Our first night’s sleep was rough as the 6-hour time difference and long flight are a challenge. The common breakfast area has a nice European style continental breakfast, yogurt, pastries, ham, cheese, bread, cereal, juices, etc. Perfect for me, they also offer a cooked breakfast; eggs, bacon (rashers), grilled tomatoes just in case you need something more substantial. I stick with the continental while Dick enjoys someone else cooking eggs for him. The morning desk manager, Memory (what a great name!), stopped by to introduce herself. She and Dick have been working together for almost a year on our accommodations. She’s a very special young woman.
Our plan for the day was to hit Table Mountain and then head downtown to visit the ‘Company Garden’ area. I had booked fast track tickets to avoid the long lines for the cable tram to the top of the mountain for the 10-10:30 timeslot. Our room has a perfect view of the mountain. One look says we’re not going up this morning as clouds have blanketed the site. Our backup plan is to head down to the V&A waterfront, a big tourist area.
Memory suggests that we walk the several miles to get to the waterfront, but also suggests that we make sure we are vigilant of our surroundings and possessions. South Africa has an extremely high unemployment rate (32%) and while Capetown is better, it is still very high verging in the upper 20%.
It is an interesting walk along the main drag (Kloof St) and Long Street. Things were a little seedy on Long but no one bothered us. The V&A (Victoria and Alfred) waterfront is a lively area, it is both a working harbor and a tourism area. We tried to get into the Diamond Museum, but they are booked until 5PM, so we decide to come back another day. We checked out the Green Market, a jumble of different places offering different foods. After our walk we hit the Den Ankor restaurant and Belgium beer bar. It’s a cool place with a nice bartender and a great view of the water. Fresh oysters too!
We were going to visit the highly acclaimed Two Oceans Aquarium when we noticed the sky had cleared, Table Mountain was now in view. You have to get the mountain when you can. We jumped on the Hop on/Hop off bus to base of the area and took the 360 degree cable car up the mountain. Wow! What a view. Great views of Devil’s Peak, Lion’s Head, and Signal Hill. The weather was perfect and the crowds minimal. While on the hill we had a look at a ‘Dassie’ or rock hyrax up close. Honestly, thought it was Alvin taking a sun nap. This small mammal is the most common mammal on the mountain and is actually related to the elephant, go figure. We had some beverages in the sun at the top and returned to base.
We took a quick Uber back to the hotel to freshen up before heading for a wonderful meal at Millers Thumb. What a great place. We both enjoyed a very special and rare fish called Kingklip, a specialty of theirs when available. Kingklip is a type of rockfish only available in South Africa, Australia, New Zealand, Chile and Argentina. It was great. We forgot to take a picture – too busy eating it.
A good end to the day.