Cape Town
The first afternoon in Cape Town we went for a drive down to the beach, getting out for a walk and to dip our feet in the water at Camps Bay and then driving further around the coast past Clifton Beaches and to Sea Point where we watched the sunset and saw numerous whales far off in the distance which we later found out were Southern Right Whales. First impressions of Cape Town were amazing, the atmosphere and culture of the city is like no other place in South Africa, it could be any coastal city in a modern country.
Shark Cage Diving
Our second day in Cape Town and we were picked up early and taken around to Gansbaai to go shark cage diving. The boat pulled up, mooring near a few others already in the area and they started burleying the water. It wasn’t long before a shark had come close to the boat to inspect the burley, fake seal cutout on the surface and fish heads being trailed in the water. Blake, Isabel and I were in the first group into the cage, almost having to be held back from jumping straight in as a 4.5m female great white began circling the cage. The visibility was only a couple of meters so once we were in the frigid water, all we could see was the deep murky grey of the water until the big female great white loomed in, sweeping close enough to the cage to reach out and touch. We braved the 17 degree water for 15 minutes of amazing views watching the great white lazily stream by with a playful seal twisting in and out of its wake, looping around underneath the boat before getting out and letting the second group into the cage. The great white didn’t hang around for much longer and some people missed out on being in the water with it even though they spent over an hour waiting in the cage, coming out blue and shivering. The three of us got a chance to get back in with the 4th group and luckily a pair of 3m bronze whalers decided to come have a snoop around.
That evening was the “first Thursday” of the month where part of the city closes down and people drink, eat and dance in the streets. Many galleries and bars are open late into the evening and we spent a few hours walking around, wandering through small galleries and along the streets before eating a great meal at a local bar.
Boulders Beach and Stellenbosch Wineries
The day after cage diving we took a drive over the picturesque Chapmans Peak which curves along the ocean’s edge and continued along to Boulders Beach to play with the penguins and explore the rocky cove they live in. Saturday then saw us in a mini bus full of fun people for a great drunken day wine touring around Stellenbosch. The wine tour included a proper Braai with delicious braaibroodjies (South Africa’s version of a toasted cheese sandwich with chutney), delicious wines including some very good port style wine, cheese, meat and chocolate pairings. Afterwards we all went to a bar in the city for an early evening meal and more drinks.
We made friends with a large group of German girls on the wine tour and got invited to go horse riding the next day. We trotted along the beach, Blake and I trying not to fall off and attempting to keep away from Blake’s grumpy, biting horse. There was a seal sweeping in and out of the swelling waves just before they began to break and we continued up the beach, also crossing this shallow creek before turning around and coming back up to the horse stables.
Table Mountain and Lions Head
The next morning was the start of the week and after a big drinking weekend, Blake and I were pretty keen to get out and do something physical. We packed our hiking packs and took an Uber over to Kirstenbosch Gardens where we had decided to take one of the routes up through the gardens and a gorge onto Table Mountain.
Once we got through the gardens, we began our ascent up Skeleton Gorge. We had done a few hikes recently where we had not packed enough water or rationed it down to the last mouthful to make it back to the car so for this one we decided to overcompensate. The first couple of kilometers up the gorge were brutally vertical and with the extra weight of the more than normal amount of water, I was hurting bad. Sweating as if I had been soaked by a garden hose, our competitive nature made Blake and I continue to overtake other hikers on the trail while being bent over, using my hands and arms to assist my legs as much as possible. By the time I had finished crab walking up the gorge I was fairly destroyed but quickly recovered as we reached the end an hour after starting.
Whales and Food
We continually spotted loads of whales breaching the surface not far off the coast and one day a mother and calf were in close to the break wall, what seemed like less than 50m away. We also saw the largest pod of dolphins I have ever seen swim by Sea Point, there must have been hundreds of them. A few times when the weather permitted we got the drone out and went searching for the southern right whales that had kept us so fascinated.
