Welcome back to the Sunshine Travelers podcast, where we inspire you to travel more and better. Today, we're diving into the city of Cape Town, South Africa, a destination that boasts breathtaking landscapes, rich history, and incredible food. If you've ever dreamed of seeing Table Mountain, sipping wine in the Cape Winelands, watching penguins waddle along a sandy beach, or visiting the Cape of Good Hope, in this episode, you will discover 10 essential things to know while planning your trip. Cape Town is one of those rare destinations where you can do it all, from exploring natural wonders and soaking in vibrant culture, to indulging in world-class cuisine. But planning a trip here can feel overwhelming with so many must-see spots and experiences to choose from. From the best way to get around, tips to timing your visit to Table Mountain, and how to maximize your time in the wine region, to safety advice and why flexibility is key when planning, we've got you covered. Plus, we'll share some insider tips from our own itinerary, including highlights like Kirstenbosch Botanical Gardens, Chapman's Peak Drive, Robben Island, and of course, the adorable penguins at Boulder Beach. So whether you're a nature lover, history buff, foodie, or all of the above, we'll help you plan a trip that fits your interest and timeline. So grab a cup of tea or your favorite South African wine, and let's start planning your adventure to the mother city. You
don't want to miss these tips for experiencing Cape Town like a pro.
I'm Scott. And I'm
Melissa. And we're the Sunshine
the Sunshine Travelers. Our passion is travel and sharing our experiences with those who enjoyed as much as we do, or those who want to learn more about travel, or even those who just want to live vicariously through our travel stories. No matter where you fall along that journey, get ready to hear about our firsthand experiences as we visit some of the most interesting and amazing places on earth.
So Scott, this was our last stop on our recent African adventure. And this was the part of the trip where we would do the most planning. And in this case, I ended up doing more of the planning. But so in Egypt, which we discussed in episode 82 and gave you all the tips and just like our advice for that, we booked the hotel. And then by hiring our guide, Manal, who we would be with the whole time, she basically said, you know, in this time frame that you have, here's what I think that we should do. And we were happy with that. And then of course, our safari, which we talked about, gave you lots of different things to think about and know about in episodes 84 through 86. That had been meticulously planned by Mark and his team at McKay Africa. And so now this leg of the trip was really kind of up to us. What did we want to see? You know, booking it, planning the logistics. And then we had a couple of your colleagues that, you know, joined us on this too.
We had so many people tell us before we decided to go there that Cape Town and South Africa are really high on their bucket list. And so we were really excited to share what we did. But still, we thought it would be more valuable to share some tips on planning your trip rather than a day-by-day itinerary. Because you can change that itinerary and move it in any way you want to. But I think the tips are what would make this more valuable to you. We also want to share a few things that were particularly memorable for each of us and the tours and experiences that we found lots of value in doing.
experiences that we found lots of value in doing. Yeah. So one real reason that I wanted to kind of structure it this way and talk about these tips is that we rearranged a few things on our itinerary while we were there. And we're going to explain why. And then also, I don't know, I feel like I struggled a little bit with like, you know, which things do we pick and which things do we not pick and, you know, trying to researching. So, you know, I did research online and I, I used chat GPT and I asked people and, and then finally really kind of came up with an itinerary that felt good and with what we wanted to see. So let's get into the tips. So number one is basically what I just said. Do your research and kind of keep a list of all the things that you feel like are the most important that you want to see and do. So are you interested in nature? Because there's lots of outdoor activities in the history and, you know, all the historical things that there are to see. And then, of course, the food scene that's there. Or do you want to do a combination of both? And I guess we should really add there's a lot of adventure activities, too. And so we didn't really dive into those a lot. But I mean, there's a lot of other things, sea kayaking and whale. And we even met some people who had done the cage shark diving. And so there's a lot of adventure things that you can do
too. Yeah. And there's a lot of people there in Cape Town who were headed off on a safari or they had just gotten back from a safari because, you know, not far away from there, a short flight, you can get to Kruger and, you know, start your safari adventure. So I think a lot of people actually leave from Cape Town to go and do that part of the safari.
