Cape Town

[beansontoast]

Going to Cape Town (and more South Africa places).

Have got Robben Island & Table Mountain on the list of things to do. Staying in Long Street in a decent looking hotel "the grand daddy", supposed to be the best/usual street for going out.

Is there anything else that should be on a must see list? We will be driving along the garden route later to Port Elizabeth so will most likely do a shark diving trip along the way & a couple of stop overs. Jeffreys Bay is supposed to be nice. Have thought about going to a vineyard.

Any suggestions?

I have heard the mugger/murderer/arse rapist stuff a hundred times from people since I said I'm going so I don't need to hear it again, ta

[Waka]

Went to Cape town in feb, what a fantastic place.
Went shark diving and saw a load of great whites - an amazing dive:


I was in that cage and the bastard nearly took my hand off! Can recommend the dive company. Here's a list of some of the stuff I got up to.
Shark diving - http://www.sharkcagediving.co.za/index.htm
White Lions - http://www.capetownlionpark.co.za/index.htm (Vredenheim)
Cheetahs - Spier (Next door to Vredenheim)
Ostrich Farm - http://www.ostrichranch.co.za/
Ostrich racing - http://www.highgate.co.za/ (5 hour drive from Cape Town)
Abseil off Table Mountain - http://www.abseilafrica.co.za/
Climb Lion's Head - especially on full moon
Drive the Chapmans Peak Pass
Kirstenbosch Botnaical Gardens
Rhodes Memorial - good view
Restaurants in Buitenverwachting and Constantia Groot
Camps Bay for evenings out
Stunning Mountains in Paarl
Whale Watching may be possible but perhaps a little too early
Penguins at Boulders

Any Q's, just ask.
W.

[tombott]

My sister in law use to live in J-Bay, the beaches are stunning, and there are some fantastic beach restaurant's. It's a proper surfers paradise, my niece and nephews turned into proper surf bums whilst living there.

Cape Town is great as well, check out the Victoria and Alfred waterfront.

If you got the balls for it a bungee jump from Bloukrans Bridge is a must.
I didn't do it, but we stopped off there for a bite to eat after helping my sister in law setup a art exhibition at Kurland Polo Pavilion in Plettenberg Bay. Its a stunning view!

One thing I will say is that Port Elizabeth / J-Bay is a completely different feel from Cape Town. Expect to witness racism first hand, not just white / black but also Afrikaans / black and Afrikaans / English.
I got refused service in a couple of bars because I was white English by some Afrikaans.

I'll drop my sister in law an email regarding things to do etc, as she was in the area for a couple of years, and let you know what she said.

[beansontoast]

Thanks very much fellas. We were going to stop at Gansbaai, it's still in the plan but as I said to my mate that leaves us about 450 miles to Port Elizabeth & it's probably going to be best to get further along the coast before an overnight stop.

We were looking at shark diving - thanks Waka. Another mate of mine came back from Cape Town a few weeks ago from a work trip, a reward for doing well & they had loads of activities including the abseiling off table mountain.

It's a shame to hear about the general racism, but thanks anyway tombott. I suppose it's to be expected in remote places. If anyone was to try it against me I'm too thick skinned to let it bother me & would rather drink somewhere else anyway

[beansontoast]

Turned out to be a great trip, only major let down was the football and planning our last couple of nights accommodation based on us winning the group, and we didn't have enough time to travel to Bloemfontein & back to Johannesburg in time for the return flights (which turned out to be a blessing in disguise).

We had a great time in Cape Town. First night we were invited to a fatboy slim private party at a place called La Med in Camps Bay. Second day we took a tourist bus which was great & went up table mountain, then had a good time down the waterfront before going to the game (great stadium), then bumped into some people my mate knows so it turned into a messy night. Third day we went to Robben Island which was really worthwhile, great guides. Night time we found a great covered courtyard bar of a hotel & had a good old football chat with 2 other England fans (a priest & a doctor - good blokes) then went up Long Street - very busy. Ended up at a strip club - as you do.

We toured along the garden route staying overnight in Mossel Bay & Jeffreys Bay, and sightseeing along the way - lovely places especially Knysa.

We met another mate in Port Elizabeth & had 3 nights there. The day after the game (where were the goals we needed!?) we went to the Addo elephant park which is brill. The last night we went to St. George's Park (cricket ground) to watch the Netherlands game at the fan fest. There was a low attendance where we thought there might be a lot more local Dutch support. It's a really nice cricket ground though, and the pitch is like the most comfortable carpet you could ever walk on.

We did some more stuff but ultimately we reluctantly ended up at Rustenburg. What a dump. We traded 2 category 1 England tickets for 3 USA v Ghana tickets & watched that with the bongo drums, pot-headed women etc. It was interesting but tbh I felt totally detached from the game, and hollow at what could have been.

Anyway I thought I would put up an update. It was a fantastic trip and there was (more or less) no trouble. There were loads of extra security patrols in most places.