Even though I was truly excited for every place that I planned to visit in 2019, Cape Town was one of my most highly anticipated destinations. I had been wanting to visit for years, and I felt like I would love the city instantly based on everything I had seen, read and heard. The natural beauty, the friendly people, the active lifestyle, the great food and wine, the mild weather… it had all of my favorite things.

My plan was to spend six nights in Cape Town: four nights exploring with my brother, then another two nights solo after my safari in Kruger National Park and beach time on Bazaruto Island in Mozambique. Early May would be fall in Cape Town, so it wouldn’t be warm enough to lie out at the beach, but I hoped it would still be sunny and pleasant. 

Getting to Cape Town

One of the reasons I had been able to visit Istanbul between Cairo and Cape Town was the good flight options to get me to Cape Town from Istanbul. I had heard great things about Qatar Airways (and middle eastern airlines in general), and was eager to experience it for myself, so I splurged on a business class ticket. The flight was long (nearly 16 hours, with a connection in Doha), so I felt that I could justify the expense. 

It was totally worth it. Probably the best flight experience of my life so far. After sitting down, I was offered a hot or cold towel and a drink of my choice. I asked for champagne and was given another choice between brut and rosé. Well, this was off to a good start.

After we took off I was offered another drink along with spiced mixed nuts. I ordered an old fashioned just because I could. The meal service was served at a very relaxed pace, so I got to savor the experience. For my appetizer I ordered a mezze plate that included what may have been the best mahamara dip I’ve ever tasted. 

After a brief stop in Doha, I boarded my next flight for Cape Town. Since the flight was so long, I decided to stay up for another delightful meal even though we took off at 10:40pm Cape Town time. However, I still managed to get a solid seven hours of sleep and be up in time for a delicious breakfast. Needless to say, I arrived In South Africa well-fed. My only regret is that my layover in Doha was so short that I didn’t have time to check out the Qatar Airways lounge. Well, there will definitely be a next time. And I’d love to try the QSuites (the A350s I was flying didn’t have them), although that may really spoil me for life. Qatar Airways business class already made Delta One seem like economy (okay, premium economy).

First Four Nights in Cape Town: Accommodations at MannaBay

The hotel I was staying at offered one airport transfer with my stay, and I had chosen to use it for my arrival so I didn’t have to deal with figuring out an Uber after a long flight. I arrived to a smiling man holding a sign bearing my name, and he proceeded to spend the car ride listing off recommendations of things to do in Cape Town. “You’re from New York?” he asked me. “People in Cape Town love New York!” Well, that was good to hear.

I had chosen to stay in a boutique hotel located in Oranjezicht, an upscale residential neighborhood just a quick Uber drive from central Cape Town. I still can’t properly pronounce the Afrikaans name, but I learned that the name translates to “Orange View.” MannaBay is actually a large home that was converted into a hotel with just eight bedrooms. I had fallen in love with the pictures online; the design looked really unique and extremely detail-oriented; each room featured its own theme and decor. It had been difficult to choose which room to book since they all looked so incredible, but I ultimately decided to splurge on the Versailles suite, the biggest room on the property with opulent yet modern decor reminiscent of, well, Versailles.

The staff at MannaBay were all beyond welcoming, and while the hotel was priced on the high end for Cape Town, it included so many perks, including:

• A delicious home-cooked breakfast
• High tea every afternoon, featuring an expansive spread of snacks and free-flowing sparkling wine (brut and rosé)
• Pool
• Gym
• Beautiful common areas

They also provided a driver to take me to/from dinner every evening, and unlimited free drinks. I really didn’t take advantage as much as I should have; as much as I longed to just hang out at Manna Bay all day, I also wanted to be out and about exploring the city! I would love to return with a group of friends and buy out the property. I also learned that they were soon going to be opening a sister hotel, Camissa House.

First Afternoon/Evening in Cape Town

I hardly had time to settle in to my beautiful room because my brother had arrived in Cape Town a couple hours earlier and was keen to meet up. After a quick shower, I ordered an Uber and headed to the Black Sheep Restaurant for lunch. I wasn’t really that hungry after all the gourmet Qatar Airways food, but figured a light bite and a glass of wine couldn’t hurt. Lunch turned into a bit of a bar crawl, as it often does when I’m with Jonathan.

