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Our writers share some special spots close to their hearts.
Capetonians are passionate about their city. They may moan about poor public transport, traffic jams, the icy sea, the southeaster or incessant winter rain. But if an outsider criticises the Mother City, they spring to her defence. It’s not surprising.
Cape Town is consistently rated as one of the world’s top 10 tourist destinations, undeniably beautiful with its towering mountains, white beaches, great restaurants, good surf spots and coves where whales come to calve in spring.
There’s a café culture, the central city is pretty safe, the docklands are fascinating, all manner of lifestyles are tolerated and, always, there’s that Mountain - a wild heart you can escape into and not see another human being. It’s slower, safer and gentler than Johannesburg, more sophisticated and elegant than Durban and more cosmopolitan than any other Southern African city.
Gautengers quite often claim Capetonians are unfriendly and cliquey. The truth is that there’s so much to do around the city that locals tend to follow their passions rather than hang around some club or pub waiting for the action to find them. Share their interests and they’ll open their city to you. Here’s a way to get to know Cape Town - from the inside.
Don Pinnock
In the wind
Kalk Bay on foot
You don’t have to be one of the lucky few who own a seaside house in Kalk Bay to enjoy the views over the harbour and False Bay. Simply head up Boyes Drive and park your car in one of the lay-bys.
Walk along Boyes Drive, watching out for whales in season. Take one of the many pathways towards the sea and lose yourself among the maze of eclectic cottages. Look out for Kalk Bay’s child-friendly municipal park off Rouxville Road, the Holy Trinity Church’s lychgate dated 1875 - said to be the oldest in South Africa - and Beaufort Cottage (circa 1820), one of the earliest homes in Kalk Bay on the main road that was once home to Sir John Molteno, the Cape Colony’s first premier after responsible government was granted in 1872.
When you reach the stores and eateries on Main Road, you can browse or continue over the railway to the beach to cool your toes in the sea. Grab a drink at the Brass Bell or Cape to Cuba, and then head back up to your car - if you can find it. - Tamlin Wightman
Mountain biking
If you’re a mountain biker, you already know that Tokai Forest, with its huge variety of purpose-built trails, is the best place on the peninsula to be in the saddle. Unfortunately, this also means it’s the most crowded. There are other, quieter places where you can go for a jaunt in the fynbos.
Head to Silvermine Nature Reserve (part of Table Mountain National Park on the top of Ou Kaapse Weg), park in the dedicated mountain-bike parking lot and enjoy the spectacular climb and descent on the seven-kilometre trail. Entrance to the reserve is R10 an adult, R5 a child.
Another option is Deer Park on Table Mountain which has a network of gravel roads stretching across the face of the mountain with terrific city views. There are many access points, including the parking lot to the east of Tafelberg Road; Molteno Road in Oranjezicht; Glencoe in Higgovale; Deer Park Drive East in Vredehoek; and Derry and Peppertree Roads in Devil’s Peak Estate. As with all trails, it’s safer to ride in groups.
If you’re willing to venture further, head for Koeberg Nature Reserve, just past Melkbosstrand on the West Coast. It has more than 26 kilometres of vehicle-free (and fairly flat) jeep tracks. Entrance is free and it’s open from sunrise to sunset. - Jazz Kuschke
Hiking to Tranquillity
This place is so secret, you may not find it, even standing at its entrance with a GPS reading at hand. Among those in the know, many may not wish its presence revealed. But to get there you need to be intrepid - and intrepid people are not generally despoilers. So here’s the information.
Tranquillity Cracks is a series of deep, cave-like crevasses cut into the sandstone of Table Mountain’s Twelve Apostles above Koeëlbaai near Slangolie Buttress. A gnarled yellowwood guards the entrance to a cleft that leads deep into an outcrop known as Slangolie Face. Disregard side passageways and continue to a grassy enclosure surrounded by weirdshaped rocks. Peep over the side and behold the Apostles marching northwards with the sharp point of Lion’s Head beyond them and Camps Bay far below. Take a picnic, leave nothing but footprints.
