Continuing from where my last post left off, we had a quick lunch and drove to the lower cable car entrance at Table Mountain, the large 1000 meter plateau that is Cape Town’s most recognizable natural icon. Confirming news that we heard earlier in the week, the cable car was closed for maintenance. Being the second to last fully sunny day of our trip, we made the impulse decision to hike up the Platteklip Gorge trail to the top of Table Mountain. The hour and a half long hike was brutal but rewarding. The views from the top are spectacular, and we really felt good about ourselves. The walk down was just a painful race to the bottom to beat the clouds that were rolling in.

The next day we drove down the west coast of False Bay to see the penguins at Boulders Beach. It was definitely worth it, especially since we saw an entire penguin mating ritual from start to finish. We walked around Kalk Bay and visited the locally owned shops. Afterward, we ate at the Brass Bell restaurant and watched a whale swim by while we ate hake and chips, and calamari.

It was around 2 PM and the water in Kalk Bay was rough from onshore winds. As we drove back around the bay towards Muizenberg, the wind slowly became more and more favorable for surfing. After spotting the main surf spot, I made another last minute decision to turn off the M4 and rent a wetsuit and board. We went to Gary’s Surf School in Muizenberg and I picked up a bright yellow and blue wetsuit and a thick 5’10″ NSP board. I paddled out and caught as many waves as possible in an hour. They were mostly mellow chest high waves with groomed offshore conditions. I couldn’t really ask for anything better given the time of day.

The next few days were stormy. Driving in the VW CitiSport (a South African Rabbit built in 2009 but designed in the 70s), was challenging, but despite a broken wind shield wiper from fierce winds and heavy rain, we had fun. We saw Bruno which was hilarious, shopped at the V&A waterfront, and had tea and scones at a coffee shop.

I also read a lot, finishing both Dan Brown’s “Da Vinci Code” and “Angels and Demons.” I had to see what the hype was all about. The verdict: entertaining, but incredibly cheeseball. As an English and Journalism graduate, Hayley recommended Wuthering Heights as my next read to curb my normal, academic selection of Sci-Fi, Fantasy and Thriller novels. I’m enjoying it the story, although the book itself is so old that the spine has completely fallen apart. Luckily, I haven’t found any missing pages- yet.

We drove all over Cape Town. We saw Hout Bay, home to Dungeons the big wave surf spot, which we didn’t actually see. We visited Kirstenbosch, the largest and most diverse botanical garden that I’ve ever seen. We also saw the Rhodes Memorial, a large Romanesque monument in the hills overlooking the University. It was a great trip and I can’t wait to go back to Cape Town in the future.

We’re now back in Johannesburg for a few days. Yesterday, we both went to Warwic and Robyn’s Bachelor and Bachelorette parties and had a great time celebrating with their friends and family. Next weekend is the wedding in Kyalami. We’ll be traveling around the Joburg area until then, and afterward we only have two days before flying to Sydney.

I’ll probably write again at the end of our trip, or after we arrive in Sydney. Thanks for reading!

Tags: Cape Town, Kirstenbosch, south africa, surf, surfing, Table Mountain