Our third full day in Cape Town was no different, as we woke up with plans to see all the remaining landmarks and towns on our to-do list, as we would be leaving Cape Town early the next morning. After our (at this point) routine breakfast and informal concierge meeting downstairs, we set off toward the heart of the city - Table Mountain. An incredibly beautiful mountain with views all over the land and sea, Table Mountain features an aerial cableway that allows customers to ride up to the top and look over the area from the highest peak. Unfortunately for us, winter is a time where wind speeds frequently force them to shut down the cableway due to safety, and this was one of those days. We checked beforehand and they said it was open, but when we got there, the winds had picked up and it wasn't safe. But in any case, we drove a decent way up the mountain just to get to the cableway base station, so we still had a magnificent view of the area, and a phenomenal image of the clouds creeping over the mountain's edge.
Table Mountain
With the cableway shut down, we jumped back in the car, quickly bypassed another "parking attendant", and coasted back down the hill to one of my most anticipated areas of the trip - Bo Kaap. Bo Kaap is a multicultural township in the heart of Cape Town, and is famous for its architecture, cobblestone streets, and most famously, its brightly colored houses. I had seen tons of photos of Bo Kaap in my research, and I told Julie months before that I didn't have many requests for where we went, but Bo Kaap was definitely on the short list. It certainly didn't disappoint, as we wound our way the small alleys and streets, looking at all the unique colors and architecture the community had to offer. It really didn't seem real, but sure enough, we saw people standing on their porches and walking to/from work. This was by far one of the most visually outrageous places I'd ever seen.
Enjoy the (multiple) photos of Bo Kaap
Table Mountain in the background
After snapping enough photos to make me slightly concerned about my memory card's capacity, we decided to walk down the street to a coffee shop I had seen in some of my research, Cafe Haas. This place was so old-timey and quirky, we immediately loved it. There were old steam pipes in the walls, the servers wore top hats, and the general vibe of the place was very simplistic, rustic and straight out of the mid-1800's. We got a small snack and some coffee (okay, I had hot chocolate), and while looking at the menu, Julie pointed out that they had some of the rarest, most expensive coffee in the world, Kopi Luwak. I'll spare you the crazy details, but basically it's some coffee bean that gets eaten by an animal, and the acid in its stomach enhances the coffee (click here for the full Kopi Luwak explanation). Seems like a lot of (disgusting) work for some coffee...
We left the coffee shop and jumped back in our time machine and traveled back to 2013 and walked further down the road to the Green Market Square, home to one of the largest open-air tourist markets in Cape Town. All the locals were set up with booths, selling anything from animal sculptures to African masks to handbags to James Bond shirts. It was most definitely targeted toward tourists wanting a memento from their trip to South Africa, and as if on cue, Julie and I looked to buy a few gifts for friends and family back home. We were forced to do a bit of haggling and bargaining, as these people were charging outrageous prices on the price tags, well-knowing some poor tourist won't question the price. Let's just say we didn't exactly fall for their trap. We talked the toothless lady down to about half price and were happy enough to make the transaction and be on our way.
Understandably so, all the bargaining and haggling reminded us it was time for lunch (okay, who am I kidding, the two of us are always hungry)! So we jumped in the car and decided to head back down and return to Kalk Bay on a recommendation from Keith, our wine country from the day before. Having passed the restaurant on Day #1, we knew exactly where it was, so we made our way through the harbor and arrived at our lunch destination, Harbor House. Oh my goodness, oh my goodness. I haven't even described the setting and meal and I'm already getting excited about this again. Without question, this place would offer us the best lunch of the entire trip. The setting was absolutely stunning, with the restaurant perched on the top of the rocks overlooking the ocean, with the occasional large wave creating enough splash to reach the glass walls we were looking from. This picture gives a decent view of what we were experiencing...
Yeah, this'll do.
