Places visited in Cape Town

Chapman’s Peak Drive & Hout Bay

Chapman’s Peak and Hout Bay have to be one of the most stunning places I have visited in Cape Town so far. Although words or pictures cannot describe the vast beauty of these places, I’m posting some photos for you to check them out anyway.

Chapman's Peak Lookout

During our driving through Chapman’s Peak drive, we had a quick stop at a lookout to take these splendid pictures, which reflect the colossal mountains surrounding Hout Bay and its harbor. We spent some time in a nice restaurant, where we could enjoy the beautiful views of this place whilst watching a big seal swimming around the harbor. I’ve seen seals in most beaches we’ve visited in the Cape Peninsula. This shows that here is still a pristine place, although their population has been increasing rapidly with the big number of refugees coming from other less fortunate African countries.

Hout Bay

My sister and I were very lucky to have met some wonderful locals (friends of friends from Australia), who have been showing us around some of these beautiful places. Our newest friend Sheila, whom still speaks fondly of Hout Bay, after being here for the past 18 years, took us for a drive through the Imizamo Yethu township, which is a slum on the outskirts of Hout Bay.

Clau, Sheila and Dine

According to Sheila, this slum accommodates some twenty thousand refugees, who have made Hout Bay their home. Sheila said that the locals have been living peacefully with the newcomers and occasionally an odd thing happens here and there, usually with locals or tourists who were being careless. Although, the adults and children seemed to stare at us a bit, they all seemed friendly. Similarly to Brazil, there are tours taking tourists to visit this and other townships throughout South Africa.


Imizamo Yethu Township - Slum with a View

Scarborough Beach

Another beach we visited, with local friends Nick and Gav, was also pretty special. At Scarborough beach we had a glimpse at the Misty Mountains, which also accounted for some spectacular views. The driving along the coast to get to this beach was also stunning. We saw road signs on the way alerting the drives to the presence of baboons. As this wasn’t a sunny day, we didn’t have a chance to spot any of these monkeys, but I’m sure I’ll get a snapshot of them before I leave this place.

Misty

Mountains Apart from us ‘bloody tourists’, our friends and a few locals walking their dogs, the beach was pretty much empty, being engulfed by the misty coming from the mountains. We’ve experienced a few misty days since our arrival in Cape Town and it must be said that their dramatic look is just as beautiful as a sunny day.



Clau, Nick and Dine

After our trotting around, Nick and Gav took us to a charming old farm house for lunch. I didn’t know what to expect in Cape Town, apart from the beautiful beaches and mountains, but I’m delighted to say that their food is surprisingly good! I thought I wasn’t going to eat fish or seafood for the next 6 months, after Dine getting food poisoning during our trip to Peru after we had fish, but here it’s safe to eat fish. We had fresh local fish straight from Kalk Bay harbor and delicious seafood during a wine tour up in the mountains in Stellenbosh, Franshoek & Paarl, but this will be another story! J