The Cape Peninsula

I reached the Republic of South Africa with a friend as part of a Tour in Southern Africa that also included Botswana, Zimbabwe and Zambia. We landed at Johannesburg Airport after a long Turkish Airlines flight from Istanbul (Turkey), where the shuttle minibus of the nearby Europrime Hotel was waiting for us. We are in the residential district of Boksburg; the place is simple but functional, very much like an American motel. We rest for the whole day, then in the evening I go out alone to the nearby fast food place for a pizza. Back at the hotel, I return to my room for the night. We preferred to rest rather than visit Johannesburg, which from our point of view we don't consider interesting.

The next morning we have breakfast at the hotel, as it is included in the price, then with the shuttle minibus we reach the nearby airport where, once the usual formalities are done, we take the South African Airways flight to Victoria Falls in Zimbabwe (see the related itineraries: Zimbabwe, Zambia and Botswana). After visiting the Victoria Falls, the Zambezi river and Chobe National Park we return to the Republic of South Africa with a South African Airways flight from Victoria Falls (Zimbabwe) to Johannesburg. Here, without leaving the airport and after a few hours of waiting during which we take the chance to eat at a fast food place, we take a very crowded flight bound for Cape Town. Arriving in the evening, we take a taxi to the hotel booked in the city for the night. Our hotel is called Centurion and some rooms, including ours, are run by a sociable Greek originally from Rhodes.

The next day we get up early, have breakfast at a café near the hotel and head to the seafront avenue, where we take the red double-decker tourist bus that, with a single ticket, will let us travel all day on two different lines, stopping whenever we like. We buy the ticket directly on board, where we are given headphones with which we will hear the explanations in Italian of what we see along the route. We pass in front of the stadium that hosted the recent football World Cup, go through the Victoria and Alfred Front, stop briefly at the entrance to Kirstenbosch Botanical Garden, and circling around Table Mountain, partly covered by low clouds, we make our way to the wine region.

During this ride we learn from the headphones that we are passing near the hospital where the world's first heart transplant was performed, and it is pointed out that, looking up at the hill, you can see in the distance the majestic monument to Rhodes, the coloniser of present-day Zimbabwe and Zambia, territories he named, paraphrasing his own surname, Rhodesia. Unfortunately the main feature of the Cape Peninsula, Table Mountain, is still wrapped in mist and only occasionally becomes visible. Arriving in the wine region we transfer to another vehicle of the same company that takes us to Groot Constantia, the oldest winery in South Africa. The estate consists of an old Dutch-style manor house surrounded by numerous vineyards; it was the property of the Boer Governor of the Cape before the British conquest.

I just look around while my friend, who is a wine expert, does a tasting of a few bottles. After this short visit we get back on the bus, which takes us to the connection with yet another vehicle with which we will continue our itinerary exploring part of the Cape Peninsula. A little later we stop in idyllic Hout Bay, on whose bay face a wide beach and a small fishing harbour turned into a tourist attraction that recalls Fisherman's Wharf in San Francisco. Near the harbour quay a sea lion suns itself undisturbed by the tourists, while two seals swim in the water in front. We have lunch in a little place at the small harbour where they serve rather good fried fish, then we get back on a bus of the tourist line, passing through well-known seaside resorts facing the Atlantic such as Clifton and Camps Bay.

At the Victoria and Alfred Waterfront we change bus and line, passing through the historic centre of Cape Town, where among other things we see the City Hall and the Castle of Good Hope. As the hours pass, Table Mountain has freed itself of the blanket of clouds, so we go up to the cable car station, from which there is a fine view of the city below. Having come down from the mountain we retrace the coastal road and return to the Victoria and Alfred Waterfront. The tourist package bought this morning on the bus also includes the use of a small ferry that plies the canals around the Waterfront, so we take the chance to relax a little. We then take a short walk along the Waterfront and on foot, after a long walk along a road that also passes in front of the stadium, we reach our hotel. We have dinner at a nearby fast food place and then retire to our room for the night.

The next day we have breakfast at the café in the shopping centre near the hotel, then take a taxi to the airport and, after clearing customs, we take the Turkish Airlines flight to Istanbul. The plane stops over in Johannesburg to pick up those departing from that city, then we continue on to Turkey.