After gawking at the view for far too long, we finally looked at the menu, with the day's specials and "Catch of the Day" printed on a chalkboard behind us. Our waitress gave us some great suggestions, and told us they were known for their signature dish, the Tian of Prawns. We didn't hesitate in taking her advice, and that was probably the best decision we made the entire trip. The dish came out, with four lightly-battered prawns with a stack of avocado, tomato and eggplant, and a pesto and sweet-chili glaze surrounding the plate. The presentation alone was incredible, and the only thing that topped it was the taste. I mean, this dish finishes in the top-5 appetizers I've ever had...anywhere. The batter on the prawns was so thin, not giving it an overly-fried flavor, but just enough to give it the crunchy texture. Oh my goodness, oh my goodness.
I want this now.
The rest of our meal didn't disappoint, as we both ordered from the special chalkboard, following the theme from a couple days earlier and selecting yellowtail and hake. The fish was creamy and light at the same time, and the seasonings and glaze gave it such a mouth-wateringly wonderful taste, it was one of those meals you hated to finish. When the bill came, Julie and I could care less what the meal cost, because no matter what, it would be worth it. We both guessed that, at home at least, the meal would be a minimum of $75-80. So what was the damage? Let's just say we left one hell of a tip, and the final bill was $36.
Cape Town, I love you.
Completely satisfied, and once again singing the praises of Keith, our long-lost driver, we did a quick loop through the harbor to see what fish had been caught that day, and then we decided to complete the journey to one of the southern most regions of the area, Cape Point. Known to many as the place where the Atlantic and Indian Oceans meet, Cape Point features an iconic lighthouse at its peak, as well as the Cape of Good Hope, a rocky point on the ocean's edge. We hiked up to the lighthouse to take in the beautiful scenery and look out at the vast expanse of ocean.
Cape Point
Wanting to see the Cape of Good Hope up close, we drove down a short hill on our way out to the rocky crags at the point. But before we got there, we were met by a very random group of...
OSTRICHES!
That's right, ostriches! A group of five ostriches were just cruising around on the side of the road bordering the ocean. They paid little to no attention to the occasional car passing by, and definitely provided us with a short camera break. After the big bird photo shoot, we finally arrived at the Cape of Good Hope.
On our way back, we passed the ostriches again, and within five more minutes, we came across some more baboons on the side of the road.
Lunch time!
From Cape Point we drove up the part of the western coast we had yet to see before cutting over to the eastern side again. Unfortunately, there was some serious construction occurring on some of the roads, and combined with it being a normal work day rush hour on a 2-lane highway, we were in for a long drive home. We spent much of the time completely stopped, but luckily we were so happy with the day's events that the drive didn't deter us too much. One hour and 45 minutes later, we rolled up to the hotel for a bit of rest before the dinner hour.
For our final dinner in Cape Town, we decided on a highly rated (by the LP Bible, of course) Ethiopian restaurant in downtown Cape Town called Addis in Cape. Similar to our night at Gold, this restaurant was an eating experience. The atmosphere was very unique, as the tables we sat at were actually large woven baskets called mesobs. Only about knee high off the ground, the round basket-tables had a flat piece in the middle, allowing for food to be placed on them. In traditional Ethiopian-style cooking, the food is served on a large plate covered in a pancake/bread-like concoction called injera. The injera is a spongy, absorbent sourdough based thin pancake that you use in place of utensils to eat your food. After ordering chicken, lamb, beef and vegetables, we watched as our waiter dumped the four entrees onto a massive piece of injera, then presented us with a bread basket full of individually wrapped pieces of injera (which looked like rolled hot towels).
Injera
Our spread at Addis in Cape
It is hard for me to put into words how amazing this meal was. I definitely think part of my excitement stems from the novelty of the food, the unique presentation, and of course, the underrated action of eating with your hands. But that would be an injustice to the food. All the meats were seasoned better than any meat I'd had. The lamb was my personal favorite, although all of the dishes were superb and not a scrap of injera was left. The combination of experience and taste made Addis in Cape a four-thumbs up in our book!
Coming off of an amazing day of photography, long car rides, and outrageously delicious meals, we were ready to mash our faces into our pillows. We had an early morning and a long day ahead of us, so we packed up our suitcases, laid down, and dreams of prawns and injera danced through our heads.
*NEXT UP* - We end our time in Cape Town and begin our next adventure...wildlife safari!
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