To get there, walk along the Pipe Track above Camps Bay, then up Woody Ravine. Once on top, take the trail southwards. Not long after a rocky scramble past Slangolie Ravine, keep a lookout for a small rock cairn on your right. Follow the overgrown path to your right towards the rock face. GPS S33°58.811; E18°23.012. - Don Pinnock
Pelagic birding
Cape Town Pelagics runs one-day (open-ocean) pelagic birding trips out of Simon’s Town. You leave the harbour at about 07h00 and return from the nutrient-rich Benguela Current waters (some 40 kilometres off -shore) at around 16h00. First prize is to find a fishing trawler – their throw-outs provide an easy food source for pelagic birds and attract various species in huge numbers. The regal albatrosses are the main attraction, but also expect to tick Antarctic prions, Manx and sooty shearwaters and Wilson’s, storm and giant petrels.
A day trip, including a light lunch and cold drinks, costs R1 500 a person. Tel 021-531-9148, e-mail info@capetownpelagics.com or visit http://www.capetownpelagics.com. - Jazz Kuschke
That mountain
You’ll be in the heart of a city, although you’ll hardly see anyone other than your fellow hikers. Around you will be one of the world’s most diverse plant kingdoms and benign wild animals.
That’s the magic of a five-day slackpacking hike on the Cape Peninsula led by legendary safari guide Steve Bolnick. With 30 years experience, he knows the flora, fauna, history and geology of the area the way you know your iPod playlist. Dominic Chadbon of Go2Africa recently did the hike and said: ‘“Scenic” doesn’t actually come close. It was a day of such eye-popping majesty that you begin to groan in resignation at yet another gasping view.’
Contact Steve at Mountains in the Sea, tel 021-785-2264, cell 082-888-3298, e-mail reservations@walkinafrica.com or web http://www.walkinafrica.com. There are also guided one-day walks for those with less time on their hands.- Don Pinnock
In the sun
Cape Point beaches
If competing with the crowds and topless German tourists for a piece of Clifton beachfront isn’t high on your agenda, head south and you can have the seashore (almost) to yourself. Cape Point, part of the Table Mountain National Park, boasts kilometres of pristine, quiet beaches. Try boulder-strewn stretches along Neptune’s Dairy and Platboom Bay, or the secluded, sandy Diaz beach below the Global Atmosphere Watch Station.
Summer park entry times are 06h00 - 18h00; exit by 19h00. Cost is R60 an adult. Go early in the morning to avoid queuing at the park gates. Tel 021-780-9526, web http://www.sanparks.org. - Rob House
Have a ball: walk on water
Have you ever wanted to walk on water? Bubble Ball Entertainment has given us land creatures the ability to do just that - although it looks more like a hamster in a wheel.
Get into a large, deflated, transparent beach ball – made of 0,7mm-thick thermoplastic polyurethane. It’s blown up with normal air around you and sealed with an airtight zip. You’ll be able to walk normally until you reach water and then the fun really begins.
Although the person in the Bubble Ball will try to stand, he or she is more likely to be running in short bursts, with feet in the air, or crawling around on all fours. It’s as much fun to watch as it is to participate. Emerge dry and unscathed in a bit of a sweat.
Bubble Ball operates predominantly from the V&A Waterfront (November to January) in two massive blow-up pools and from Hout Bay beach a few times a week when weather permits - but in the sea, you’re on a leash, so no running for the horizon.
It costs R30 for a 10-minute session. Tel 079-812-7747 or e-mail bubbleball@live.co.za.- Leigh Stefanski
Tobogganing round the bends
You saw it in the film Cool Runnings, now try it out yourself at Cool Runnings Toboggan Fun Park in Bellville, 25 kilometres from Cape Town CBD. As your sled slips through the deep curves and S-bends of the 1,25-kilometre track, manufactured according to German engineering standards, you can reach speeds of up to 40 kilometres an hour in the five to six minutes from start to finish. The brake lever between your legs allows you to determine your speed.
Purchase a day pass as you’ll want to do it over and over again - once to get over the anxiety, another to ease up on the brake and once more to let the fun begin. The sled takes two people and children under eight must be accompanied by an adult or authorised person over 15. The track is open every day, including public holidays (subject to weather).