Right. So we should mention that because we did not do safari in South Africa, that's not going to be a part of what we're going to talk about. So we will really focus on because obviously, or I would think while you're there, if you've never been there before and you're doing safari, then you're going to want to see some of those, you know, some of the things in Cape Town. Because if you are in North America, if you're in Europe, it's a long way, right? And so this, hopefully these tips and these will help you like plan that part of the trip.
Yeah. And I think, you know, this is just a perfect example of where you could maybe knock a couple of things off your bucket list at one time.
Oh, yeah, for sure. There was a lot of things on here that were like big time things that I felt like we wanted to see. And I think that was why it was so hard to say, OK, how are we going to be able to do all that? So kind of once you have those, those things, so, and then be realistic about how much you can really maybe enjoy seeing with the amount of time that you're there. So sure, you may have a list of 10 things, but don't try to do like five things in a day. That, that would be probably one of the, you know probably one of the biggest tips that I have is that because we have, well, we saw an itinerary posted on our wall because there was a couple of groups at the hotel that we were staying in Cape Town. And we saw their itinerary and what it had taken us like two days to do, they had it like packed into what they were going to do in one morning before lunch. And we were like, well, there's no way that they were really going to see. For example, I don't know that they're just like worth it. Go to Kirschenbach National Gardens for like one hour. I mean, sure, that might be enough for some people or to say, okay, I've done this, but we really enjoyed the time that we were going to give a couple of tips about that, but really enjoy that kind of time. So just be realistic so that you're not just like feeling like you're just like rush, rush, rush. And we'll talk about tours too, you know, unless you join a tour and then you don't really, you know, have a choice about, you know, how much time that you have. So, and also think about the time of the year that you're going and what the weather's going to be like, too. Because I think that's really going to depend. And sometimes you might have to, you know, vary those activities based on what the weather is doing that day. Right. So if you have high surf, some of that's not going to work. If you have, you know, cloud cover and that kind of thing, Table Mountain, you're going to have to rearrange that a little bit. And that kind of Table thing, Mountain, you're going to have to rearrange that a little bit.
little bit. So one of the things that I would say from a tip perspective when you're doing your research is where do you want to stay? Because that was something that we struggled with a lot is do we stay down at the V&A waterfront? Do we stay up at Seapoint where we stayed? You know, both of those were really nice areas. But, you know, then we also saw, hey, if we were bringing a group back, we would stay over in this area. Right. So I think that's I think that's one of the biggest struggles that we had. And still to this day, maybe we would struggle with which one to choose.
Yeah, for sure. So we're going to get into like booking tours versus renting cars. But I would say with that, it really is going to probably be dependent on which one of those that you choose, right? So we decided to rent a car. And so it wasn't a big deal for then for us to hop in the car to go to the V&A waterfront or to go to some of these activities, that kind of thing. But if you weren't, then it might be more valuable to you to stay closer to the waterfront where there might be a lot of restaurants. I mean, not that there weren't restaurants like close to us, but just looking at that too. And depending on, you know, thinking about how many times am I going to have to, you know, get an Uber or, or something like that. So while, while we're not going to go into, you know, here's what we did step by step and kind of what order we did. But here's some things, you know, so if you're thinking about a trip and, you know, maybe you have some things on the list. Here's kind of was like, here's our overall list. Okay. So we were there over the weekend. So we knew we wanted to spend a little bit of time in the wine region and do the wine train we had ran some people that we have mentioned previously that they had talked about the wine train and how neat that was and that's just a unique thing they had and then the kirstenbach botanical gardens i said it wrong i'm gonna go kirstenbach botanical gardens which is phenomenal even if you don't like so the people that
don't like
don't like
that are trying to find this is kirsten bosch oh sorry yeah b-o-s-c-h kirsten bosch botanical
botanical gardens phenomenal and if you don't know anything about you know cape town and south africa they just have like more species of plants because of the climate but a lot of things that we are familiar with were actually indigenous to there or have come from there. And that's what makes it so unique. And then learning about that. So then of course the Table Mountain, which is like the oldest mountain and the oldest mountain range in the world. Chapman's Peak Drive, Cape of Good Hope and Cape Point. And of course we wanted to see the Boulders Beach and the Penguins, the V&A waterfront. And it's Bocap and the townships. And we knew we needed to do a tour for that. Going over to see Ramen Island. And then a couple of things that were on our list as possibilities were doing a food tour or a cooking class. And then there was a particular hotel that has a the Sila that that was kind of like tentatively on our list. museum, Hotel, so then realistically looking Okay, at those things and seeing how you in what order do many, we need to know, do them? And then how many can we realistically said, we're not going to go into like a detailed itinerary, but I will put, you know, some of those things, links to some of those things and more of an itinerary, like in a blog post or something like that. So if you are more interested in the details of that, that will be linked in the show notes for you.
