Cape Town

Cape Town; The World’s number one holiday destination...for good reason.

We arrived into Hout Bay, which is just a 20 minute drive from Cape Town itself. We had arranged to stay in a penthouse apartment for this part and on arrival we were blown away. 'When can we move in' was our first thought whilst Roman simultaneously declared he wanted to live here. Our balcony offered stunning views, overlooking the beach and the mountains that surround the bay. It really is a beautiful place and we could not have wished for a better base to explore from.

We decided to take a trip round Chapman's Peak which is a road carved out of a mountain; I thought it looked the perfect place for one of those posh car manufacturers to road test and show off handling ability. John thought it all a little close to the edge and being scared of heights, he found it a little unnerving. We headed along the coast to a place called Simon's Town; yes brother dearest, you have a whole place named just after you. It is a working naval base, so not sure that he would fit in, but it has interesting things to visit including museums. There's a naval submarine that offers guided tours for 40 zar, a toy museum and much to our delight a lighthouse called Roman's Rock. You can certainly spend a few hours here, meandering round the shops and sights but we were heading this way for a date with the penguins so pressed on to Boulders beach.

Boulders beach is a lovely little beach with a wooden walkway where you are inches away from my favourite animal, and we certainly spent a few hours laughing at them and their silly little ways. They are not bothered by humans and are happy to come and have a nosey at us strange people. We then headed on to Cape Point, but as it had a walk that involved heights and large drops we decided John's nerves just could not take it. Instead we found an amazing cafe for lunch, very child friendly with an amazing play area and so we sat in the lovely sunshine eating yummy food and watching Roman take over the play area.

We woke the next day to the most horrific rain. It literally rained all day and we really couldn't do much so instead we attempted to plan some of our future trip. Thankfully the sunshine returned the following day so we decided to head up Table Mountain in the cable car...when I say we I mean me and Roman as john bottled it (for a change). It was a four minute ride up to the top and when you arrived you were greeted with the most amazing views out over the area. We were so high you could see the clouds on the horizon. Roman and I had lots of fun and made a pact to get daddy up there before we left.

We had an afternoon tour of Robben Island booked so headed down to the waterfront to catch our boat. Robben Island is where the prison was that held Nelson Mandela for 18 years of his life. Conditions for the inmates were horrific and our tour guide was a former inmate who had spent 7 years locked up just because he marched for rights for the blacks and Asians. It was only when the world boycotted South Africa that things had finally started to change. The Olympics banned their athletes and no country would do trade with them. Thankfully things are changing and the prison is now a protected site and will not see any more of the horrors of the past. The people who live on the island are the people who work there, most of them people who were unfairly imprisoned. We really enjoyed this tour and we are so glad we did it. Roman however continued with his sea sickness theme - it seems that unlike the rest of my family he is yet to find his sea legs.

We stayed on the waterfront for dinner and had food at one of the many world class restaurants on the front; this is the place where anyone who is anyone hangs out and it is so very different from other parts of Africa we had seen. It’s amazing that a place such as Cape Town is so close to some of the poverty we have seen, for this place is money and then some.

The next day, true to our word, we managed to get John in the cable car and up to the top of the mountain. I was convinced that if he stood in the middle he would be fine...how wrong could I be. When we got to the top he refused to go anywhere near the sides or look down and freaked out at some of mine and Romans adventures and photo ops. It did seem at one point that he would be walking down, although that thought freaked him out as well. Thankfully sense prevailed and we got him back down in the cable car, but I have to confess I felt a little bad for making him go up, yet at the same time very, very proud. Daddy went up in both mine and Romans estimations, next stop sky dive......As if!

We spent the remainder of our time visiting the beach in Hout Bay, it is so beautiful and has a little harbour that the seals come into and you can feed them fish. Roman got really good at it, so it cost us a fortune.

So our time in Africa has come to an end. If you had asked us 2 weeks in whether we would return to Africa, I think we would have said maybe, but ask us now and its a 100% yes. It really does have something for everyone and would make a great family holiday. I think next time we will do Kruger again then fly down to Cape Town and explore the Garden route more. It won’t be for a few years yet though as Roman needs to be 12 to dive with the sharks and hopefully by then he will find his sea legs. He has Tibbett blood in him so the boy should be a natural on the water.

Something you hear time and again whilst here is “This is Africa”: it applies to the crazy antics on the roads and pathways, whenever something mad occurs, like the renaming of traffic lights as robots, much to our amusement. The first time someone said when you get to the robot you turn left we spent ages looking for an actual robot. The buses here are crazy, they may be allowed to carry 20 but it’s the norm to see double that and when you question the response is “this is Africa” We didn’t take any bus trips for obvious reasons! The countryside is very mountainous, something I didn’t expect and very beautiful. The people are friendly, the food is divine and the cost of things is very good value.

So it is with a sad heart that we leave for the next part of our adventure. We have had to cut Australia out apart from one night due to accommodation issues and because of this we find ourselves facing 4 flights totalling 20 hours.

So its Thailand for Christmas, where we hope to laze on the beach, do a little snorkelling and get a visit from a certain man with a white beard and red suit. We will then spend New year’s here before heading to Kuala Lumpur on January 1^st 2012. From there we have no idea where we will end up; it’s very much work in progress and I have to say thanks to all who have helped with advice for us.

Hope that you have all had a wonderful Christmas and that the New Year brings health and happiness to all. We look forward to updating you next year.

Lisa, John and Roman