Hiking Table Mountain Solo

The next morning I woke up to the most glorious sunrise. I got up, took some pictures and then put on my eye mask and went back to bed.

A couple hours later, I dragged myself out of bed for breakfast. I’ll admit I was feeling a little hungover, but I was determined to make the most of my day. One of the things on the top of my list to do in Cape Town: enjoy the great hiking that is accessible without even leaving the city. Jonathan wanted to do Lion’s Head with me, but he declared that he wasn’t ready to do it on Saturday, so I decided to hike Table Mountain on my first full day. 

After breakfast I asked Trish from MannaBay to recommend a route. She suggested doing Platteklip Gorge: it’s the easiest, most popular route up Table Mountain. My plan was to hike up and then take the cable car back down. The staff at Manna Bay insisted on ordering an Uber for me, then escorted me to the street to make sure the driver knew where to drop me off. I don’t know if they were being extra accommodating because I was a woman traveling alone, but I will say that the hospitality blew me away. 

While I waited for the Uber to arrive, I did a bit of my own research on the Platteklip Gorge route. I started to get a little nervous when the South Africa National Parks website opened with a warning about muggings along hiking trails. It also strongly advised against hiking alone. Then I found a very amusing site from a guiding company which advised against the Platteklip Gorge trail altogether. This site also highly recommended hiking with a group. Well, I didn’t have anyone to hike with, but I wasn’t going to let that stop me. And I was sticking with Platteklip Gorge because if it was the most popular trail, then I would at least feel safer since a lot of other people would also be trekking with me.

My Uber driver arrived and we were off. “You are going alone?” He asked me. Um, yes. I was starting to wonder if I was making a bad decision. “Okay, I will drop you off at the trailhead. But don’t go alone. Wait for five or ten minutes and some other people will arrive. Follow them.” Oh man. 

Then we arrived at the starting point for the cable car. “Is the cable car running today?” My driver asked a worker. “No. Closed all day because of wind.” Great. Now I’d have to hike up and down. My anxiety kicked up a notch. Everything I had been reading said that even though Platteklip Gorge was the easiest route to hike Table Mountain, it was by no means easy. While not technical, it was very steep in areas, and essentially all uphill to the top, then all downhill. It was also very rocky, to the point where you were basically walking up (or down) a bunch of flights of large stone steps. At one point in my research, one of the Google search suggestions that populated was “table mountain death.” Ummm, I wasn’t going to click on that one.

Once we reached the trailhead, my driver reminded me to wait for other people and bid me farewell.

I waited nervously for some people to arrive. While waiting, I saw a fit-looking couple finish the hike. “Victory photo!” the girl said, posing with her arms raised and a big smile on her face. “Never again!” she then shouted. Gulp.

Finally, three girls approached. They were dressed in casual sneakers and did not appear ready for a steep, rocky hike uphill. The third girl was very overweight (okay, obese) and lagged far behind the other two. I looked at them tentatively and tried to offer a friendly smile. “Hello,” I said. “Dumela mma” the large girl said. Huh? “That’s what we say in Botswana,” she said with a big smile. Well, at least she was nice. “You are hiking?” I asked them. Yes, they were. “Is it okay if I follow behind you?” “Yes!” The big girl said. “If I fall, you can catch me!” HA. I chuckled nervously. And then I prayed that she didn’t fall because that would mean we were both going down. 

Well, my safe hiking foursome didn’t last for long. It quickly became apparent that this group would be hiking at a MUCH slower pace than I would. I tried to follow, but almost immediately lost patience. I had read that the hike up would take two hours on average – one hour for the very fit and three hours for the not so fit. I was hoping to make it up in less than two hours. No way that was going to happen with this crew (I doubted they would even make it all the way up at all).

I eventually threw caution to the wind and passed the Botswana girls. I told myself I would just be very, very careful. Well, here’s how it went:

I had successfully made it to the top… but now I had to make it back down. And while it was a lot harder to go up, it was much scarier to go down. The trail was extremely steep in places, and I knew that if I tripped I’d be in for a VERY bad fall. In a couple spots, I ignored my ego and eased myself down on my butt. No way I wanted to suffer an accident on this trail.

