yet you didn't fall in love with it straight away?!" you ask. Yeah, crazy right?)

A view of the sunset

Stellenbosch
 
The day after we arrived to CT we went on a tour of Stellenbosch's vineyards. Stellenbosch is a little town about 50km east of CT and is famous for its wine estates. We booked our tour with Tsiba Tsiba tours, who were fantastic. They picked us up from CT and took us around 5 wine estates. The tour is worth doing for the breath-taking scenery. Imagine a great big quilt made of different shades of green and beautiful rolling hills as far as the eye can see.

Most of the wine estates also make their own olive oil and honey, and you can buy their organic products directly from the estate. We stopped off for lunch at the Glen Carlou estate, where this photo was taken: 

View from Glen Carlou Estate

Our guide recommended we visit Stark Conde as our last estate, and I'm so happy he did. The estate is hidden away among the mountains, and has a gorgeous lake in case the mountains weren't enough! 

Stark Conde

I would definitely recommend a tour of Stellenbosch, just for the scenery if for nothing else. 

The Victoria & Alfred Waterfront 

Simply put, an awesome destination for shopping, fro yo, ice-cream, cafes, museums and dining on the harbour.

It's also where the Two Ocean's Aquarium is found and I would recommend that if you like fish (I love fish!). 

Scary eel!

Rockhopper Penguin :)

A walk around the base of Lion's Head mountain

There are hundreds of trails/treks that one can do around Cape Town and its many landscapes. Our friend recommended we do a 5km walk around the base of Lion's Head, since it would afford fantastic views and wouldn't be too ambitious. 

So that peak on the right is the Lion's Head, and we walked around the base.

As you walk around, you get wonderful views of CT and its various bays. The track was easy to keep on, and many people were even doing trail runs on it! The thing I remember the most though is the wind. As we were walking, the strongest, loudest and scariest gust of wind hit us. It was powerful enough to knock you down and its roar consumed everything. I couldn't even hear myself think. So that was exciting in a I'mgladIsurvivedit-kind of way! 

I tried taking some photos and would recommend it for anyone who wants to be a little active while in CT :) 

So that's it for this time! My next CT post will cover the remaining highlights of the trip and a few more photos. 

Until next time!

Sx