We drove our Citi Golf along a stunning coastal road, it was blue sky above, green sea and waves breaking on our left, sandy beaches, mountains covered in Green shrubs running up on our right, all the perfect seaside cliches came true as the mighty table mountain started to rise up from a dot in the distance to become the sun blocking behemoth it is.

Once inside our final destination it was the customary two laps of lostness around the city's one way system, the usual map reading argument, involving a lengthy breakdown of each others past map reading triumphs and failures, "you were the one who took it to the wrong side of Beunos Aires that time..." a drive over to the hostel and after three months of camping in Africa we manage to persuade the broken tent poles to stay up another night in the hostel garden.

Our first impression of Cape Town was it should be nick named the windy city, the wind gusted up to 60 kph and whipped around the hostel walls attempting to flatten our tent. At nigh the wind was noisy enough to wear ear plugs and the tent wall kept going in for a suffocate the face manouver. In the evening we drove up to the top of a smaller mountain known as the lions head to marvel at the sunset over the city.

On our first full day in Cape Town we woke up to a beautiful clear sky and in Cape Town if you're a tourist, that means go up Table Mountain, however the wind was still gusting strong enough to stop you dead in your tracks and so the cable car up table mountain was closed. We decided to wait for another day. Instead we went shopping through all the markets and shops selling every imaginable African ceremonial mask, hunting spear, women with something on head painting, wooden animal carving and bead necklaces. Everything we had seen on our journey through Africa available all under one roof, an African R Us.

The next morning started calm and cloudless, so we packed a big bottle of water, a steak pie and a banana and set off to climb table mountain. The walk up is about two hours and well worth the effort, to see the view behind slowly expand into a giant panoramic view of the city is amazing, beside we're backpackers and didn't want to cough up the 100 rand for the cable car up.

On the top of the table we followed the signs and information boards around reading about the history and geography of the area. The entire city is laid out around the mountain and in the distance is the Cape of Good Hope where the Indian and Atlantic oceans meet. For a lot of money you could ab-sail down part of the mountain which would have been cool but we were more interested in finding an ice-cream and having a sit down.

The next day we picked a team cooper tour to Cape Point. Out of Cape town and towards to the Cape point national park, the road passes a number of sea side towns including Simon's Town, where the Jackass penguins hang out, they bray like donkeys, but I think for legal reasons they now just called African penguins.

Soon we were into the Cape Point Nature Reserve, looking a lot like Dartmoor, bushy open plain which according to the information centre is one of the richest eco-systems in the world. A guide told us that there are 30% more plants just on the tiny Cape Point peninsula than in all of Great Britain. I don't think so.

Then it was off to Cape Point where you walk up to the lighthouse and can try to spot the colour of the sea changing where the two oceans meet. We found the sign proclaiming we were now at the most south-westerly point in Africa. Cape Agulahas is the most southerly point but the Cape of Good Hope gets all the fame and glory because its where the warm current from the Indian Ocean meets the cold current from the Atlantic.

The next day we picked to be our final beach day and drove around table mountain to the four beaches at Clifton. The Lonely planet guide has an interesting description on the four beaches, there is a similar system to the one in Rio, where each beach attracts a certain stereotype. Beach 1 is for the young, narcissistic and supermodels, Beach 2 if you bat for the other team and Beach 3 & 4 for family's. Kat and I jumped down into beach 1.


No visit to Cape town a week before Christmas would be proper without a customary Christmas carol singalong. Especially when you discover a South African Christmas carol concert is held in the warm evening sun, in a botanical gardens, with a views of table mountain on your left, the city in the distance, you are encouraged to bring a pick-nic and some wine, and you get a free candle.

We ticked off a visit to the Cape town fort and to the District six museum, a very emotive museum about the re-location of a city centre district in the 60's where black, coloured and immigrant dock workers lived. The government in power decided to evict and demolish the district as it was prime city center real estate forcing everyone to the city outskirts and into shanty town / townships.

Our final night in Cape town was spent eating a Thai meal in the flashy and new harbour side development. We sat at our table facing Table mountain and talked about the end of all the freedom we have been lucky to experience. We still had the next morning free before our flight and drove out to one of the amazing cliff top views along Chapmans peak for a bit of lunch before heading over to the airport and the flight home.

Cooper Out

Love Dan & Kat