A complete Hout

Another wonderful day exploring the area around Cape Town. As I did recently in Johannesburg I joined the red bus hop on-hop off route around the city and parts of the Cape Peninsula. Cape Town has a confusing geography so this was extremely useful orientation.

My first stop was Kirstenbosch Botanical Gardens, rated according to the audio as ‘the seventh best garden in the world’. With these proteas and the backdrop of Table Mountain National Park, the place was simply stunning. For a while I sat on a bench and contemplated how beautiful South Africa is.

I continued along through the picturesque Constantia Winelands, which are also on the Peninsula and are the oldest vineyards in South Africa. At Hout Bay, on the wilder Atlantic coast, the wind was so strong that passengers were all being whipped with sand on the open top. So I didn’t alight but carried on to Camps Bay, where the sand and wind issue was the same but at least I could shelter in any number of beachfront cafés to people-watch. A surprising mass of people tapped into their fun Christmas spirit and sunbathed despite being blanketed by sand thrown around in the wind like powder.

In the evening Erin and Marc invited me out for Portuguese food at a great down to earth place along with their friend Shannon. The waiter Charles was a complete hoot. We didn’t hold back on either the calamari or Mozambican beers, and the night ended in a rather drunken haze, which was most excellent.