And we were there for realistically four full days.
Four full days and then two half days. Yeah.
And we did most all of that except for a couple of things. So you can get a lot done, you know, in Cape Town with that much time. If you have a little bit more time than that, I would say this whole list is achievable. And spending a good amount of time at each of these places. Like, you know, Kirstenbush, we spent half a day there.
Yeah, we did because we just didn't want to be, we were rushed and we really wanted to enjoy. We did have to backtrack. That was probably one thing we did have to backtrack one time, but that was, you know, weather dependent. And you just really don't have a choice to do that. So then the second tip is then take those things and make a tentative itinerary based on, you know, looking at, we've mentioned before, looking at logistically where those places are, right? So take like a Google Maps or an Apple Maps and plug those in and kind of see, okay, where am I staying? You know, where are these things? And so then what's going to make sense to do in what day and then give yourself time. Yeah. And so
And so one of the things that I would say is there is a lot of traffic in Cape Town in the afternoon. So you've got to factor that in when you're looking at a map. If you have to go across town and you have to go back across through that downtown, I wouldn't try to put, you know, unless, you know, it works out that you need to do that. I would not try to cross town for activities because there's just so much traffic there and it made the time unpredictable. And so we were really rushing it to try to get to our Table Mountain reservation time.
Right. And then being able to park there. So that, you know, that might be one where especially, well, either way, that might be beneficial to have an Uber, right? Because we ended up having to park way down. And then another afternoon trying to get down to the Cape of Good Hope and all that before, to have enough time to see it before it got dark as well. And that's a good point. And then also, I would just add to that, then coming back or trying to make dinner reservations or something like that. Just being aware that the traffic could definitely be an issue. The other thing that I would add is that I recently saw a different itinerary that somebody had put together and their meals were all kind of be on the go. Okay, while you were doing this, then you could kind of grab something and go. But I feel like that just based on our experience, that that would be difficult, right? Yeah, there were some fast food restaurants. That's not something that we would have enjoyed or eating something from, I don't know, maybe a sandwich from a gas station. I don't know. But what we experienced is that it's like a lot of other cultures is that they expect you to sit down and then it's not like it's going to be quick. So I would just factor that in. So for example, it was one time when we did Boulder's Beach and, you know, we thought, okay, we would have this extra time before we had to go to Table Mountain. But that lunch experience, like took every bit of time. And even one time we sat down for tea and they're like, oh, you know, at the gardens, go sit down and we'll bring it. And then they've got to bring the ticket. And so it's not, so don't expect, you know, some of those to like be maybe quick dining experiences because it's just not, just because you might find the timeframe being a little difficult for
you. Yeah. I think this is a culture where they value sitting down, having conversation over meal. And so, you know, over And you meal. fast so, food know, dining just isn't part of this culture.
of this culture. Yeah, for sure.
