Before we went to Cape Town we spent a long time
reading different travel and guide books all about Cape Town and making lists
about what we wanted to see and do. Having spent just over a week there I now
feel justified in writing my own list in what to do and what not to do. So here
goes...
Twenty
Things to do in Cape Town:
1.
Stay
with Zim and Max – Best Hosts Ever. Such a comfy bed.
Stunning views of Lion’s Head from the window. *****
2.
Go
to a UCT concert – listen to the Woodwind Ensemble and
the Cape Symphonic Choir. This was at the Baxter Theatre which is a very
impressive venue with crazy, giant lightshades making up the ceiling. I found
it particularly interesting to watch as the conductor was Alex who had
conducted the orchestra I played in at Swakopmund Music Week. The music was
really excellent and it was a great start to Cape Town (we felt very cultural!).
Obviously Zim stole the show.
3.
Learn
to juggle, play the trumpet and DJ – juggling is my new party
trick and according to Max I am his “favourite clown” of which obviously he has
many! Apparently I am naturally talented at Trumpet playing and if I learn a new
instrument this should be it?! DJ-ing is hard...
4.
Go
to a Karaoke night at Longstreet Cafe - though I doubt you will
beat the rendition from..... (The person banned me from writing about this in
my blog which is why Zim shall remain anonymous) of Britney Spears’ “Hit Me
Baby One More Time” – need I say more??
5.
Have
a tour of the Peninsula with Ali Su and Kurt – our wonderful
new honeymooner friends from Zambia, who we met on an elephant, who live in
Cape Town. They kindly drove us around Cape Town, which is absolutely massive,
and showed us the sights including Cape Point (actually not the furthest point
south but the place where the two oceans meet). We had a really great day out
and it was lovely to catch up with them again after our night of Beer Pong in
Fez Bar, Zambia.
6.
Walk
to the V&A Waterfront - visit the Aquarium, have
your photo taken with a giant red man and in a fish tank with lots of Nemos
(don’t stand up though as these are built for little children and you get a
very sore head), and visit the Craft Market. I got taught how to use ‘Magic
Sticks’ here which is slightly similar to twirling batons but not really
however it was good fun!
7.
See
penguins, sharks (and a whale) – the whale was wooden
but the penguins and sharks were real. We were also able to transform into a
Rock hopper penguin and experience the crazy hair. Sadly all photographic
evidence of his was lost.
8.
Complete
your Smarties friends collection – we thought we had 14
out of the possible 16 but in a Pharmacy we managed to find four more...USA,
France, Japan and Greece (at home we already have England, Jamaica, China,
Peru, Netherlands, South Africa, Hawaii, Egypt, Australia, Iceland, Scotland
and ....) Now we are back at Otjikondo we have sadly realised that we haven’t
actually completed our Smarties collection as we don’t have Scotland and one
other country – really annoying!
9.
Fish
and Chips in Kalks Bay and give left overs to the homeless –
there are a surprising amount of homeless people in Cape Town. We haven’t
really encountered them that much before but they are everywhere which is
really sad and if to be totally honest a little bit scary.
10. Go to Mzoli’s in the Location and
meet Mr Mzoli – Mzoli’s is a butcher where you can go
and select your cut and type of meat and then they will braai it for you in a
delicious marinade. You then go next door to a club but what is actually a car
park to eat your meat and dance. Jamie Oliver visited recently and rated their
meat highly.
11. Learn how to use a lighter –
a skill everyone should possess apparently and Zim and Co were very surprised
that it had taken me 19 years to learn
12. Experience your childhood dream and
visit Charlie’s Bakery – this is the most amazing place
ever! If you have ever watched Cake Boss on television it is just like this. We
walked in to see an amazing display of bags and high heels...but they were
cakes! Everything was absolutely beautiful and there was the craziest
assortment of cakes and muffins. A very good breakfast was enjoyed by all – I
had a carrot muffin which looked like a flower, Chelcie had a chocolate cupcake
with ‘Smile’ on and Zim had a chocolate petit four with ‘Love Life’ on.
13. Go up Table Mountain
– okay so we cheated and used the Cable Car but our excuse was that we didn’t
have suitable footwear. We picked an absolutely gorgeous day to go up and you
could see for absolutely miles. We walked right around the top of the mountain
– very weird that it is so flat!
14. Go to Kirstenbosch Gardens -
this was so stunning. When we arrived the first thing we did was to go and
sprawl on the grass and soak in the sun. It felt just like an English summer
day at home. There are lots of different gardens within the garden and our
favourites where the Fragrance Garden and the Statue Garden where we had great
fun imitating the statues, yes we are 19.
