I'm about to go to [Cape Town]

Lewisham

Hey all,
I'm off to Cape Town on Friday in order to attend a conference. Being poor, I wasn't able to sign up for any of the fun conference excursions (plus my fiancee and I promised we would go on safari together one day for the first time for both of us). I will have a couple of days either side of the conference to do stuff.

Table Mountain is a must for me.

But what else is there? I won't have a car, but can presumably take a taxi to places. Safety is an important consideration for me, as I might well be alone, I don't want to get into any trouble.

Liquid Hellz

World Cup is going on, not sure if it is in South Africa yet but if your into that it is something you wouldn't want to miss given the opportunity. If you can afford it you could go to Antarctica. Seeing some great white sharks in action would be pretty awesome. I have also heard the beaches are pretty nice. Going to a nature reserve would be pretty cool. Not sure if that classify as a safari though. Going to Madagascar would be pretty cool too.. but that might be a little time consuming and probably cost a lot.

Lewisham

OK, thanks for the help, but:
a) World Cup is going on in a month, which makes me sad face
b) I don't have any time/money to go to Antarctica or Madagascar!

I'm looking for things in Cape Town itself really.

vonPoonBurGer

I was in Cape Town early last year for work. It was pretty awesome. I see you've got Table Mountain on your list already. That's a must-see for sure. You can actually spend a significant amount of time up there if you're into hiking (you can hike across the top of the table; bring water and sunscreen if you're gonna do this). In terms of other stuff to do, here are some of the highlights I recall:
- We went to a lion park (near Pretoria, not Cape Town), and that was pretty cool. A quick google tells me that Cape Town also has lion parks, and while I can't speak to the quality of any of them specifically I'm guessing one of those might interest you.
- We did some shopping, drinking and general lounging-around at the V&A Waterfront, which is quite picturesque and has tons of shops and restaurants.
- We spent some time on a beach that I think was on Beach Rd., not all that far from the waterfront.
- We checked out Hout Bay. There were some boat tours going out of there, but we didn't take one. We checked out the shops (very touristy), watched locals swimming in the bay, watched semi-wild seals that have learned that people will throw them fish scraps if they put on a show. Bought fish scraps to throw to seals.
- Went to some wineries in Stellenbosch, which is quite close to Cape Town. I'm not sure how you'd do this without a car, but I have to imagine there's some kind of bus or shuttle tours. I highly recommend it if you get the chance. So many free samples, sweet tap-dancing jesus, so many... I bought a bunch of wine, port, muscat, all ridiculously cheap and also ridiculously good.
- We drove out to Gansbaai ("Gans Bay"), thinking about doing some cage diving with sharks. We ended up deciding not to do it as we were advised that the sharks like colder water and we might pay a bunch of money and see no sharks. Apparently May to October is the peak season for them. This is probably outside your range and budget, but... frickin' sharks!!

None of these places felt unsafe but a) I was with three other guys and b) we had a car, so that may make a difference. Almost all of these places are in what I'd call the affluent parts of Cape Town (except maybe Hout Bay, which was more neutral/shared) so they didn't give me any kind of negative vibe. Basically, if the buildings look like this, you're fine; if they look like this, turn the hell around and backtrack. That's not an exaggeration, by the way. Cape Town (like almost all South African cities I've seen) has miles and miles of shanty towns on the periphery of the city. Don't go into those. But it's pretty unlikely you would, those areas are well out from the city center.

Also, when you say "taxi," I'm guessing you don't mean one of these. That's what most of the South Africans I talked to were referring to when they talked about taxis. Avoid these, they're pretty notorious for their poor safety and the fact that companies used to (and maybe still do?) fight over the lucrative routes. I don't think you can just flag a cab in most places, you usually have to call for one. I'd ask at the front desk of your hotel, they'll know the name & number of reputable taxi / hire car companies.

vonPoonBurGer

Addendum! I forgot to mention The Brass Bell, which is in Kalk Bay. We had brunch at some place along the bay, watched some people kite surfing, then went drinking at the Brass Bell. Part of the bar/restaurant is basically sitting on some pilings over the water, so it has a pretty cool view. It a ways down the cape from downtown Cape Town, so maybe out of your range, but I'll throw it out there anyway.

darkmayo

A good friend of mine is there currently finishing up her degree. Its a pretty awesome place but yea, becareful and I would suggest not going anywhere at night alone.

