Hello Everyone,
I am putting up a travelog / photo-log about my recent trip to South Africa.
Ever since I visited the Tadoba Tiger Reserve last year, I was smitten by the experience and was eager to plan another trip to one of the national parks in India.
While watching Nat-Geo one of the days, I happened to see an episode on the big migration that happens between Masai Mara in Kenya and the Serengeti in Tanzania. I realized there was no better place than Africa to see mother nature in it's true form and thus I started researching for a trip in the African continent.
As I researched more on Kenya and Tanzania, I realized that the cost for a wildlife safari was high on account of payments being only accepted in US dollars. While researching further, I chanced upon the Kruger National Park in South Africa which provided an option to hire a car and self drive with reasonable accommodation costs. 1 South African Rand equals approx 6 INR and thus it was turning out to be good value for money and thus we decided to visit South Africa instead!
We decided to add in the beautiful city of Capetown and it's surrounding areas to the itinerary.
I will just add in the highlights of the trip and some important info which might help future travelers to plan their visit. I feel if we read up too much about a place then we lose that feeling of surprise that we as travelers should feel in the first place.
Disclaimer: I am not really good at photography, so please excuse the quality of the images.
Starting with
Cape Town:
Cape Town also known as the Mother City is located in the western cape at the shore of the Table Mountain Bay. The best way to see Cape Town is to get a two day pass for the Hop on Hop off bus:
It allows you to explore the city at your own pace and is a cheaper and convenient option instead of renting a car or hiring taxis. Further details can be obtained from the below website:
http://www.citysightseeing.co.za/capeTown.php Things to do in Cape Town:
1.
The Table Mountain is the most iconic landmark and a must visit for people visiting Cape Town. There is a cable car from the base of the mountain which transports people up to the top in less than a minute. The cable car rotates 360 degree during the climb thus allowing everyone an all round view of the surroundings.
The cable car operation is subject to weather conditions and can be closed if its too windy or foggy.
The smaller hill in the above background is called Lion's Head.
The view from the top of the mountain if fabulous and you can see the entire city spread out from each of its sides.
The suburb seen below is the affluent Camps Bay area.
There is a curio shop and a cafe at the top of the Table Mountain:
Some interesting facts:
2. Another popular place to visit is the
V&A Waterfront Harbor. Many Hollywood and Bollywood movies have been filmed at this location. It houses many restaurants, shopping areas and is a popular destination with the families.
I do not have a proper pic of the area so uploading an image from the internet:
3. Adjacent to the V&A Waterfront is the
Two Oceans Aquarium which is a superb place to explore the marine life of this continent. It has a lot of underwater passages and the chance to feed the sharks! The displays are well maintained and a visit here is sure to put a smile on your face.
More details here:
http://www.aquarium.co.za/
4. On one of the routes of the Hop On Hop Off bus lies the very beautiful and tranquil
Kirstenbosch National Botanical Garden. It is located at the foot of the Table Mountain which provides a stunning background. It covers a large area and a lot of unique plants particular to the continent are grown there.
I will highly suggest that you carry a packed lunch and have a small picnic type with this amazing view to look at.
5. This is the colorful neighborhood in the city called
Bo Kaap, a sort of a township which has become famous for it's brightly colored houses and architecture. It also houses a museum highlighting the lives of the Muslim communities who were early settlers here.
6.
Cape Point and
Cape of Good Hope are situated at the tip of the peninsula are are best covered in a day trip along with
Boulder's Beach (to see penguins) and a drive through the
Chapman's Peak.
These places are located outside the city and The Hop On Hop Off bus does not cover them. It's best to hire local tour operators who have scheduled full day / half day trips to cover the above destinations.
From Wikipedia: '
Cape Point is a
promontory at the southeast corner of the
Cape Peninsula, which is a mountainous and scenic landform that runs north-south for about thirty kilometres at the extreme southwestern tip of the
African continent'.
7.
Camps Bay - It is an affluent suburb of Capetown with a beautiful white sand beach and a splendid view of the Table Mountain in the background. A lot of good restaurants and cafes to spend time people spotting and watching sunsets.
8. Other places of interest which we did NOT visit -
Robben Island where Nelson Mandela was imprisoned,
Groot Constantia famous for old wine estates etc.
Cape Town Info:
Accommodation - There are plenty of backpacker lodges, hostels, budget B&B available. We stayed at the
Primi Oxford House (INR 15500 for 4 nights), located in Greenpoint.
http://www.tripadvisor.in/Hotel_Revi...tern_Cape.html
It's safe to walk down around the popular tourist attractions, however do hire a taxi while returning to your hotel room at night.
Meals - For all vegetarians, there are a lot of cafes and restaurants which have vegetarian options like sandwiches, burgers, falafels, hummus, pizza, pastas etc in the menu. A couple of Indian Restaurants are also present at Long Street.
I will recommend to pay a visit to the
Cape Town Tourism Visitor Information Office at the City Centre. It's one of the stops on the Hop On Hop Off Bus. The folks there are helpful and will assist you in planning your time in Cape Town.
We also visited the
Franschhoek Motor Museum, about an hour's drive from Capetown. I will post the pictures of the cars in a separate thread though.
We spent 3 days in Cape Town and then hired a car and drove on the Garden Route which is basically a road on the south eastern coast of South Africa. It covers smaller towns and villages popular for their beautiful natural settings.
The highlight was the Bungee Jump from the Bloukrans Bridge claimed to be the highest bungee jump off a commercial bridge. It was an exhilarating experience and highly recommended. DO NOT MISS IT!
We also visited an Elephant Sanctuary in the Crags area along the route. It allows visitors to closely interact with elephants which have been rescued from poaching and are now being taken care of with a future plan to release them in the wild. The 'sanctuary' is basically a farm type and had 5 elephants. The whole 'tour' lasts about an hour which includes a interactions with with the gentle giants including a 'walk with the elephant' wherein you hold their trunks and walk around and other educational info about their lives.
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