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so then the next one, number three, then the next one, number three, we would say probably ideally rent a car if you plan to visit Cape of Good Hope, Chapman's Peak Drive, if you plan to drive to the wine region, because I think that would be very hard to do like lots of separate Ubers or if you don't want to drive. So keep in mind that they do drive on the opposite side of the road. So it's opposite from the I U.S. I mean, think it wasn't it wasn't difficult to the So road. it's opposite from the U S I mean, I think it wasn't, it wasn't difficult to do that. I think you could get the hang of that as well. You could check out, we'll put a link to this, but we have some resources for you, Trippiamo. And it was not specific to South Africa, but you could at least see what it's like to drive on the other side, you know, of the road and stuff like that. So that would be, but if if you not, road and stuff like So that. that would be.
that would
But if if you're not, not comfortable doing then that, I would say to like book a tour that includes the transportation. So let's say you want to go to the rock, you know, to the wine region, book a tour that then they would drive you there, for example, or get a tour that would take you for the day to the boulders beach and down to the cape of good hope or something like that but we really really enjoyed having our own transportation yeah i agree and you are you're
yeah i agree and you are you're not just on the opposite side of the road you are on the opposite side of the car too so you know if you're not great with driving a manual transmission make sure that you request an automatic yeah that's a great point.
a great point. Yeah, but they do not require the international driver's license, which is not difficult to get, but they don't require that there. We look that up. So that would just be a tip is that if you can rent a car, that would be a great way to just kind of have a lot more freedom on your own. All right. So the next one is once you've kind of said, okay, these are the things that I really want to do. These are things I want to prioritize. And this is kind of an order. Research the opening and closing times and whether or not you need to buy tickets ahead of time and in those time slots. And so here's what I would recommend. So the first one I would recommend that if you want to go to Robben Island to look at that and pick that day and book that ahead of time. They only have two time slots of options per day. And this is at their official, the Robben Island. They have a welcome center that you go to at the V&A waterfront. And then the boat takes you over there. It takes like an hour. And then they put you into groups on the buses to take you to see a couple of sites. And then you actually go into the prison. And what was really neat about this is they had one of the political prisoners that had been in prison there. And what was just so cool about this is that that's not going to be something that's going to be available forever. Right. So he comes and shares, you know, his experiences. And so that was just a really neat, that was a neat experience. And then they take you back on the boat and it's another hour. So it's a good half, half day, probably like you need to a lot, like five hours to do it. And I think we actually got back probably like don't plan something for right after that, except for maybe eating, because I think we got back maybe an hour later than I thought that we were going to get back. So just kind of keep that in mind. But then when you get back, you can eat right there at the at the waterfront. So, yeah, that was what we did is we just kind of grabbed a late
was what we did is we just kind of grabbed a late lunch when we got finished with that tour. And, you know, we found this a lot is we found ourselves grabbing kind of a late lunch. And so then, you know, you're almost like, I don't know if I really want anything for dinner. So, you know, kind of be thinking about that a little bit. I would say the culture probably tends to lean towards the late lunch and then maybe a small dinner or something like that. But keep that in mind.
Yeah. So I would definitely say like if you have like specific like places. So they're really big. They are on these really nice restaurants having like chef's menus and prefix menus. But they're like 10 and 12 courses. Phenomenal type of experiences so keep that in mind when you're planning that is not only the traffic to like be able to get there if you're coming from somewhere else but planning around that because you're right we Scott and I did not end up we unfortunately didn't have time to do that we kind of did one of those a little bit with the wine tour but we didn't ever make it back for, cause we'd eaten like a big, you know, afternoon meal every day. So, so that was one of them. We highly recommend the fast track ticket for Table Mountain because you could get up there. And even if you have the regular ticket, then you just still have to wait in the queue. And it was shorter when we went, but like they had it set up to where it could have been. I mean, it looked like probably like hours long, wouldn't you say? And then when you, when you leave to come down, same thing, like you get to get in the fast track ticket. So look at that and see, but if you don't have, well, I mean, even if you do have a ton of time, just like look at that as an option, because then we were able to come back down as well once the sun set. And then again, it was going to be many, many cable cars of the people who didn't have the fast track tickets.
And it wasn't like the fast track was all that expensive either.
