Day 1 Cape Town – Peninsula South, Cape Peninsula and Atlantic Seaboard South

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Day 1 we arrived at very early in the morning but spent quite a bit of time sorting out our car rental. Cape Town is great in many ways but sometimes their efficiency left a little something to be desired. Finally we got our rental sorted and, after a bit of a nervous start with driving, it was off to our B&B to drop our bags and then off for a bit of sight-seething. With the gorgeous weather we decided to head down towards the Cape before driving back up again towards the Atlantic seaboard – kind of a Two Oceans in the car without the running. These are the spots we hit.

  • Simon’s Town. Here we stopped in for a beautiful seafood lunch. Jules and I were literally dying to sample some of the South African seafood so we pretty much headed to the first restaurant we saw for a giant platter. It ended up being the most expensive meal of our whole trip but it was definitely tasty and great quality.
  • Boulder’s Beach. Home to the African Penguin colony you may have to jostle for position along the boardwalk to get a good look at some very cute penguins. The penguins were definitely entertaining but some of the funniest sights were the tourists packing the place out.
  • Cape Peninsula. The road down the Cape Peninsula takes you through some scenic mountainous driving. Your ultimate destination will no doubt be Cape Point and Cape of Good Hope. Although neither are technically the southernmost point of South Africa it feels pretty darn close. We decided to take the hard route up Cape Point but taking the footpath but boy it was hard work. Felt quite rewarding. For those who feel like less of a work out there is a relatively cheap furnicular which will take you most of the way up.
  • Chapman’s Peak. The drive from the Cape Peninsula up the Western Coast of South Africa is not to be missed. The highlight is the Chapman’s Peak drive. This is the best drive you’ll ever do with its spectacular vistas of the Atlantic Ocean. This was also the place of our first (but not last) amazing South Afican sunset.
  • We finished the day with a meal with Anita and Dave at the Sports CafĂ© at the pretty V&A Waterfront (which we later explored during the day.)