A Week in Cape Town (And Other Adventures)
This week began Term 2 of the school year, but I was lucky enough to enjoy my quick holiday in Cape Town, South Africa with one of my friends Cara. We left on a Thursday (because it was cheapest) and spent the entire week in the busy city, feeling a little bit like we were back in the U.S. We had an amazing, relaxing week where life was so unbelievably easy. In the short time I have been in Rwanda I have already forgotten the amazing amenities available in such a well developed city, like Uber/Uber Eats, refrigerators, sinks with clean water, and what good cell service is. Truthfully, it was hard to return to Rwanda and once again leave all of this behind, knowing I’m choosing a much harder daily life. This also confirmed that I could never take a trip home to Denver because I would never want to leave again. That being said it was nice to feel pampered with the luxuries of daily hot showers and pile of seafood and bottles of wine.
Now to how we spent our week!
We took a red eye flight to Cape Town and arrive very early in the morning. We were lucky and the Airbnb we had booked was available to have us check in that early. We immediately took long showers and got all of our clothes cleaned (in really washing machines with hot water!). We went down the V & A Waterfront first. We were told this was the place to see and that it would have everything we were looking for (good food, shopping, grocery stores, etc.). I would like to say we took in the culture of South Africa, but truthfully we didn’t care at that moment. We immediately went to the Pick and Pay (South Africa’s grocery store) and Woolworths (like a department store). We took in all of the amazing things that we haven’t seen in months and were very overwhelmed with all of the different options we had for food, wine, and clothes. We bought cheese, wine and Cara bought clothes (since she’s lost a lot of weight while being in Rwanda). We then went for a nice meal of seafood and wine at Quay Four, a restaurant we would eat at more than once due to its amazing deck on the harbor and delicious seafood platters.
The next day we took the advice of our Airbnb host, Francois and went to the Woodstock Neighborhood Good Market. This is a market in the Old Biscuit Mill in Woodstock only open on the weekends. It had live music, artisan boutiques and tons of food vendors. It was definitely worth going out there for the amazing Eggs Benedict on on a potato pancake.
From there we decided to walk. We started in Woodstock to see all of the amazing street art, that reminded me of RiNo District in Denver.
After that nice walk we went to the Castle of Good Hope and made it just in time to see them light the cannon and get a free tour around the property. We saw the torture chamber and the Governors pool before we continued on to the District Six Museum. This museum was dedicated to the people forcibly removed from District Six during the apartheid.
After the museums we walked all the way back to our Airbnb in Bo-Kaap. This neighborhood is old dutch settlers homes, now known for being painted bright colors. And of course we had to do the obligatory photo shoot with all the amazing houses.
The next day we decided the best way to see everything we want is to do the Hop-On-Hop-Off bus tour. It takes you all over the city and we don’t have to pay for Ubers everywhere. We started early stopping at Camps Bay (the beach) and V&A Waterfront and Hout Bay. At Hout Bay we found another amazing market that had live music, tons of food and a bar. We ended out night by taking the cable car up to Table Mountain to watch the sunset.
The next day we decided to be adventurous and hike up Lion Head, which is more like rock climbing to the top. It was totally worth it, but for anyone thinking of doing this be aware that you will walk on cliff edges, climb up ladders, and pull yourself up rocks to get to the top with the amazing view of the entire city. And don’t forget you have to climb down at the end, which meant we took a note from Bubbie (my grandmother) and slid on our butts (or tuchuses as Bubbie would say) to the bottom. After this workout we spent the rest of the day on the beach at Camps Bay, since it was our first non-rainy day in Cape Town.
Tuesday was the day for our wine tour through Stellenbosch. Which was perfect since I was a little sore from the climb the day before. We booked an amazing tour with hotspots 2C that I would recommend to anyone going to South Africa. We were picked up in Cape Town and driven to Stellenbosch (about 40 minutes outside of Cape Town) to begin our 4 vineyard tour. We were in a small group with 2 other couples from Zimbabwe and London. We began the tour at the beautiful Babylonstoren Vineyard. We had a 4 glass wine tasting a walked around the amazing gardens that seemed to go on forever, with hidden nest chairs and mulberry bush hiding spots. We also walked through their scented room full of essential oils.
From there we went to Mariane Winery where I found he first red wine I have ever truly liked. We took a quick break from lunch in the town of Stellenbosch, which I would definitely visit again, before continuing to our last 2 vineyards (Clos Malverne and D'Morgenzon). At Clos Malverne we took part in a wine and ice cream pairing with beautifully flavored ice creams such as, wasabi, passion fruit, espresso, and smoky vanilla bean. These were each paired with a different wine. At out last vineyard of the day, D’Morgenzon, we took part in an ambitious 9 wine tasting of almost every wine the small vineyard makes. Afterward we were taken back to our Airbnb fro the night. We had an amazing group of people with us and we had so much fun for the entire day.
Our last full day in Cape Town was spent on a tour of Cape Point and Boulders Beach. If I was to go back to Cape Town I wouldn’t have done a tour and I would drive myself, but as Peace Corps volunteers we are not allowed to drive, so a tour it was. We went to Cape of Good Hope and Cape Point, the most south-western point of the continent of Africa and theoretically where the Indian Ocean and the Atlantic Ocean meet (not but in reality).
After hike to the peak of Cape Point, we drove to Boulders Beach to see the colony of African penguins, where I happily enjoyed watching the penguins waddle in and out fo the water.
We had a late flight on Thursday night so we spent the morning enjoying the amazing food in Cape Town and buying all of the things we wanted to take back to Rwanda. Like, granola bars, coconut oil, fuzzy blankets, and wine (only the essentials).
Upon arrival in Rwanda I headed to the Peace Corps office to check in with the doctor after my last visit. Just my luck and clumsiness, I fell down the stairs at Peace Corps, spraining my ankle and leaving me on med hold once again, over the weekend. By Tuesday I was walking in a walking cast without crutches and happily returned to my village. While I have learned over the last couple days that it is not easy to use a latrine or walk on dirt roads in the giant walking cast, I am so happy to have returned to my new home once again.
I would recommending South Africa to anyone planning their next vacation and I hope to go back at some point to continue explore this beautiful country.