Yeah. I mean, it was, it was a little bit more, but just for the timeframe instead of being there, but I would highly recommend that if you want Table Mountain, well, we'll talk about it in a second. So, cause we're going to talk about the, the flexibility for that, but book, go ahead and book that in advance. And I'll give you some tips on that in a second. Cause that was the one that we had to rearrange. Then next, if you want to do a tour of the Bocap and the townships, that's another one that you need to book in advance as well. And then of course the wine tours and the wine tram, that's tickets that you can book. They may have them, you know, but I just, you hate to, you hate to go all that way. And then it'd be like a super busy day. We went on a Sunday and it wasn't a huge group tour, but he had said the day before, even his group tour was like, I don't know what, three or four times the number of people. And then, you know, the wine tram could have sold out. So you just hate to go all that way and then not, you know, not playing. We didn't buy tickets ahead of time for Kirstenbosch. We didn't buy tickets ahead of time for the funicular at the Cape of Good Hope. That's something that you don't have to have. We wrote it up and then walked down. So some of those you can be more flexible.
Yeah, I'd say on the wine tram, remember, we didn't spend, it wasn't the wine tram itself that even though we went on that and had a small section that we went on, it was really more the tasting that we did, the tasting tour that we bought tickets, it was really more the tasting that we the did, tasting tour that we bought tickets for. And we would highly recommend, we did a tasting and pairing tour, which was great. Make sure you go there absolutely starving to death because they start out first place and they're going to feed you a full meal. And then you're going to go to two more places and get full meals.
and get full meals. I thought it would be something small. Yeah, And so we had actually eaten. We had actually eaten breakfast. And so and the reason that I had picked that is because the wine tram itself was going to be $50 a person. And so this was a good bit more. But then we didn't have to figure out from there, like, which wineries do we want to do? What times will we get there? And so I will say that the wine tram is a combination, depending on which town that you were in. And we were in Franschhoek. It's a combination of a train and some trams. And so it did take us to all the stops. One of them was on the train and the other two were on the tram. So I'll put a link to that. It was absolutely phenomenal.
One of the things that I would recommend, and you might be tempted to skip this, and it turned out to be one of my favorite parts of the tours that we did in Cape Town, is the township tours. Because you're going to see these townships from the roads and stuff like that. And you're thinking to yourself, there's no way I'm going to go into these townships. And no one would recommend that you go into them on your own, right? So you really need to have a tour and someone take you. But I just found that to be one of the most interesting parts of the trip that we did and really one of the most enjoyable parts.
Yeah, I think seeing some of these historical sites and learning a little bit more about these history from a local was something that was important to us. You know, a lot of people might be there just for nature adventure, but that was something that we important to A lot us. of people might be there just for nature adventure, but that was something that we've really wanted to work in between that and the Robben Island. But what I wanted to add was I really, I think I ended up reading the reviews more carefully in this one only because I started to notice that same tour, it would be like, this was fabulous. This was horrible. You know, the tour guide didn't do what they said, etc. And so I ended up booking with somebody totally different. And it was called Tours by Locals. And they do places all over the place, but it ended up being a phenomenal experience. Yeah, it was
was interesting because we had a couple of South Africans with us. And they were like, we're going to go into a township. Like, you know, they were questioning whether we should do this or not. And I think at the end of the day, they really enjoyed it and had fun. Because we went to like a cultural center that they built inside of one of the townships. And, you know, with the idea of giving the kids that live in these townships an idea of what they could do in life. Right. And so, you know, they immersed them into art and music and things of that nature. And, you know, we just had a great time.
Yeah, we did. And so it was just really good so i was really glad that i took the time to to research and find one that really hit the mark but that that was neat we they teach them some about like traditional music and stuff like that so we haven't even got a demonstration for the drums and so it was a neat, neat experience. Well, let's talk a little bit about leaving some flexibility in our plans because of
talk a little
talk a little bit about leaving some flexibility in our plans because of weather. And this was important. We've hinted slightly about it with going to Table Mountain, but it's an important factor when you're planning what you're going to do and making sure that you have some flexibility in your schedule. So if you need to pivot and change your plans that day, you can.