15. Go on the Cane Train –
apparently a must do as only available in South Africa and Brazil. Very, very
potent alcohol.
16. Have Roast Chicken cooked by
Richard - very delicious and welcome as we hadn’t had a
proper Roast Supper in nearly nine months and this one was extra special as it
was Heston Blumantile’s roast chicken. I got to have a sneaky peaky at the
cookbook that is waiting for me at home as a Christmas present – very exciting.
Richard had slaved for hours cooking for us and it was a really amazing last
night in Cape Town.
17. Watch the Inbetweeners series 3 –
sooo funny
18. Go to Robben Island –
it’s supposed to be amazing but we never quite got there...
19. Get two hours sleep before a 22 hour bus
journey – means you sleep the whole way even when Chelcie
wakes you up to tell you that she’s remembered the word for when you know that
someone is mentally undressing you...
20. Have a playlist made by Zim –
very good playlist with 293 songs in so extra special (as it has both 3 and 9
in - 3s my lucky number which makes 9 my special number as 3x3=9!)
Ten
Things not to do in Cape Town:
1.
Break
your metatarsals while reggae dancing in a kitchen –
ask Chelcie
2.
Drink
coffee at the Waffle and Pancake house – apparently it wasn’t
very nice!
3.
Get
mugged.... – quite self explanatory
4. Trust
Flossie as a getaway car – after staying the night at one of Zim’s UCT friends house (also
the Trumpet teacher) Flossie (the car) didn’t want to start for a very long
time not even with a lot of coaxing. Luckily after a jump start we were off but
it wasn’t a good day for Flossie as later her battery was stolen, front window
broken and boot damaged.
5.
Play
Ping Pong Pah with Chelcie and Zim – a horrible, horrible
game especially when Chelcie and Zim are ganging up on you
6.
Let
Max alter the drink penalties – Max and I decided to
alter the drink penalties as we didn’t thing Chelcie and Zim had enough
(Chelcie had 2 and I had 22..) alas Max didn’t understand the tally system so
just added lots of lines which needless to say Chelcie noticed straight away!
7.
Keep
the drink penalties in the bag which was stolen - also
your phone, camera, lip gloss, beanie, nail varnish and collection of bottle
caps!
8.
Stay
inside all day with Chelcie... – she gets really,
really hyper.
9.
Delete
all the programs on your laptop – the restore button
exists for a reason although it did take roughly 9 hours to get back to normal
10. Drop a mirror and incur seven years bad luck –
luckily Chelcie not me
I had a totally awesome time in Cape Town. It’s a
really international City with an amazing vibe and we both felt very at home
here. It was really lovely to be in a City which actually feels like a city
(Oxford if not Newbury is definitely bigger than Windhoek) however, you are
also very close to Nature at all time which is also really nice. Sadly, I lost
all my photos from the first half of the week when someone stole my camera but
we managed to take lots in the last few days to make up for it. The sleepliner
was so much more comfortable than the mainliner and I would have slept
amazingly if it wasn’t for the fact that we nearly froze to death due to the
crazy air conditioning and that Chelcie woke me up at various intervals in her
sleep to steal the armrest and curl into my chair! Winter has truly been
apparent in Cape Town which neither of us were prepared for – one jumper each
was not sufficient. Luckily Zim had a really cosy purple jumper which I ended
up wearing a lot!
I can’t believe that we have nearly got to the end
of May and therefore nearly half way through 2012. So odd as it feels like we
have only just begun. This is the last time I will have internet for a while so
I want to take the chance to say to my amazing sister
“HAPPY 21st BIRTHDAY
I hope you
have a really lovely day and I only wish I could share it with you.” Also
just want to say a MASSIVE thank you to Zim and Max for having us to stay – it
was so kind of you to invite us and it was so lovely to stay with friends
rather than in a hostel. We had a really, really incredible time and most of
that was down to you so thank you.
I’m now back at Otjikondo having survived 28 hours
of travelling. It’s lovely to be home and back to Namibian weather which is a
great deal hotter than Cape Town. I have just bought a new mobile and camera to
replace the stolen ones and hopefully Cluny will post my number on facebook so
you can all get hold of me again. Three months today (25th May) I
will getting on the plane home which is totally crazy. I have no idea where the
time has gone. We ended our holiday with a welcome back braai with all the
Stommels. It was lovely to see them again after the break and to share the news
of all our holidays.
As usual sending lots of love to everyone and I hope
that the English summer is warmer than the African winter. Lots and lots of
love
Me xxx
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