Capetown - 08 - 11 April 2010

I was waiting for a 4 days off (without requesting )to go to visit this sceneric city. Finally in April, I'd 4 days off and mom happened to be here too...Right timing.....

Unfortunately, the day when we arrived on 9 April, it was raining....Gee spoiled the mood and some trips had to be cut...ie the Garden route.

Transportation
We rented a Volkswagen GOlf at Rand528 (RM 223) for 2days - Manual. They don't have a map....In the daylight, it was relatively ok, but when night came, we got lost once.......the worse part is when it's slightly of the city, the so-called highway is not litted up......

Personally, I would rather take public transport but according to my little research, transportation wasn't that convenient. And yes, taxis are relatively expensive. Per kilometre around R5. For easy calculation R10=RM4. From the airport to the city is approx 20 mins. Not that far. No offense to anyone but I never suggest the Hope On/Off Bus to anyone. But in Capetown, I think it's worth it!!!

2Day Ticket : R200Adult/Kids R120
1Day Ticket : R120Adult/Kids R60
Go Cape Town Card : R360 (which includes 1D ticket, 2 Oceans Aquarium ticket, and access to Table Mountain Cableway ticket.

The Cableway tickets : Adult R160 (Return), Children R80
Etickets : R170 , Children R90
(We went up as early as 9am, there was no queue, but when we came down around 12pm, the queue was rather long, that's the reason why Etickets is R10 more expensive)

Parking in the malls/city centre : R8 per hour (minimum)

09 April 2010

DUe to rain, we visited the Malay Quarter, Bo Kaap, well known for its colourful houses along the slope of Signal Hill. Besides that there are a couple of mosques...Nothing much to offer, from there we walked to Green Market Square...where there are lots of shops and eateries. We proceeded to Victoria & Alfred Waterfront, a huge shopping mall, and as the name says, it has a waterfront. This place is quite pretty. It is the place where you can purchase ticket/take a ferry to Robben Island

Interesting facts about Robben Island :-
1) Served as a place of banishment, imprisonment, and isolation during the 17th - 20the century, prisoners included Nelson Mandela
2) Now a World Heritage Site

I missed the tour due to the weather :(

Approx 25 pics below..

10 April 2010

You could make a phone call to the Table Mountain hotline to know if the cablecars are permitted to go up (if it's raining, it will cease) Fortunately today, the day was beautiful!! A bright sunny day!!So we drove up halfway ( which was quite slopy also) to the Cable Car station.

Facts about Table Mountain :-
1) 1086 metres above sea level
2) Forms part of National Park

With its height, obviously it was a 1 or 2 degrees colder than when you are at the station. So remember to bring a jacket.

Then according to one tour pamphlets, we drove around South Peninsula. THink this tour the itinerary is pretty good as it was quite a sceneric route.

Chapman's Peak Drive covers a good 9km drive from Hout Bay to Noordhoek- it is a gateway between Cape Town and South Peninsula. In this narrow drive, there's a toll!!Something unexpected - R28 per car. At some point, when you driving in the mountain area, the rocks above you is quite scarry, if the weather is not good, this route is not recommended!!

1) Clifton & Camps Bay - beachside - eateries and pubs
2) Hout Bay - Good seafood place - fish and chips - there's a ranch restaurant looking - which has quite a good crowd
3) Noordhoek
4) Kommetjie - tallest iron cast tower in the South African coast (nothing spectacular - just a lighthouse)
5) Scarborough
6) Cape of Good Hope - Entrance fee (R150)
7) Cape Point
8) Simon's Town - penguins. In between Simon's town to Cape Point there's also whale watching.
9) Fish Hoek - didn't go
10)Muizenberg - didn't go - in between Simon's Town and Muizenberg, there are famous colourful dressing rooms near the beach though...

Approx 33 pics below...

We ended the day in this spectacular Shopping Mall - Canal Walk, but it was quite out of the way. Dinner at Cattle Baron, Steak Ranches. Pork ribs - R99,Chicken - R89 - The Ribs was GOOD STUFF!!