Coastal Biking and Hiking (May 27, 2024)
After a full day on Saturday, we had a slower Sunday morning. As always, we started the day by eating a huge breakfast at our favorite hotel buffet. Later in the morning, we headed out to explore two beach neighborhoods in Cape Town.
First stop was Sea Point. Sea Point is an oceanfront commercial and residential neighborhood. It has a 6-km long oceanfront promenade that is perfect for strolling and taking in the ocean breeze. We ubered to the start of the promenade and had a leisurely walk admiring the ocean/mountain contrast and people watching. It was a varied mix of runners, walkers, workers, loungers — and I enjoyed trying to guess who was a local or a tourist. After a while, we made our way to Mojo Market for lunch. Mojo Market is a food hall with many vendors and options (can you tell we like markets?). Nate ordered a delicious flatbread topped with spiced chicken and I got chicken tikka masala. Both were good, but Nate’s was better! Unfortunately we didn’t take pictures of lunch.
With our bellies full once again, we went back to the Promenade to rent bikes and bike to Camps Bay, which is a 5.5 km ride along the water. The bike ride was absolutely stunning. Pictures can’t quite capture the coastline, especially with the incredible homes built along the cliffs. Camps Bay and the other coastal neighborhoods south of Sea Point are all very wealthy neighborhoods and the real estate shows it. There were so many homes built into the cliffside overlooking the water and beaches. It was unreal.
Camps Bay is a well known high-end beach vacation spot, and when we arrived, it was clear why. The town is picturesque with its white sand beaches against the mountains. Elegant stores and restaurants line the main street and gorgeous homes dot the backdrop. If Sea Point felt busy and urban, Camps Bay feels like a true holiday destination. We dropped off our bikes and spent the rest of the afternoon hanging out on the beach. Although there were some people going in the water, it is winter in South Africa, and the water is freezing. So we only dipped our feet in a couple of times.
Now that we so far had a more relaxing day, it was time turn up the energy and go on another hike! Surprisingly, neither of us were sore from the Table Mountain hike the day before, so we were ready to go. We headed up to Lion’s Head Point, the other most popular hike in Cape Town. We both enjoyed the Lion’s Head hike more. There were better views along the trail and the trail itself was more varied. There were steady upward inclines, steps, rock scrambles, ladders, and our favorite and most difficult portion – a steep rock scramble up to the Point. We made it to the top in time to enjoy the light before sunset, which makes for great pictures. It’s a popular picture time so there were lots of people taking pictures. We didn’t want to hike back down in the dark, so we started to descend before sunset and were able to see the sunset towards the end of the trail.
For dinner, we went to an Ethiopian restaurant called Addis in Cape. We were excited as we both love Ethiopian food. We got the Monday night special, the vegan sampler platter. It came with a starter which is something we had never had before — injera (the Ethiopian flatbread) crisps with dips. It was really good! Then the main with eight different dishes of lentils, chickpeas, mushroom, spinach, pumpkin, tomatoes, and cabbage. It was all delicious and we devoured everything. With that, we wrapped up the day.
Penguins and More Beaches (May 28, 2024)
For our last full day in Cape Town we rented a car to explore areas further out. We picked up our car and headed to the Boulder’s Beach Penguin Colony. There were penguins everywhere! Even before we got to the main viewing area, there were tons of penguins resting, cuddling their babies, grooming, playing, and even mating along the path. We were so close to them! We first went to a side beach that was also supposed to have penguins and found a group of five. We admired them for a while and then went to the main beach where there were dozens. They were so ridiculously cute especially when they walked around or played with each other. After taking way too many pictures, we went to the last beach. There were no penguins there, but it was a beautiful beach full of huge boulders of various shapes. We had fun exploring by climbing over and under boulders.
After a couple hours at the penguin colony, we grabbed a small snack for the road and headed to Hout Bay for lunch. We ate lunch overlooking the bay at Dune’s and had a burger (this time it was my choice) and a salad. The burger was once again average (0 for 2 in Cape Town) but the view was worth it. We then drove up the coast to explore another beach. We chose Llandudno Beach at random looking at the map, which turned out to be the right decision. We had no idea, but Llandudno is one of the wealthiest suburbs of Cape Town and it is a purely residential beach neighborhood. The beach was tucked in with huge waves against the cliffs with opulent homes. There weren’t many people and it was the perfect place to spend a serene afternoon.
We then headed back to the hotel to get ready for dinner at the famous Belly in the Beast – a fine dining restaurant with a tasting menu. Nate made reservations a couple months ago and I am so grateful because I think it was one of the best meals of my life! As much as we both love food, we often find ourselves disappointed with fine dining. So we rarely do them. But this was the best tasting menu we have ever done. There were 7-9 total courses (depending on what you consider a course) and they were all amazing and unique. For me, the standout was the bread course with tomato onion bread and a couple spreads. Nate’s favorite was the curried lamb shank dish. Nate also got the wine pairing. As a wine lightweight, I had to abstain and instead got a Negroni. There’s so much I could say, but it was truly a phenomenal meal. If you are ever going to Cape Town, please plan ahead and make reservations at Belly in the Beast!
This was our last full day in Cape Town and Belly in the Beast was the best way to end it. Bellies fuller than ever so far, which is quite a feat, we went to sleep very happy. Next stop, the Winelands!
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