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Travel Stories

From: Gard <gard.karlsen@rl.telia.no>
Subject: My trip to South Africa and Cape Town
Date: 3/3/1999

I have just returned from South Africa after a two-week vacation there and I
would like to share some of the experience with all of you.

I landed in Johannesburg (also know as Jo’burg) on the 31st of January. The
first few days were a bit amputated due to the fact that KLM, together with
the Norwegian airline company Braathens, managed to send my luggage to
Aberdeen, in Scotland, instead of sending it to Johannesburg. It took them 4
days to locate it and deliver it to me.

I don’t think that Johannesburg has that much to offer to tourists. The
Kruger Park is not that far from the city and many use this city as a
starting point for safaris. I have to admit that I didn’t go on a safari
during my stay in South Africa. I only stayed in Joburg for two days before
moving on to Cape Town. Cape Town is in my opinion a much nicer city
compared to Jo’burg. There are many ways to get to Cape Town of course. You
can drive but it is about 1400 km each way – so it’s quite a lengthy trip.
There is a train service between the two cities but again the train takes
about 24 hours so it also takes a long time. We chose to fly to Cape Town
and that took us about two hours. There was a special deal at the time so we
paid about 1000 Rands for two people (for a round-trip).

I think that Cape Town is a wonderful city. The city itself is located in
front of the magnificent Table Mountain. There are also other ”mountains” in
the “City Bowl” – the middle of the city: Lion’s head (about 670 meter) and
Signal Hill (about 350 meter). I think that this scenery makes the city to
the most stunning city that I have ever been to.

We decided to stay at Green Point. I found quite a lot of information about
Cape Town accommodation by using the internet. We decided to stay at a place
called Claridges hotel. The rate was about 230 Rand pr night. The location
was great but I think that the hotel was old and not very well maintained.
So after one night we moved out and into a guesthouse called Dale Court
which is located just a few meters away. The rate here was 290 Rand for a
big room and 245 Rand for a small room. We were very pleased with a big room
here and the location is great. It was located on Main Road so it was easy
to walk to the Waterfront (about 5-10 minutes) and there were Golden Arrow
buses and minibuses going along this road so it was easy to get into the
downtown area or to Sea Point.

So what is there to do in Cape Town?

Bus tour
I think the first thing you should do is to take a bus tour around the city.
Buses leave from the train station (right outside the tourist information)
and it cost about 35-40 Rand. The bus has a guide that will tell you about
the city, the buildings that you pass, about the areas that the bus are in
and so on. The bus tour takes you around in the downtown area, district six,
Signal Hill, Camps Bay, Sea Point and then back into the downtown area.

Table mountain
If you have been on the bus tour then you will know where to go to take the
cable way to the top of table mountain. The line to get into the cable car
can be pretty long so you have to get there early. The cableway is often
closed if it is too windy. The view from the top is spectacular and it is
well worth the money. You can walk up there but I haven’t tried it. For the
adventurous type, one can also go abseling along the mountain.

Lion’s head
Start your walk to the 669 meter high peak on the way up to Signal Hill. The
trail takes you around Lion’s head so that you get a 360-degree view of the
city and the surrounding area. It gets a bit steep towards the end but apart
from that there is a nice trail. It took us about 1h 15 minutes to walk up
to the top and we walked at comfortable pace.

Signal Hill
You can drive more or less all the way up to Signal Hill. The bus tour drops
the passengers of here for a few minutes. The view towards Sea Point, Green
Point and the downtown area is great. Capetonians sing endless praises of
the spectacular night view from Signal Hill (and Table Mountain).

Robben Island
As you probably know this is where Nelson Mandela and other political
prisoners were kept for such a long time. There are boattrips out to the
island from the waterfront area. The fast boat takes you out to the island
in 10-15 minutes and on the way out they show some information about Robben
Island on the TVs on board. The trip to the island cost 100 Rand per person
but it includes a walk around the prison with a guide and a bus tour around
the island (with a guide). Our guide in the prison was a former political
prisoner at Robben Island and that gave the guide another dimension. I think
we went out there at noon and came back at 3 pm.

The Cape point
Take a drive to the Cape point. It is a great drive out there and when you
get to the point you can take a ”trolly” up to the lighthouse. Even if this
isn’t the most southern point of Africa you still get the feeling of being
on the tip of Africa. Don’t forget to take a wind breaker or jersey with
you – it can get pretty windy down there.

Stellenbosch
The Cape area is famous for the wine production. We took a trip to
Stellenbosch and one of the wineries in this area. It is about 1-hour drive
to Stellenbosh and many of the wineries have tours that you can join in on.
And you can get to taste the wine and to buy win of course.

Ratanga Junction
Time to have some fun :-). This amusement park opened recently and it has a
few good rides. There is a free bus out there from the train station
(outside the tourist information). Check out their website at
http://www.ratanga.co.za/

The Company Gardens
The remains of the historical buildings of the Dutch East India Company
(VOC) are located in the middle of town. It is great to walk around in the
park and relax. The South African museum is also located here. The museum
has more information about the origin of people in Africa, about whales and
about other animals. There is also a planetarium connected to the museum and
I enjoy that show a lot.

Beaches
There are lots of nice beaches around in the Cape Town area. We took a
minibus to Camps Bay one day. Camps Bay is located about 3 to4 km from Sea
Point (moving away from the city). The beaches on this side of town have
freezing water. I’m from Norway so I’m used to cold water but this water was
absolutely freezing. If you move to the False Bay area the water is a bit
warmer.

IMAX theater
There is an IMAX theater at the BMW pavilion near the waterfront. It has
several shows during the day and during the evening and if you have to wait
you can always take a look at the BMWs.

The waterfront area
The waterfront area is nice. It is a nice mixture between shopping malls,
restaurants, bars and a working dock. This is where you will find Planet
Hollywood, Hard Rock Cafe and the Two Ocean aquarium. The Cantina Tequila
can prove to be quite a hot spot on Friday and Saturday evenings.

The Garden route
Parts of the road to Port Elisabeth are also known as the Garden Route.
There are many nice small towns on the way here. Most of them have stunning
beaches and great waves. Make stops at Wilderness, Knysna, Plettenberg Bay
and Mossel Bay. Read more about this beautiful area at
http://www.gardenroute.co.za/
If you want more info about South Africa and Cape Town you can buy the
lonely planet guides that has been released.

There is also a lot of information on the net and most hotels have lots of
folders where you can read more about things to do in the city. Please write
me if you have any questions or comments. My mail address is
gard.karlsen@rl.telia.no .
Gard

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