At one point, I ran into a few American women from San Diego. They were going a bit slower than I was and offered to let me pass, but I was relived to find some people that I could tag along with for a while. And as much as I had been enjoying the time in my own head, it was also nice to have a distraction chatting with some fellow travelers for a bit. 

I finally made it to the bottom of the trail and ordered an Uber immediately. I now knew exactly how the couple whom I had seen a few hours ago had felt. While I would welcome another hike up the mountain (perhaps a different, even more scenic route – with other people of course), I had absolutely no desire to hike down ever again. Next time I do Table Mountain, I’m opting for a day with as little wind as possible – and a very low chance of having the cable car close.

Saturday Night in Cape Town

I arrived back at MannaBay just in time for high tea. Brilliant! I was famished and ready to celebrate my safe return with a glass of sparkling rosé. 

Then I configured the plan for the evening with Jonathan. I had no desire to stay out late, but I did of course want to enjoy some of Cape Town’s weekend nightlife. Our big night:

Cape Peninsula Tour

I arranged a private tour of the Cape Peninsula on my second full day, since people in Cape Town kept suggesting that I do it. It did seem cool to see the Cape of Good Hope and different points along the coast, but the attraction that really interested me was the penguins at Boulders Beach. I had never seen penguins in their natural habitat before, and I was willing to spend a whole day driving around to see them. I could’ve taken the Hop On Hop Off bus (no thanks), or tried to join a small group tour, but ultimately decided to do the private tour so I could go at my own speed and wouldn’t have to deal with potentially annoying fellow travelers. I invited Jonathan to join me, but he didn’t feel like spending all day in a car, so he declined. Oh well, no penguins for him.

My guide/driver picked me up at 8:30am in a shiny Mercedes sedan. Okay, this wasn’t going to be too bad. My guide was born and raised in Cape Town, and called himself “colored.” He explained that in the US, we would call him “mixed race,” but in South Africa, they identified with the term “colored” and didn’t consider it derogatory at all. His name was Abdu… followed by a mix of vowels and consonants that I could not figure out how to pronounce. I had never heard a name anything like his, so I just settled on calling him Abdu. He was very chatty and friendly, offering me tidbits on the history of South Africa and Cape Town as we drove from sight to sight.

For the last stop of the tour, Abdu gave me the option of going to the Kirstenbosch Botanic Gardens or wine tasting at a wine farm in Constantia. I did really want to go to Kirstenbosch at some point, but the clouds seemed to be rolling in again, and I aways have a hard time turning down wine, so wine farm it was. 

Abdu was nice enough to come in and sit with me so I had someone to chat with even though I was drinking alone. I learned a bit more about him; he had been married twice and had four kids (two daughters in their twenties with his first wife, a daughter and a baby son with his current wife). He had only been guiding for the past few years, and was previously a paramedic. However, he decided it was time for a career change when people started to call in fake emergencies to rob the EMTs. Yep, people would lure them on the basis of a health crisis and would then attempt to steal their wallets, phones and the defibrillator machine, which could be sold on the black market. 

Abdu had really loved being a paramedic; he worked with the same team for a long time, and they were so close that they could respond to emergency situations in sync without having to speak a word to each other. He described the feeling of resuscitating someone as the most magical and powerful thing he has ever felt. I could only imagine. But, he ultimately decided that he needed to quit when he and his colleagues were held up at gunpoint one day and he feared for his own life. He had a family to support and did not want to die on the job. Hearing his story was just heartbreaking.

I returned to an empty house at MannaBay. The staff was still there, but I would be the only guest for my final two nights. While it was kind of nice to have the run of the property, it was also pretty awkward to have a full staff working when I was there on my own. Primarily I felt guilty, but I also felt like everyone was watching my every move since they had nothing else to do. Sometimes the anonymity of a large hotel has its benefits.

My plan wast to meet up with Jonathan again in the evening. Since it was Sunday night, a lot of bars and restaurants were closed, so we didn’t have a lot of options for dinner. It was Cinco de Mayo, but we couldn’t find a Mexican restaurant that was open. Wee decided to have some gin & tonics at the Gin Bar, followed by Ethiopian food. Neither of us had ever tried Ethiopian food, but Jonathan’s girlfriend Ana loved it, and we figured being on the same continent as Ethiopia gave us a good shot at getting decent food in Cape Town. 

