Cape Town in South Africa was like the real "home away from home" experience. Although we only had 2 days here, I could have stayed 2 weeks. The public transport was excellent, the people were awesome and the food was delicious. We caught a bus straight from our hostel on Kloofnek rd to Camps' Beach as soon as we arrived as the heat was comparable to a hot summer's day in Sydney. As we got closer to the beach the similarities between Camps' Beach and Bondi Beach became more apparent with huge, rich, waterfront mansions overlooking the beach and a strip of restaurants/bars/cafes opposite the beach with skinny, tanned, well-dressed people walking around. After ordering a Pimms cocktail at Café Caprice we hit the beach (sand so hot it burnt your feet!) Naturally the first thing I want to do is run into the water but as soon as you got close to the ocean's edge it was like walking into an air-conditioner on the ground. The temperature dropped dramatically before you even touched the water. And the water… holy crap… don't mess with the Atlantic ocean! Easily the coldest water I've been in for a long time (possibly as cold as some of the glaciers I stood in back in New Zealand up in the mountains!) Even dad agreed that after a good 20 seconds standing in the 11-13 degree water your feet and legs started to ache. After a cold, crisp, very quick dip in the ocean it was so nice just to lie on the sand and fall asleep under the sun (after all that is pretty much like home in Sydney!)

Long St in Cape Town was much more buzzier than either of us were expecting especially on a Saturday night! We walked along the street and figured out just about every different type of cuisine was available from Indian to Italian to Mexican to African to Middle Eastern to Asian. And of corse plenty of pubs and clubs to make anyone happy! We had a very, very cheap Indian buffet style dinner and then made a quick stop into the famous beer house which served 99 different types of beer, lager, ale and cider J An awesome way to spend our first, and only, Saturday night in Cape Town.

Sunday morning, we headed up to the picturesque "Table Mountain" to catch a cable car to the top to get a view of Cape Town however the cable car was temporarily shut due to strong winds preventing us from making it to the top. We could've done the 3-4 hour hike up the mountain however we had left it a bit late by that time as the sun was already shining strong and bright. Instead we hopped onto a bus over to the waterfront and Victoria Wharf where there were all kinds of markets and activities happening. Very similar to darling harbor and the rocks with fancy, gourmet food markets with anything from biltong to fresh juices to yummy gourmet pies and sausage rolls. As well as fancy cafes and restaurants overlooking the harbor and people enjoying their Sunday morning with a bit of specialness. Despite all the selection of nice food, I managed to find a boost juice in an air-conditioned shopping center around the harbor and couldn't help myself but to get my original passion mango smoothie!!

Sunday evening was our last night before we began our 40 day camping tour from Cape Town to Nairobi with our G Adventures group of 19 people! We went to a really nice Italian restaurant for our last supper as who knows what the hell we will be eating over the next 40 days … camping. The classic garlic bread and spag bowl combo did the trick perfectly and was an excellent way to celebrate our the end of our first week in South Africa!

Catch you on the flip side!