Prices are R20 a ride for kids and R25 for adults, or R150 for kids and R200 an adult for a day pass. Opening hours are 10h00 - 19h00. Tel 021-949-4439, e-mail info@toboggan.co.za, web http://www.toboggan.co.za. - Tamlin Wightman
For kids
Horsing around
Horsetrails Safaris are not easily forgotten. You start at a farm in Ottery and trot past fynbos, across rivers and over sand dunes to reach the beach, which you can follow as far as Muizenberg. The horses are placid and suitable for riders of any level. It costs R200 an hour.
Another option is exploring the cityscape in an old-fashioned horse-drawn carriage, starting at the Castle of Good Hope. A tour guide provides information while you clip-clop through the streets of Cape Town to the Company Gardens. The carriage rides run at 10h30, 12h45 and 14h45 every day except Sundays and cost R150 an adult, R100 for students and pensioners and R75 for children under 12.
For both options, tel 021-703-4396, e-mail info@horsetrailsafaris.co.za, web http://www.horsetrailsafaris.co.za. - Khumo Ntoane
Einstein for kids
Need somewhere to leave the children while you shop? The MTN Sciencentre in Canal Walk is safe and educational. With over 300 exhibits, youngsters can while away many hours playing there. Each contraption is based on the school curriculum and designed to make learning more exciting. During the school holidays, there’s always a special programme. Adults can join in the fun or chill out at the café inside the centre.
Tel 021-529-8100, web http://www.mtnsciencentre.org.za.- Khumo Ntoane
Get wet
Between a rock and …
It’s a combination of kloofing, canyoning, cliff jumping and body surfing ... or just jumping off some rocks into the sea, depending on how you look at it.
No matter your point of view, coasteering is wacky, safe and a helluva fun way to explore the coves and gullies of False Bay. Tours are expertly guided by Gravity Adventures and cater for all ages and skill levels. Participants are supplied with wetsuits, buoyancy aids and helmets and nothing is compulsory.
Prices range from R325 a person for a three-hour adventure (one hour on the water) to R425 for a five-hour trip (two hours on the water). There is a minimum group size of eight (max of 10), although special trips can be organised for larger groups. Tel 021-683-3698, e-mail adventure@gravity.co.za or web http://www.gravity.co.za - Jazz Kuschke
Kayak with penguins
Boulders Beach is famous for its colony of African penguins, but you can see them in their element best by taking a kayak trip there. You need never have been in a boat or held a paddle before and the kids will love it too. Derek Goldman of Simon’s Town Sea Kayak Tours (out of Paddlers Kayak Shop at 62 St George’s Street) will put you in one of his stable kayaks and guide you from the harbour past Ark Rock (which resembles Noah’s Ark) and Roman Rock Lighthouse to Boulders Beach and back.
Along the way, you’re likely to see a host of sea birds, including the endearing little penguins (the Boulders colony is about 2 500 strong) as well as seals and, if you’re lucky, whales in winter. Wear boardshorts or a swimming costume, T-shirt, hat and sunblock and bring a change of clothing for afterwards.
A two-and-a-half hour round trip, including snorkelling and light refreshments, costs R250. Tel 082-501- 8930 or web http://www.kayakcapetown.co.za. The trips are weather dependent, so make sure you check the forecast well in advance. - Jazz Kuschke
Dive with sharks
Before swimming with the sharks at the Two Oceans Aquarium at the V&A Waterfront, it seemed prudent to ask when last they were fed. ‘Sunday, but they’ve been known to skip a week or two,’ was the reply. The water closed over my head as I began the slow, weightless descentwith my instructor in the I&J Predator Exhibit tank.
There’s plenty of space for qualified divers to explore. The tank also contains shoals of yellowtail, garrick and kob. A resident loggerhead turtle gracefully swam past, skimming my outstretched arm and the 28-centimetre-thick acrylic window through which visitors watched our antics.
A ragged-tooth shark glided across from the far side of the tank. Raggies have an unnerving deadpan grin with a set of teeth that has to be experienced - from a metre, with no glass in between - to be fully appreciated.
The 30-minute dive was over in what felt like moments. For the price of a good night out, you can experience a world that we rarely get to glimpse.