My take on the meal: pretty good! We were bombarded with incredible smells of spices when walking into the restaurant (unfortunately, the scent lingered on my clothes after I left). The place was decorated like an eclectic African art jungle: lush plants growing everywhere, colorful African art and books spread throughout. We used our hands to scoop up the various dips with light wraps that almost felt like crepes. There were also plenty of vegetarian options.

Even though Jonathan’s hotel was only a few blocks away, I dropped him off in my Uber before heading back to MannaBay. Walking around town earlier in the day (while it was still light out), he had experienced a scare when a man came up behind him. The man declared that he had a knife and asked Jonathan to hand over his wallet and phone. My little brother had the balls to call the would-be robber on his claim and managed to get out of the situation unscathed once he neared a tourist couple walking in the opposite direction. The criminal quickly decided to try his luck on new potential victims and Jonathan scurried to safety, not without a bit of guilt.

Last Day in Cape Town – For Now

Suddenly, it was my last day in Cape Town with Jonathan. On Tuesday morning, I’d board a flight to Johannesburg, and then another flight to Kruger National Park. My brother would fly to Singapore so he could attend Singapore Cocktail Week. Yes, the cocktail industry has “conferences,” although as far as I can tell, they just involve a lot of drinking. Come to think of it, they actually don’t sound too different than some of the advertising technology conferences I’ve attended over the years. 

I was really hoping to hike to the top of Lion’s Head; it was one of my must-do activities in Cape Town. However, Jonathan and I both wanted to take advantage of the opportunity to sleep in and enjoy a leisurely morning while we could, so we planned to meet at the base of the trail at 1pm. I woke up to a beautiful, clear morning… and then the fog started to roll in over the top of the iconic mountain. 

Dang it. Time for a Plan B. I also wanted to see the colorful houses in the neighborhood of Bo Kaap, so we decided to meet there and walked around a little bit, hoping that the fog would clear for a Lion’s Head summit in the afternoon. 

There is a museum that outlines the history of the neighborhood that was originally the slave quarters for the Dutch settlers, but Jonathan wasn’t feeling it. He was still bummed that he had missed out on seeing the cute penguins at Boulders Beach and he wanted to go to the aquarium to have his own opportunity to see the flightless birds. It seemed like a pretty touristy thing to do, but I welcomed the chance to see more penguins, so I agreed.

On the walk to the V&A waterfront, we were approached by a local man “working” on the street. “Brother, sister,” he greeted us. “You going to the waterfront? Let me help you.” Jonathan had actually been telling me that the intersection we were approaching was a confusing one that basically made you cross the street three times instead of once to keep walking straight (he remembered it from his last visit). We shrugged our shoulders and followed the man as he “helped” us to illegally jay walk across the busy street. I knew full well that an ask was coming next, and I decided I wasn’t going to protest as I handed over a 20 rand note. He did save us some time after all.

A couple notes on the waterfront: I had initially been looking to stay in the area since it did feature some very nice hotels. However, my knowing friends Johnny and Erica strongly advised against it. After a meandering walk through the area, I could understand where where they were coming from. It wasn’t as bad as, say, Fisherman’s Wharf in San Francisco (where nobody should ever stay or even go), but it did feel very touristy and it lacked the local character of some of the other neighborhoods I had explored. 

We eventually got to the aquarium. It was fine. Fortunately, Jonathan was onboard with speeding through most of the exhibits so we could focus on the penguins. I will say that it wasn’t the same as seeing them in their natural habitat, but they were still pretty freaking cute. It was feeding time, so we got to see the little guys swallow whole fish down their throats. I had no idea that was how they ate… but then they aren’t typically fed by a zoo worker either. It made me a little sad that they were living out their lives in captivity, but I’m not going to turn this into a big rant about the ethics of zoos and aquariums. I’m certainly not an expert on the topic.

Of course, by the time we got out of the aquarium, the fog had cleared over Lion’s Head. However, neither of us felt like scrambling up and down the mountain and then running to our respective rooms to freshen up before dinner. We were also getting a little hungry. Since we hadn’t been able to properly celebrate Cinco de Mayo the previous day, Jonathan suggested tacos and margaritas at El Burro Kloof Nek, followed by a stop at Publik Wine Bar across the street. Sounded like the perfect plan to me.