Yeah. So this is one of those experiences where you want to book it as early in your trip as possible. So, of course, I did mention like, okay, if you're going kayaking or you're going to some of those other things. So the ones that are weather dependent, book those earlier in your experience or in your trip. And so the reason is because they have just completely variable weather. And so if you know, like when you have big mountains like this, right, you might have a lot of cloud cover at certain times of the day. And so that can happen first thing in the morning with Table Mountain. It's also really cool for you to see it at sunset, but that might not be a possibility if you have high winds because the cable cars aren't going to run with the high winds. Now, I would like to add that you can hike up Table Mountain. We even saw some, they had to have been locals, right? Because people were running. So I think some people for their afternoon activity or their exercise, right? They would do the trails and run up and run around and then, you know, run back down. So there's lots of trails you can do to hike up and down, but it would also be disappointing as a visitor, even if you've hiked all that way, right, to run into bad weather or have zero visibility, because that's part of it is seeing the water and seeing the city and stuff like that. But so book it early in your trip. And then it will give you like a login for the website. So make sure that you like create account with your tickets. And you are actually able to go in and change those tickets based on the weather. So if it's closed or there's bad weather or it could potentially be bad weather, you just go in there and just modify those. So you're not, you know, stuck into that time frame and it's completely variable. So for example, we didn't have the weekend because we did the wine region. And, but I think it had actually been, you know, cloudy in the morning and then it had cleared up. And so then I just kind of kept checking because it will tell you visibility, what the visibility is, if it's opened, if it's closed, and then you can just go on there and switch those. So I highly recommend that you, again, book it early in your trip and then keep an eye on that website, which I will link. And like I said, you create an account and then you can very easily go switch that. So we had planned to do that our first full morning in Cape Town and kind of planned our day around that. But I went and looked and the visibility was going to be for the next day and kind of keeping out on the weather. Visibility was going to be, you know, zero. So it was just really no point. So we kind of had to flip our schedule and we ended up having a fantastic experience. We did the fast track. We ended up seeing it at sunset. We also, you're going to need more time up there too.
at sunset. We also, you're going to need more time up there too. Number six, you've already talked about booking the fast track ticket. So we've gotten that one taken care of. The only other thing I think I would add about Table Mountain was there was some nice little places to grab a drink or a cup of coffee, maybe a little snack and sit out and just enjoy the views. So, you know, make sure to give yourself some time to do that.
So just one other thing I wanted to add to what Scott was saying about giving yourself plenty of time is that even from reading the guidebooks and talking to people, I didn't get a feel for how much there was to see, right? Nobody didn't really say it's like, you know, go up to Table Mountain. There was a few tips like that, but that you could really walk all the way around that top. And then like you said, there were coffee shops and bars and, you know, places to sit down and eat. So give yourself plenty of time. But they do close, what, right before sunset or right at sunset. So just make sure that if you're going in the late afternoon to give yourself plenty of time to do that.
Well, if you're a foodie, this is going to be the place that you want to go and enjoy the chef and tasting menus. But Melissa talked about that a little bit earlier, is you're going to need to make reservations in advance for that. You know, we enjoyed it up in the wine region, but also in Cape Town, you have those options as well. So let's talk a little bit about, you know, how expensive would you say Cape Town is compared to some other places that we've visited?