An Open Water One or Discover Scuba qualification is required. Cost is R380 a person with your own suit and R485 without. Tel 021-418-3823, e-mail bookings@aquarium.co.za or web http://www.aquarium.co.za. - Rob House
Out of the south easter
Memories of a rich life
The thing Linda Fortune misses most about District Six - the vibrant, non-racial suburb razed by apartheid’s bulldozers after being declared a white group area in 1966 - is ‘the people and the way they made their stews and their curries’. Her favourite dish was fried snoek with patats and tomato smoor.
District Six Museum is a repository of the 60 000-strong community’s heritage that survived, thanks to the contributions of ordinary folk who were forcibly removed to the Cape Flats. Linda Fortune’s memory poster hangs alongside embroidered recipes for crayfish curry and apricot chutney and collections of family photos: boxer George Fransman with his fi sts at the ready and the Bloemhoef Crusader Xmas Band of 1959 in their dark blazers. Displays include reconstructed rooms and memorabilia - even the remains of a toilet bowl found among the rubble. On the street grid on the floor of the main exhibition hall, walk down Hanover Street and turn right into Tyne Street where Linda Fortune lived from 1920 to 1971. Just don’t expect to find any doors to knock on.
The District Six Museum, on the corner of Buitenkant and Albertus Streets in central Cape Town, is open from 09h00 to 16h00 Tuesday to Saturday and on Monday mornings. Entrance is R15 an adult and R5 a child. Tel 021-466-7200, web http://www.districtsix.co.za. - Marion Whitehead
Dinner and a memorable show
Dinner, theatre and quality time with friends all under the same roof - that’s what you get at the 78-seater Kalk Bay theatre. The intimacy of this arena in a converted church on Kalk Bay’s Main Road offers memorable entertainment.
Arrive at 18h45 to enjoy dinner in the restaurant upstairs. The show starts downstairs after the main course. Drinks may be taken into the theatre and enjoyed from the comfort of the beechwood seats. Dessert and coffee are served after the performance.
Shows run for four to eight weeks and performances are from Wednesday to Saturday (sometimes Sundays) at 20h30. The improvisation theatresports show - which welcomes audience participation - is every Tuesday at 20h30.
The theatre is at 52 Main Road, Kalk Bay. Parking is available across the road. For a list of upcoming shows and to book tickets, tel 073-220-5430, e-mail bluebottle@iafrica.com or web http://www.kbt.co.za. - Tamlin Wightman
Feeling bookish
Remember the old days when bookshops weren’t supermarkets with disinterested assistants peering at you over a till? Mervyn Sloman did. He’d been working for big book retailers for a long time and kept thinking: ‘This isn’t how I’d run a bookshop.’ Eventually he started The Book Lounge in an old Victorian building in Roeland Street, employing people who, like himself, were in love with reading.
Many thought he was crazy to open in competition with the big chains. Delighted bibliophiles find bestsellers and coffee table wonders upstairs, while downstairs you’re surrounded by books you seldom see elsewhere. There are soft couches and a coffee bar with excellent cookies. Ask for a book and the assistants will often have read it, or will find it for you. There’s no hurry - you can read there all day if you like. There are book launches, talks and informal chats with authors.
The Book Lounge won the Sefika Award for the best independent bookshop in South Africa in its first year after opening. Find it on the corner of Roeland and Buitengracht Streets. E-mail booklounge@gmail.com to get on the events mailing list, or tel 021-462-2425. - Don Pinnock
Proudly South African handiwork
Hout Bay Craft Market, run by the local Lions Club, has been going strong for 13 years and it shows: it’s well organised and there’s a solid core of stallholders, plus a scattering of casuals who ensure each market offers something novel.
The broad range of goods includes knitted and crocheted garments, wooden toys, pictures, jewellery (including freshwater pearls at cool prices), books, plants, ceramics, didgeridoos, furniture, wirework - even frankincense and myrrh! Most are made or designed by the stallholders themselves - no cheap Chinese imports here. You can graze happily on falafels, rotis, ai curry, hot doughnuts, chocolate truffles, fudge and even designer cupcakes. A smoothie made from fresh fruit while you watch is a guilt-free treat.