If you’re looking for good, casual Mexican food in Cape Town, I’d recommend El Burro. We were the only people there at 4:30pm, but the ambiance was bright and cheerful, the tacos were delicious and the margaritas were excellent. They also had a good selection of vegetarian and vegan options, which I appreciated.

At 5pm, the wine bar opened, so we headed across the street for one last glass. Well, that turned into about a glass and a half because the bartender insisted on having us taste several wines before we made our selections. One thing that was nice (but dangerous) about South Africa – they really enjoyed foisting copious amounts of alcohol and food on us. It got to be a bit much with the food, as I felt terrible wasting food, but I tried to appreciate the free-flowing booze after my time in Morocco.

I ran back to MannaBay to change, where of course my private high tea tray and sparkling rosé were waiting for me. Fortunately, I had asked them to tone it down on the appetizers for my final night, so I didn’t need to gorge myself out of guilt. 

Our plan for the final night was to enjoy sunset drinks on the deck of Chinchilla, a rooftop bar overlooking Camps Bay Beach. Then dinner at Codfather, a nearby seafood restaurant that had come highly recommended from multiple sources. I have heard that the main drag in Camps Bay gets horrifically crowded during the summer, but it was very pleasant when we were there. We had no problem getting a table at Chinchilla and were given a window seat at Codfather.

And that was it. We both had to be up early and had big weeks ahead of us, so we did the mature thing and called it a night after dinner. I tried to coax Jonathan into meeting up with me at some point in the future before Thanksgiving, but he was non-committal. We’ll see if I can convince him to join me somewhere else and keep our sibling travel tradition alive.

Hello Cape Town, I’m Back!

That may have been the end of my time in Cape Town with Jonathan, but I still had a couple days to experience more of the city after my four day safari in Kruger National Park and my two day attempt at relaxation in Mozambique. I returned around 9:30pm in the evening after a full day of travel (water taxi and two flights) from Vilanculos, and without much planned for the next two days. I had chosen to stay in a different neighborhood (Camps Bay) and had chosen the POD upon my friend Johnny’s recommendation. 

The POD was a small boutique hotel featuring modern design and a very friendly staff. Nick was the manager on duty when I arrived, and he offered me a welcome glass of sparkling wine. Well, why not? Once more, the South Africans were pushing booze on me, and I wasn’t complaining. We chatted for a little bit and I retired to my room to settle in and get a good night’s sleep. 

For some reason I had chosen a luxury pool room on the ground floor of the hotel (Actually I’m sure the reason was that I had high hopes it would somehow be warm enough in Cape Town in May for me to lie out and enjoy my private pool. It wasn’t). The view from the room wasn’t great; I looked directly out onto a residential street, but I could see the beach and the ocean if I went out on to my terrace. If I were to stay at POD again, I’d book one of the smaller luxury rooms on a higher floor. Those rooms don’t include plunge pools, but they do feature terraces with better sea views and more privacy. Also, the main hotel pool is incredible with the views of the beach and a ton of cozy seating options. I’m sure it is a popular place to hang out in the summer, but I had it all to myself when I spent a couple hours travel-planning there the following day. It definitely wasn’t swimsuit weather, but it got warm enough in the sun that I could take off my jacket and lounge in my T-shirt and jeans.

In the morning, I hit the small but well-equipped gym in the basement of the hotel. I really do appreciate when small hotels make it a priority to include a gym on the property. Once again, I was the only person using it, so I’m not sure that the general population agrees with me here, but it was so nice to be able to start the day by walking down a flight of stairs and sweating my ass off for an hour. Nothing elevates my mood like an endorphin rush… well, almost nothing.

Like everywhere else that I had stayed on this trip, breakfast was included in my rate at POD. I was really getting spoiled.