So on this trip specifically, it was more expensive than Cairo, for sure, but less expensive than even where we went on our own in Nairobi. And we found, so I will say there are some very expensive high-end hotels, okay? So you could very easily spend $1,000 or more a night. But for us, we stayed at a couple of different Marriott properties. And for us, when we looked at the points price and the cash price, it was more beneficial for us to just pay the cash price, included breakfast. It just wasn't a good value for the money. So you can find very reasonably priced. We were also surprised though that we felt like the food was in most places was relatively inexpensive. We went to like a farm winery the very first afternoon for lunch, Babylon Storen, I think. I'm very surprised at how much food and local food and how inexpensive it was. I think just because like, you know, because we had been in Kenya. So it's very, wouldn't you say, I mean, it's very much more affordable. Now, what I did look, I did mention that Scott and I didn't end up doing those tasting menus, but I think some of the higher end ones would be about $125 US dollars with some wine pairings for like a 10 or 12 course menu. I don't think like for a chef's menu at a very nice restaurant, I don't feel like comparatively, like if you did one, let's say in Aruba or in, you know, New York or something like that, I think that is a very reasonable
price. We also had a lot of people ask us about, did you feel safe in South Africa? And I think that there's always this perception of if you focus in on an area, you can find bad things that happen just about anywhere, right? But there's this perception of people that say that Johannesburg is, you know, very crimeridden and it's not safe to visit. Now, we talked to people there and they said that it was the opposite, that Cape Town was the place that was dangerous and stuff. We saw none of that, right? I think if you went into the townships, you can definitely find it in certain areas of those townships. But just in the city and around, we didn't see anything that looked dangerous. We didn't have any, you know, awkward situations or, you know, uncomfortable situations. So I would say that Cape Town was a very safe place to go. that Cape Town was a very safe place to go. Always, though, you know, with anywhere that you travel, keep your head on a swivel, pay close attention to your surroundings. Don't go into places that look really shady because they probably are, you know, just use some common sense. Don't leave things
things out invisible in your car. I mean, when we were in that tour on the Bocap neighborhood, there was some man who even told the tour guide, oh, don't go, you know, two more streets over or something like that. And he was like, yeah, yeah, yeah, I know, I know. So I would just say, you know, don't, especially at night and stick to the touristy areas and stuff like that. But absolutely, absolutely. It was fine if you stay in this. Yeah, we we did question because there are a lot of areas where people are now buying properties inside these townships.
Yeah, we we did question because there are a lot of areas where people are now buying properties inside these townships. So in the townships like Bocap, for an example, it has some really nice homes there and they're really colorful and they paint them and they even try to tell some stories through the artwork and the murals and stuff like that. But like Melissa said, you go a couple of blocks in the wrong direction and you're into an area where, you know, even the locals are like, don't go over there. That's not a good place. But we noticed that in between where that one street was, where they built all of the art galleries and things like that, people are buying those houses and they're turning them into Airbnbs. And so you have to be very careful, I think, renting an Airbnb in Cape Town, because if you're not familiar with those townships or some of those boundaries of the townships, you might could find yourself in a transitional neighborhood.
Yeah, for sure. And then I think the last big tip before we just kind of share a couple of experiences that we thought that were just extraordinary that we would recommend, we really think it was beneficial to read up on some of the history and origins of Cape Town and some of the racial and political struggles over the years, just so that you would better understand what they were telling you in the BOCAP, in the townships, on the Robben Island tours, and even the history and the origins of Table Mountain and Kirstenbach Gardens and the Cape of Good Hope, just to appreciate, okay, this is what, you know, this is what this place is. Like you've probably heard of a lot of these places, but just kind of understand more about it. And visit like a
like a township, for example, you'll understand how it's set up and, you know, that just crossing a road from one township to the other, you change over and you're not in the same anymore.
Yeah. And their whole, the culture is completely different in everything. So it just made it interesting. And then how that plays into life there today. And I think that's the value that you get though, then with the tour, because that's something that you're not going to understand in the But like, book. you talking to people and meeting the know, people at the community center and stuff like that.