Lewisham

Thanks for all the great suggestions! My advisor may be renting a car to go to wine country, so I'll make sure he has to take me with him

vonPoonBurGer wrote: »

Also, when you say "taxi," I'm guessing you don't mean one of these. That's what most of the South Africans I talked to were referring to when they talked about taxis. Avoid these, they're pretty notorious for their poor safety and the fact that companies used to (and maybe still do?) fight over the lucrative routes. I don't think you can just flag a cab in most places, you usually have to call for one. I'd ask at the front desk of your hotel, they'll know the name & number of reputable taxi / hire car companies.

Yikes! Thanks for the heads-up. I was planning to ask the hotel how best to get around town... this doesn't look like it

Aioua

I was in cape town on a missions trip waaaaay back before I was an atheist, and the one thing I remember that was fun and would also be free is wild penguins. We went to some park by the beach and the rocks were just covered with 'em. Thousands. Unfortunately I have no idea where it was, since I wasn't planning anything, just getting driven around.

Liquid Hellz

Directly from my friend who has been living in Cape Town for the last 7 months with a youth mission.

Jason: Suggestions for Cape Town: Table mountain is cool for sure... Camps bay is about 20min away and a nice spot on the coast with restaurants and what not, just a cool place to hang out and see the sunset as well. Should cost no more than R120 to get there and back but it depends on your taxi.

If you happen to get a car Chapmans Peak drive is a must as are the wine lands. The penguins are cool as well and easily accessible by train. The train is relatively safe I take it at least once a month back and forth but be sure to spend the extra and get metro plus (first class) even though on a busy day there is no difference in quality or comfort. The penguins are in Simons Town which is the end of the line so it is easy to find and you can't miss your stop. On the way back you could stop at the brass in Kaulk Bay as it is only two or three stops away from Simons town and the brass bell is right near the station. The train stops running at about 7:30pm so keep that in mind and be sure to get a timetable.

Cape Town it self has a lot of stuff to do in terms of just being out and about. Green market square of long street is a good place to get some souvenirs and things like that and long street is also a cool place to walk around and grab a bite to eat. V & A waterfront is also a nice place to grab something to eat and to hang out, there are normally seals on the docks in the evenings specially the one near the Green Dolphin Jazz bar, just look out for the pot smoking hippie pirate, he might try and get you to pay him for looking at his "guard seal".

Even though world cup isn't until next month it is worth going to the greenpoint area to see the stadium and I think they even run tours of it; it isn't far from city center and is even walkable if you are up for it. If you do Chapmans peak the Cape of Good Hope nature reserve is easily accessible from that area and is the most southern west point of Africa and has some gorgeous views and some cool things to see. Just like anywhere else you need to be aware of your surroundings and not carry to valuables out in the open (cameras and what not). Safety has been increased with the coming world cup and there are many public safety officers around, even at night.

Oh and that picture and reference to the taxi is correct but people will know what you are really looking for. Riki's are cheap and reputable as well as the cars or what we would know as a taxi. Depending on where you are you can find them on the streets or even commonly asked if you need one.

Camps Bay they all wait in a line on the street and are easy to find when it is time to leave. I would suggest that when you find one who is decent on rates or even runs a meter getting there number and using them the rest of the time.

firewaterword

Ride in one the last operating English Electric Lightnings!

I would do awful things to go to Cape Town just to visit this place.

I'm sure it's horrifically expensive, but if adrenaline is your thing, it's surely a ride of a lifetime.