I used my solo time at breakfast to research available Airbnb Experiences. I really wanted to hike Lion’s Head, the weather forecast was clear for the entire day, and I felt like I should find some company after all the warnings I saw/heard during my solo hike up Table Mountain. If I’m being honest, I was also craving some social interaction and needed some aid (like many people, I’m not good at just approaching strangers and talking to them). It was my last night in Cape Town, so I needed to find something available last minute. Fortunately, I found a guided sunset hike up Lion’s Head. The experience was run by a couple and had excellent reviews, so I decided to go for it. The meeting time wasn’t until 4pm, which was perfect. I could use the downtime to work on some travel planning. I shut down the inner voices that were pushing me to go out and see more of Cape Town, and let myself sit in the sun and prepare for some of my future trips.

Hiking Lion’s Head

It’s a long story, but the Airbnb hosts that I had selected actually weren’t available for the guided hike that evening. However, they were able to connect me with their “mountaineer friend” Nathan. I met Nathan at the base of the trail; he was an energetic and chatty local that had worked as a rescue and conservation guide with South Africa National Parks for years. He was fully outfitted in his uniform, complete with badge and radio. I didn’t know whether to feel cool that I had such an over-qualified guide, or to feel embarrassed since most of the other hikers were just friends casually hanging out. Whatever, I had read all the warnings against hiking alone when I hiked Table Mountain solo, and while that ended up fine, I wasn’t going to risk anything this time around. It wasn’t exactly the laidback group laughing-and-enjoying-sundowners atmosphere that I was expecting, but at least I had someone to watch my back.

The trail started simply enough. It was uphill, but not too steep or uneven. We even saw a woman pushing a stroller up the trail.

As we made our way around the mountain, things quickly began to escalate. First we reached a ladder, then some staples, then some chains. In a couple areas, I had to find a place to grip the rock and pull myself up. It was the closest I had ever come to rock climbing (for true rock climbers, I’m sure it’s cake). I was a little nervous, especially in places where I only had a small surface to balance my toes while I pulled myself up using an equally small surface to grip. I tried to channel my inner Free Solo… and not look down.

Nathan was great at reassuring me and watching to be sure that I put my hands and feet in the best places. We finally made it to the top, and I was SO relieved. I really did not want my last day in Cape Town to end with me splattered on a rock. However, I still had to make it back down… and after sunset. As a rescue guide, Nathan told me that while not frequent, there were accidents on Lion’s Head every year. I had no desire to be part of that statistic. 

At the top we still had about 40 minutes until sunset, so Nathan played photographer. Having been on the mountain too many times to count, he knew all the good spots for photos. Once again, another benefit of having a guide (although some are certainly better photographers than others).

Nathan also took the opportunity to patrol the area and call people out when they were misbehaving (i.e. smoking pot, using drones). He said he didn’t want to play bad cop, but it ultimately came down to safety, and he had seen too many accidents occur when people weren’t following the rules. Made sense to me.

The colors in the sky were actually more vibrant and impressive before the sunset, since some clouds had rolled in that threatened to block the sunset view altogether.

Nathan and I both agreed that it was a good idea to start the descent when there was still some light. I had been especially nervous about going down in the dark. However, I found that going down was less scary than going up. I’m guessing that was at least in part because I had acclimated to the heights and was now more comfortable. The timing worked out well, because it didn’t get too dark to see until we were at the smoother section of the trail. I decided to still use a headlamp so I didn’t trip on any unexpected rocky patches. Safety is no accident, right?

Once we successfully made it to the bottom of the trail, I realized I wasn’t sure how I was supposed to handle payment with Nathan since I had already paid the Airbnb hosts that connected us. Nathan had also alluded to the fact that he had no cash and no way to get home. Um, awkward. He showed me the text exchanges with the Airbnb hosts, so I decided to just give him the cash upfront and ask them to refund me. They did, and were very nice about it, but were clear that Nathan knew the arrangement (they would pay him) and that he shouldn’t have put me in that position. Oops.

I got an Uber back to my hotel and rewarded myself with a French 75 at the bar (I was the only one there).

Since POD doesn’t serve dinner, they offer to place a takeout order at a local restaurant and handle the pickup. I decided to take advantage and treat myself to a veggie pizza from Col’Cacchio paired with the complementary local white wine in my mini fridge. It was a perfect relaxing last night in Cape Town.

I had to check out the next morning at noon. Next on my itinerary: sleep in, have breakfast and take an Uber to my next and final destination of the trip: Stellenbosch winelands.