Cape Town, South Africa
Our next destination was Cape Town, South Africa. A new country and a whole new continent for us. After nearly three months traveling throughout parts of Europe, we were excited for this next adventure. One of our goals in taking this trip was to see different cultures and perspectives. Europe did this to a certain measure, but South Africa was a glimpse of something completely different for us.
The Dubai Layover
This was our longest travel day(s) so far on the trip - Naples to Dubai to Johannesburg to Cape Town. Luckily, we pretty much had the Dreamliner to ourselves on the first leg to Dubai, so we got to spread out. Zach and I spent much of the flight chatting with the flight attendant who was originally from Richmond, VA (small world) and living in Dubai now. I think we were all happy to have a chance to talk American sports. He convinced us that we needed to actually spend some time in Dubai the next time we came through. As it happens, we ended up doing that on our return several weeks later.
With a three-hour layover, we had a chance to grab a late dinner and walk the airport. Dubai has the most elaborate airport I’ve been in so far. When we stepped off the plane, an airport employee met us with a cart for our packs and walked us to our next gate. It had been clear on flying in and seeing the cityscape that Dubai does nothing small, including the airport amenities. Zach was disappointed that the full-court basketball trampoline was not yet open, but was impressed with the giant-sized…everything else.
#TravelFail
As we got ready to board the next leg from Dubai to Johannesburg at 11:00PM, the Emirates gate agent asked to see Zach’s birth certificate. Uhhh.. what?? She said that it was required by South African immigration for all children under 16. After talking to the manager, it was clear we were not going to be allowed on the flight without his birth certificate, even though we all had valid passports. I was already considering the additional costs of hotel and new flights when Trish recommended I text our neighbors back at home. Luckily, it was mid-day back in Illinois and I was able to talk to Jess and tell her where the document was at. Amazingly, texted me a picture within 15-minutes, which Emirates accepted. We were the last people to board the plane as they closed the gate. Thank you Jess and Luke! That little incident probably took a year off of my life.
In case you were wondering, the Immigration Agent in South Africa did not even mention a birth certificate - entering or leaving the country. After researching, I found that SA does reserve the right to request the certificate, supposedly as a precaution against child abduction. My bad on missing this when I booked the flight. The fact that Zach’s US-based birth certificate lists Trish’s maiden name, not the name on her passport, makes it fairly useless in this case, but…
Cape Town Touring
We had rented an apartment for 4 days and almost immediately extended for a full week when we realized how much there was to see and do in a city this full of history and unique eateries. The city is also blessed with two of our favorites - mountains and amazing beaches.
The first few days we spent on guided walking tours. The guided walks offered here were extremely interesting as they gave the local perspective on the city, it’s history, and the challenges it currently faces.
Table Mountain Hike
Table Mountain is impossible to miss in Cape Town. The 3,500 foot mountain splits the city into two sides and you can tell from the picture, how it got its name. It is literally right in the city and we took an Uber 15 minutes to the trailhead. Uber’ing to a trailhead was a first for us.
There are several routes to hike to the top, as well as a cable car option. We chose the most straightforward and character-building route, which was straight up Platteklip Gorge. Zach scooted up to the top in around 1:45 (he says). We can’t confirm as we were behind him by an undisclosed amount. Once we reached roughly 1/2 way, we had great views looking back on the city.
Views at the top were magnificent as we could see the entire city looking over the point of Table Top to either side. After eating a picnic lunch at the top, we took the tram down. The tram was unique in that the car rotated around a center axis as it descended, so that everyone got a 360° view. What a cool idea!
Neighborhood Hang outs
Being creatures of habit, we found some neighborhood hangouts to frequent:
The Book Lounge, aka Trish’s hideout next door to our flat
Light snacks @ YARD
Harvest Cafe - favorite breakfast spot
Truth Coffee Roasting, aka Trish’s other hideout
V&A Waterfront
We spent one early evening at the Victoria & Alfred Waterfront, which is the extremely touristy area of the city. The harbor has super-sized sloops, an amphitheater where we saw the local school kids doing a concert, and live music in the Nobel Square. Zach visited the Reptile House on his own, while we tasted some of the local wines nearby.
Beaches
We finally made it over to the beaches that we had seen from the top of Table Mountain. The water was WAY to rough and too cold for us to swim, but clearly ideal for the lifeguard try-outs / training that was going on that day. We watched as they swam out in huge surf, swam back, and then paddled out in a boat that I’d never seen before. It seemed to be a combination kayak/SUP.
Cape Town has some amazing things to offer and we just skimmed the surface in a week. This was also a learning experience for us as our first of many stops in South Africa. If you have stuck with me this far, you can see the city has some wonderful things to do and see. But the flip side is that it also has its own significant challenges. For example, we were instructed to never walk after sundown except within the V&A Waterfront and to never take public transportation (luckily Uber is very safe and inexpensive here). There were even parts of the historical district that our tour guides had recently removed due to dangers, even during the day. We lived behind walls with razor-wire and electric fences while in Cape Town and throughout much of South Africa. Seeing this first in Cape Town and eventually throughout much of the country was a learning experience for us for sure. My intent here is not to criticize as I am sensitive to being a foreign guest and we have our share of issues at home. However, this was on a scale and level that we had not seen. It made us sad, as this is an amazing city otherwise. We hope that things get better there soon as we met some truly great people with some amazing stories of their own.