The craft market is on the village green opposite the shops in Main Road, which continues to Chapman’s Peak Drive, and is open every Sunday, weather permitting, from 09h30 to 16h00. Entrance is free. Tel 082-850-9752. - Marion Whitehead
Bag a bargain
With a couple of rands in your pocket, an open mind and a knack for bargaining, the Milnerton Flea Market of secondhand goods wedged on the sea side of Marine Drive (becoming the R27 up the West Coast) in Paarden Eiland on a Saturday and Sunday can be a revelation. Students, trendies and kitsch collectors have been known to furnish entire houses from there. If the sea air, Table Mountain backdrop, happygolucky atmosphere or the possible treasures on offer don’t get to you, then perhaps a curry bunny from one of the food carts will.
A warning: if you’re into classy crafts and organic markets, then you’ll probably think this is just a weekend jumble sale of cheap car parts, defunct computers, kitchenware, vintage cameras, rusted bikes, shark teeth, incense and plumbing spares. Tel 073-151-2573. - Jazz Kuschke
Stern no to philistines
It’s no secret in art circles that Osama Bin Laden has been hiding out at the peaceful UCT Irma Stern Museum tucked away in Mowbray. Well, not the man himself, but a portrait that looks remarkably like him: ‘Arab Priest’ was painted by Irma Stern in 1945 and mounted in an elaborate wooden frame from Zanzibar.
Today considered one of South Africa’s major artists, Stern waged her own crusade against philistinism for many years before her flamboyant, vibrant canvases achieved recognition. She was recently toppled from her podium as most expensive South African artist (R7-million for ‘Indian Woman’ at an auction in 2007) by JH Pierneef (R11,8-million for ‘The Baobab Tree’).
This was Stern’s home for 40 years before she died in 1966. Items collected on her travels in Africa are also on display. The contemporary artist exhibiting in the upstairs gallery in December is ceramicist Clementina van der Walt.
The UCT Irma Stern Museum, on the corner of Cecil and Chapel Roads in Rosebank, is open Tuesday to Saturday 10h00 to 17h00. Entrance is R10 an adult and R5 for children and pensioners. Visitors are welcome to bring their sandwiches and picnic in the tranquil garden. Tel 021-685-5686, web http://www.irmastern.co.za. - Marion Whitehead
Sharing arts and culture
In traditional Xhosa society, families used to enjoy a meal together, scooping food off a large, shared platter. This sense of communal life is reflected in the name of the Guga S’Thebe Arts & Culture Centre (guga means old and s’thebe is platter). ‘We serve the whole community,’ explained Bulelani Kula, who takes walking tours in Langa, Cape Town’s oldest township (R50 a head for half a day, tel 073-447-9983 to book).
The centre is home to a number of projects, many providing crafters with the training to one day open their own businesses. You can spend a pleasant couple of hours touring the centre and browsing the little shop selling an array of pottery, jewellery, sand paintings, mosaic mirrors, framed pictures, wooden bowls and carvings. There’s also an outdoor amphitheatre, music room and dance floor used by local performing artists, plus a tourist info office.
Guga S’Thebe, on the corner of Washington and Church Streets, Langa, is open Monday to Saturday from 09h00 to 16h00. On the N2 from Cape Town, take the first turn-off after the old cooling towers to Langa, follow the road to the left, go straight at the fi rst circle, then right at the redbrick intersection and the centre is on the right. Park right outside and they’ll keep an eye on your vehicle. Entrance is free. Tel 021-695-3493. - Marion Whitehead
Old Biscuit Mill Market
Saturday mornings have never had this much spunk, especially in downtown Woodstock. The Old Biscuit Mill Neighbourgoods Market is a pleasant way to wind into the weekend, with its marriage of food, fresh fruit and vegetables, wood-fi red breads, cheese and wine stalls. There is music and long communal tables to sit around and feast on the myriad offerings.
