Cape Town, SA

When we arrived in Cape Town, we felt at home right away! It all feels reminiscent of Australia actually with the same type of dry bushlands, the faint smell of eucalyptus, the vast landscape, the white sandy beaches and “openair” type small shopping malls as well as the SUVs driving around and hipster Cafés at every corner.

We had rented a cute little apartment, aptly named “The cozy Corner” in a suburb of Cape Town called Hout Bay. It had a full sized kitchen, a small garden and was within a few minutes walking distance of the local shops, the beach and the gym as well as some laid back cafés. In other words, perfect for us to relax and feel at home for a little while. After being on the move for 12 months and the 5 rather chaotic weeks in India we felt we needed a good break in order to replenish our energy and that’s exactly what we did.

For 3.5 weeks, including Christmas and New Years, we enjoyed simply not doing too much, not planning or packing every second day. We cooked, we signed up to the gym, we went for walks along the beach, we did some reading and drawing and in Hadleighs case, some work. We spent Christmas with a Glass of Wine, a homecooked lamb rack and some phone calls to family and friends and for New Years we went to an openair concert in the beautiful Kirstenbosch Botanical Gardens right under table mountain.

Of course, we still explored Cape Town and its surroundings as well 😊 We hiked up to Lions Head and a rather long and sweaty ascent to the top of Table Mountain. We spent some leisurely time hanging out at the beautiful vineyards of Stellenbosch and Franschoek. We discovered some very cool, hipster food markets and many delicious restaurants. We saw the penguins in Simons town and watched all the active people kitesurfing and SUP-ing and kayaking and road riding and trail running.. it’s really an outdoor enthusiasts paradise here. We also visited the colourful neighbourhood of Bo-Kap, a traditionally muslim quarter of the city, currently featuring a lot of wall art in support of the Palestine cause.

While we loved our stay here it is undeniable that there are still very visible issues that this city (and this country) are facing. Right next to the leafy, beautiful suburbs are massive, sprawling townships. The inequality is glaringly apparent and there still seems to be quite a divide between the white and the black populations in many respects. For us foreigners, coming here with our currency, its all amazingly cheap, but we learned that for example a waiter only earns about 1 USD per hour and the properties in and around Cape Town are becoming increasingly impossible for the locals to afford because rich foreigners are more than willing to pay triple the price for a beautiful beachside house.

Nevertheless, we loved our time here! The peacefulness, the fresh air, the great produce, the chatty/happy people, the proximity to beautiful nature, the cheap prices. We might have to come back again in the future for a longer stay 😉