In and Around Cape Town
Beaches, mountains, malls, and a dash of history
While Laju settled into her volunteer role last week, the kids and I explored Cape Town’s many playgrounds, beaches, boardwalks, and markets. Then we met up with Laju after work for dinners and family fun.
Our “ABNB” as Reyva calls it, is near the V&A Waterfront, a sprawling harbor with a mall, markets, playgrounds, performers, restaurants, seals, ships, and more. It’s great for families — we’ve already been there at least 3 times. And it’s open at night, which means the kids can enjoy “park in the dark” — a favorite family pastime from the Chilean COVID era when we were a family of 4. Now, little sister is making up for lost time by begging for park in the dark every chance she gets.
It’s “winter” here, but the weather was perfect, never dipping below 60 — only a slight difference from Chicago winters. We took a spin on the Cape Wheel, which is the local version of Chicago’s Navy Pier ferris wheel. Actually, the V&A Waterfront is just like Navy Pier… except it’s really nice and fun and people want to go there.
We took the cableway to the top of Table Mountain for some unbelievable views. I’ve never seen a cable car like this. It holds 65 people, and it has a revolving floor to make sure everyone gets to experience all the views! Genius. Here’s a dizzying timelapse, courtesy of Laju…
At the top, our intrepid crew of explorers opted for the shortest walking route possible. The wind nearly blew us all off the mountain, but the views were worth it. Mayin fell in love with the cuteness of the fuzzy little dussies trolling for the dropped Hot Cheetos of tourists. Then, we booked it to the exit just in time because they stopped bringing people up due to the high winds.
From there, the kids said “Take me to the beach!” and we couldn’t argue with that. So we headed for Hout Bay, where the beach was hard to find but wide open and beautiful. We had it pretty much all to ourselves because, again, “winter.” Laju thought the water was way too cold, but the kids and I braved it — we were the only ones out there not wearing wetsuits. We had lunch at Fish on the Rocks, as featured on Somebody Feed Phil (our review: quality fish but meh everything else). Niam enjoyed peeling and eating prawns for the first time ever. And we capped off the day with a spectacular scenic drive up the coastal road to Chapman’s Peak at golden hour. There are picnic tables along the route, and plenty of viewpoints to choose from. 10/10 recommend.
It was a three-day weekend in South Africa, thanks to Youth Day, which commemorates the Soweto Uprising of 1976. So it seemed like a good day for a history lesson with a visit to the prison at Robben Island, where Nelson Mandela was held for 18 years. In line to board the ferry, we realized we didn’t have any ID for Reyva. A quiet panic set in. But before the ticket taker could notice that, she noticed we had purchased a walking tour for a time when there was no walking tour offered… and they were so distracted by that mistake that they never knew about our first mistake and didn’t check IDs. Double oops for the win!
After a 45-minute ferry ride on which everyone managed to not puke, we arrived and hopped right onto more transportation for a bus tour of the island, including a leper cemetery, lots of little roaming tortoises, and a colony of African penguins. We saw the limestone quarry where Nelson Mandela and other prisoners were forced to break rocks with simple tools and no safety gear.
Our “living history” tour guide was a political prisoner at Robben Island for 8 years. He said he was held in the medical ward for the first 2 years because of his mental health struggles. Standing on the very spot where his own bed used to be, he gave us a powerful speech about unequal treatment of black and Asian prisoners, various degrees of physical and psychological torture, and the urgent need for all of us to continue to stand up and stamp out racism around the world.
He finished by reminding us of the words of Robert Sobukwe, another South African freedom fighter who was held at Robben Island:
“There is only one race. The human race.” —Robert Sobukwe
It was a good day. We finished it with a Father’s Day dinner at a delicious Mozambican restaurant that was playing country music for some reason. And to round out the busy weekend, Laju got a much-deserved massage and we had lunch on a nice street in the Gardens neighborhood, where a kind stranger saved me from getting scammed into buying some pricey formula and diapers for a street kid (he claims they just give it right back to the shopkeeper and take the money).
See how Mayin’s the only one not wearing a backpack in the photo above? Oh that’s because right after this we realized he had left it waaaay back by the artsy rhinos (see below). Classic Mayin. He comes by it honestly.
Finally, here are the kids explaining their Cape Town faves thus far. To translate for Miss Reyva, her favorite thing was the “jumpy park” we went to tonight… which is, of course, exactly like every other trampoline park at home (eyeroll).
Country music for the win! Also yeah for no one vomming on the boat!
What an amazing adventure you guys are having!! Cant wait to see and hear more - lots of love Carlla