What a lovely white Christmas! Don’t know about you, but I don’t mind the snow at all. It’s what winter is all about! Brings our Christmas songs to life & hubby and I love it! (For a period of time at least!)
We travel to Cape Town for today’s blog, chosen by you, our readers. South Africa was runner up in your votes and will be taken in two parts: Cape Town for this months’ feature and Johannesburg next month. There was far too much to cram into 1 blog.
So, where do I begin! Firstly, a massive thank you to my cousin in-law, Chloe Benson for choosing a magical location for her wedding (Johannesburg, which is where we started our trip, and ended with Cape Town). I hadn’t really thought about any African countries for travelling, so this was a complete delight! I remember our trip to Nice (Cote d’azur) last year, Chloe assured me I’d prefer Cape Town due to the seafront vibes, and at that point, I was a bit ominous, but boy was she right! Cape Town blew my mind. Now, hubby and I are fairly well travelled, seeing some great places; from Mauritius, to Montego Bay, to Geneva, Venice, and many more; but Cape Town I think, is at the top of our best destinations so far. For hubby too – a Nigerian man through & through – even he had to begrudgingly admit that Cape Town, indeed, was far ahead of his beloved home town!
Knowing we were travelling to Cape Town, we were fortunate to grab a great hotel deal (5* Radisson Blu) right on the Sea Point. Just steps away we had the ocean at our feet. You’ll find a video below of hubby recording me in my total element. Now, I don’t normally like videos or being in it. I’ll usually settle for a picture any day (being camera shy and all); but not on this holiday. I was so happy and excited, hubby finally got to record in peace as I did my thing! The sea point was great for strolling and leaving your cares behind. The hotel (along with most other hotels) provided free transfers to the V&A Waterfront which we frequented the full 3 nights of being there. The V&A was fab. With its massive shopping centre; awesome awesome restaurants – I love meat but the South Africans love meat even more; I loved it! Tried ostrich for the first time there 🙂
We knew there was so much to do that we (I!) pre-booked our excursions through the online company Viator. This was the best decision ever. Each tour gave us private guides to take us round. We got to meet other travellers (particularly an older Australian couple who told us all their fantastic travel stories); and learn about the history from experts. I could have stayed for much longer than 3 days and cannot lie that I was disappointed to be leaving – the only positive was a trip to Ibiza with my girlfriends on our return from Cape Town so that gave me something to look forward to!
As you can tell, I could go on forever about this place, so I’m saddened to briefly tell you about our tours but if I must!:
– hop on hop off – I’d recommend this bus in most places and you won’t be disappointed with this one
– table mountain. There’s an option to climb or take the cable car. For us, cable car all the way. The views is just breathtaking. A wonderful experience that will forever be one of our best moments
– Robben Island – I have always been a fan of Mandela but the island allowed us to hear about the real struggle, not just by Mandela but others during that time. We heard from an ex prisoner and it’s truly heart rendering but a really insightful tour
– lions head & signal hill. Could you imagine if your husband bought you a mountain for a gift?! That’s one of the stories we were told. Talk about a next level kind of money!
– castle of good hope. Just wow. What was the fortress for Cape Town
– Boulders beach – for those of you who, like me, thought penguins were friendly creatures, you were wrong! We tried touching them and they either ran away or tried biting us. But it was awesome to see a family unit of penguins feeding and taking care of each other – we witnessed the mum & Dad taking it in turns to feed / stay with the baby, as the other went to find the food for them. So sweet.
– Cape Point – where Atlantic Ocean meets Indian Ocean and the very most southern point on the world map. I mean, what a great feeling to be there. And the views, again, amazing
– Chapmans peak – hats off to the brits for building this phenomenal road. The word wow does not do it justice
– seal island – due to the weather, we couldn’t catch the boat over. However, we spoke to the local guys who had nurtured an injured seal so we still got to stroke and watch the seal. I don’t know why, but again, this made me ridiculously happy!
There were so many other things to do but in just 3 short days, we had to do the main attractions. I would definitely go back again. For anyone thinking of visiting Cape Town, or like me, wasn’t on your to-do, then let me advise you, get it high up on your list! I know there are mixed reviews about South Africa but we didn’t feel unsafe at all whilst there. It’s a multi-cultural place, perfect for relaxing, eating good food, drinking and shaking a leg (yep, we got to squeeze that in too).
Unfortunately, I’ll have to stop now before I bore you! Enjoy a selection of our pictures and videos (there really was a lot more I wanted to share with you – it was too hard to choose).
Wishing you all a wonderful Christmas and happy new year. See you in 2018 as we take you to Johannesburg, same country, but a very different experience!
Sneak peak here at our marriage bants!: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Lvipi53Hd0
T&T Consultancy 