Find it at 375 Albert Street, Woodstock, every Saturday from 09h00 to 14h00. Entrance is free. Tel 021-462-6361, web http://www.theoldbiscuitmill.co.za. - Khumo Ntoane
At night
Magical moonwalkers
There’s a strange ritual that takes place in Cape Town on clear, full-moon nights. Cars converge on the parking area near Lion’s Head off Signal Hill Road just before sunset and people with boots, backpacks filled with water, snacks and head torches begin trudging up a jeep track with sweeping views of the Twelve Apostles.
The path circles Lion’s Head as the sun drops towards the sea beyond Camps Bay. A rite of passage is about to take place. Chains, shiny with use, hang from the cliff face and, although there’s an escape route for the timid, most grab the chains and scramble for footholds, hauling themselves ever higher.
At the beacon on top, they stand in communion for maybe an hour, watching the great orb of the moon rising as the lights of Cape Town twinkle into life. Then they sigh at the beauty of one of the most gloriously positioned cities on earth and, head torches on, pick their way downward.
By the time they reach their cars, it’s dark and their faces are suffused with a golden glow. Soon they will be spreading the word: ‘Go watch the full moon rise from Lion’s Head. It will cleanse your soul.’ - Don Pinnock
For the love of words
There’s no entrance fee. You simply grab a beer or a glass of wine from the pub, find a chair and wait for the action. At around 19h45 Hugh Hodge ambles in: large, unfussy, comfortably friendly. He peers over his glasses, adjusts the microphone and starts to read a poem - often Ted Hughes - beautifully. Then he introduces some poet. They could be local favourites: Antjie Krog, Gus Ferguson, Jacques Coetzee, Kelwyn Sole, maybe a visiting bard from across the waters or a complete unknown. He teases them gently, then hands over the mic.
This is Off the Wall, it’s Monday night at A Touch of Madness restaurant in Observatory. Cape Town’s top poetry venue is in full swing: anything could happen. People listen in hushed appreciation or heckle - gently and intelligently. Hugh chides them, people laugh, raise a glass and the words continue. After the main act, it’s open mic.
Hugh edits New Contrast, South Africa’s longest running poetry magazine (http://www.newcontrast.net). Many well-known poets have given their first public readings at this venue and return for the joy of performance.
The restaurant is at 12 Nuttall Road, just below Lower Main Road in Observatory, tel 021-448-2266. E-mail Hugh on hahodge@gmail.com to get Off the Wall’s events list. The last performance of the year is on 8 December with Finuala Dowling, then it’s back on line from 5 January. - Don Pinnock
Feeling flush
High tea at the Nelly
Ditch the crowded malls and head to the Mount Nelson Hotel for the city’s best afternoon tea experience. This famous hotel has a long legacy of hospitality. Their high tea provides a selection of 30 different loose-leaf teas, from herbal to Darjeeling and lapsang souchong, all served in a glass teapot with an hourglass timer so you can ensure it draws to perfection.
The grand piano tinkles in the background as you tuck into a buffet of sweet and savoury dishes, including cucumber sandwiches, smoked salmon grissini, Cape Malay foods, petit fours, cupcakes and scones.
Tea is served every afternoon between 14h30 and 17h30. It costs R150 an adult and R75 a child under 12. Book at least a day in advance. Tel 021-483-1737, e-mail reservations@mountnelson.co.za, web http://www.mountnelson.co.za. - Khumo Ntoane
Take a cruise
Splash out on a cruise with Tigger 2 Charters and see Cape Town from the sea on a modern 16-metre catamaran, slicing through the water from the V&A Waterfront along the coast of the Cape Peninsula. Trips to choose from include a Champagne Sunset Cruise that goes to Clifton’s Fourth Beach or Table Bay; a Clayshooting Cruise ideal for those looking for adventure - all the equipment is provided and a qualified instructor is on board - or a Gold Cruise, which takes you to watch seals playing off Seal Island in Hout Bay. The Braai Cruise takes you for a dip at Clifton’s Fourth beach while the crew rustles up a meal.
The catamaran itself is a real treat – it holds up to 50 people and has its own bar lounge, bathroom facilities and two large sundecks.
Cruises cost from R200 a person. Tel 021-790-5256, e-mail tigger@netactive.co.za, web http://www.tiggertoo.co.za. - Khumo Ntoane
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