know, people at the community center and stuff like that. Yeah, I think I just because you had done a far more reading on that than I than I had going into it. And I saw that aha moment, you know, kind of click with you. And so I would just say, do a little bit of reading before you go ahead or before you go there. And then that way, when you get there, you'll understand it just a little bit better. So just a few things
a few things that we wanted to mention, and we have actually talked about a couple of these things, but that we found great value in, as I mentioned, the day that we arrived, somebody had recommended that we go to Babylon Store and Wine Estate, and I'll put the link to that. We were absolutely blown away. This was kind of our first experience. It's kind of on the way to, well, it's in the wine region, but kind of on the way from Cape Town that we stopped at in just an absolutely beautiful estate. You pay a little bit of an entrance fee. They have a couple of restaurants where you can make reservations, but we just kind of did the walk up. That went just fabulous. And then Scott had alluded to booking the Wontram pairing tour, which ended up, you know, if we're going to pay all this for just the tram, you know, all that was included. They basically served us breakfast pairings. Just a massive lunch. I mean, it was phenomenal into being kind of like one of those pairing things. And then the third place that we went was dessert pairings. All three wineries were phenomenal. And they just kind of took care of everything, not knowing anything, not having been there and knowing anything. I think now we would know, you know, a little bit more about maybe how to book or plan. But then I would say I could go back there and spend like a whole week. So if you have like more days, like phenomenal. I had talked to someone who is from
had talked to someone who is from South Africa and I told them the places that we went and they were like, oh, you went to some of the best wineries. So, you know, if you can get on one of those pairing tours, they're going to take you to some of the best wineries. So, you know, if you can get on one of those pairing tours, they're going to take you to some really high-end wineries.
Come with us to the seventh continent. Join us on a bucket list trip of a lifetime to Antarctica in February 2026. We're finalizing the details now. They'll be available really soon. We want you to be the first on our list. Go to sunshinetravelers.com slash group trip and drop your name and You'll email. be available really soon we want you to be the first on our list go to sunshinetravelers.com slash group trip and drop your name and email you'll be the first to get all the details and be able to save your spot on the ship so before we go off of the experiences
ship so before we go off of the experiences that we did i think you wanted to talk a little bit about the guided tour that we did at Kirstenbosch Gardens. Yeah, so highly
so highly recommend. It was actually a free guided tour. I think we'd seen the placard for it. I think they do a couple of them, but then they probably have it on their website. But so worth it. She gave us the history of the gardens and walked us around and really showed us like, you know, these are the species. It's kind of like a highlight tour, but it was completely free, included in your admission. And if that's all the time that you had, too, that would be a great like we had wandered around a little bit and then came back for that and then, you know, got something to eat. But like if you could time your trip around to that, you just meet at a certain point and and go on it. But it was a phenomenal tour. and go on it, but it was a phenomenal tour.
we hope you're Well, feeling inspired and prepared to plan your unforgettable trip to Cape Town. From sipping wine in the breathtaking Cape Winelands to learning about South Africa's complex history on Robben Island, we've covered the essential tips to make your adventure as smooth and enjoyable as possible.
As we mentioned, everyone's itinerary will look a little different depending on your interests. But one thing is for sure, Cape Town has something for everyone. Nature lovers, history buffs, foodies, and adventurers alike. Remember to plan ahead, stay flexible, and embrace the incredible culture, landscapes, and experiences that make this city truly special. landscapes and experiences that make the city truly special. So a few final takeaways. Do your leave research, room for spontaneity, and consider booking tours or fast-track tickets for those must-see spots like Take Bowl Mountain or the Wine Tram. And don't forget to prioritize safety as you explore. Take your time and read up on the history of Cape Town to fully appreciate its unique charm. If you'd like
like a more detailed look at our itinerary, including links to book some of the tours and experiences we loved, like the Wine Tram food pairing tour, Babylon Storen wine estate, or our Bocap and Township tour with Cabello, check out the show notes for this episode. Cape Town was the perfect finale to our African adventure, and we hope it inspires you to make it a priority on your travel list. We hope you enjoyed this episode and found some inspiration to help you with your travel journeys. If you could take a moment to leave us a review on your favorite podcast platform, it would be greatly appreciated. Your five-star reviews help us get discovered by others and possibly featured on your favorite platform. Don't forget to follow or subscribe to our podcast to get notified of new episodes as they are released. You can also find us on Instagram and Facebook at Sunshine Travelers Podcast. Remember, that is Travelers with one L. Most importantly, please share it with your friends to help them catch the travel bug. You never know, they may become your greatest travel companion.
