The Island Explorer

Finally. After 2 days of driving, we finally made it to Cape Town from Franschhoek. Cape Town was beautiful with its villas, cafes and beachside restaurants. Of course, Table Mountain made a huge impression. But the first thing that popped in my head was the beach. I was itching for sand. We got off the M4 highway and followed the signs for Camps Bay, the most popular beach in Cape Town. The area was very busy, and had a bit of a traffic jam as I exited the highway. Cape Town seemed to be my kind of city, very laid back and has the best of both worlds - mountains and beaches. Camps Bay is the epitome of a South African beach. There were several beachcombers laid out on the ash colored sand, with the mighty Atlantic crashing onto the shore. Though I yearned to visit Zanzibar first, I guess, I have to make do with the beaches of Cape Town. Despite the cold waters, people were swimming in the safer parts of the bay. Camps Bay is also Cape Town's largest beach,...

I knew this was going to be an exciting destination, but I wasn't prepared for what was ahead of us. We arrived in the Cape of Good Hope National Park hungry and agitated. Nevertheless, the anticipation was so intense that we wanted to explore as much of the park as we can. 

We decided to stay for 3 days in Cape Town and its surroundings, and part of the plan was to drive to the Cape Peninsula all the way to the Cape of Good Hope . It was an exciting part of our trip, since we've heard that the scenery is jaw dropping amazing. So we set off early in the morning, and drove for less than an hour to our first stop on our route to the Cape of Good Hope: Muizenberg . Muizenberg is a laid back town along False Bay , which already faces the Indian Ocean. Hence, it is warmer to swim here than in Camps Bay which was facing the Atlantic. The beach is also flat and wide hence you get a lot of people swimming here. But take caution when swimming here, because Muizenberg has its share of the great white sharks of Africa. Shark attacks have been reported here, but still significantly low in percentage. But the real draw for tourists into Muizenberg are these lovely colorful Victorian beach houses , which are reminiscent of an era when Muizenberg was the...

It was a long yet amazing drive to Franschhoek , our final destination before we hit Cape Town.  The village of Franschhoek or the French Corner is tucked into the Cape Winelands of South Africa . It is known as the country's food and wine capital.  The vineyards here are established more than 300 years ago and cascade over the hills outside town.  Wine-tasting tours, trout fishing and hiking are popular here. We had limited time, so we weren't able to go on a wine tour. Instead, we checked in a vineyard to have that unique Franschhoek experience. Our villas was calledthe La Gallinere . It was secluded into one of the corners of the vineyard, providing us with utmost privacy. It was a self-catering villa, so we had a kitchen and living area again. It was again a very different accommodation from what we had experienced so far. The pool was just in front of our villa, so it seemed to be our own. However, the pool wasn't maintained, so we didn't dar...

We wanted this trip to be filled with different types of experiences.  Outdshoorn is the ostrich capital of the world , and we hadn't seen as many ostriches in our lives when we were driving around the countryside. There were ostrich farms left and right, and ostrich pens had as much as a hundred birds contained. Thus, we weren't as fascinated anymore with the ostriches. Part of the reason why we decided to go to Outdshoorn was another attraction: the Cango Caves . We went to the Cango Caves without any idea what to expect. We just thought that the idea of caving was a refreshing experience to the usual beach and mountain landscapes we have encountered so far.  Cango Caves is a main attraction in South Africa , and thus, there were a lot of guided tours to this site. A lot of them came in buses, and the Chinese and Koreans were already here. Hence, it was your typical tourist attraction. We were in a group of around 40 people, so there tour guide had a hard time co...