I spent a day in Cape Town: another Wonder of The World in the bag!

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Arriving to Cape Town and South Africa

The whole point of coming to my country #75 was to see one of the New Wonders of Nature: The Table Mountain, and even though this list has been critized, I do agree that the 7 selected sites are amazing and unique. I had been already in Hạ Long Bay, Iguazú / Iguaçu Falls, Komodo Island and now Table Mountain was finally going to be added to my personal list. By the end of the year I should complete a fifth one, and hopefully the 2 remaining ones are included in a near future trip.

But I was just getting to the hotel from a 18 hours trip, and needed to refresh. The hotel was the Cape Royale Luxury Suites, which is basically an Airbnb style hotel, where the host greets you and shows you around. My host was very nice, she gave me a whole bottle of wine and a big bar of chocolate for free. She also asked me what my plans were. I told her I wanted to go to the Table Mountain, and she told me to go now. My plan was to go the next day, but she said the weather was going to be terrible. So, I took a shower, changed and rushed to take an Uber. I could not even take pictures of the amazing apartment I was staying in, only the cute corridors.

My fourth Wonder of Nature: Table Mountain

I had just been a few hours in this country and I was already rushing to see what I came to see lol. But at least I would get it out of the way, and tomorrow I would get to tour other places in the peninsula. The Uber took me to the lower station of the cable car, and even though confusing, I was able to buy a ticket and in no time I was going up the Table Mountain.

Something I do not remember seeing on the videos I saw of Cape Town is that the car is revolving, meaning that regardless where you stand, you would see all around.

We finally made it to the top, and now I had a 221 km² area ready for me to explore lol. But I was just going to focused on the main views, plus it was already getting late. Cape Town looked amazing from up here.

The downtown, the wharf, the stadium, looked so different from any city I had been to.

The cable car ride was fast, and now from the hiking trails I could see it coming back up with other visitors.

I was so grateful with my hotel host because I was able to come with the perfect weather. No “table cloth” in sight, no clouds, no rain, no bad weather, everything seemed so perfect. If I had come the day after, I would have not been able to see anything because of the permanent fog on that day.

It was definitely chilly up here, so thankfully I had grabbed my jacket before taking the Uber, even if it feels warm below. The view of Camps Bay, an isolated neighborhood of Cape Town, was stunning.

After some time I was already on the way back, I did not see major fauna, but there flora was very different to whatever I had seen before, not too similar, but it reminded me of the frailejones in Colombia.

Almost at the end of my walk, it seemed like the clouds were coming up from the west and were about to invade the top of the mountain. I literally made it on time to void that.

It is always time for a coffee, so decided to get some at the Table Mountain Cafe. It could have been better but at least the also sell food and souvenirs.

Time to head for the Exit to get again in the Cable Car, the experience had been satisfactory, it was what I expected from a Nature Wonder of The World and more. I would definitely come back for a longer hike, and explore even more of this park.

Sea Point Neighborhood

I took an Uber after I got down on the Cable Car, and this time I was feeling hungry and wanted to explore the Sea Point neighborhood and promenade. I got off in the famous Mojo Market, which at this time was not too crowded.

The food options were overwhelming, but I decided to eat a chicken gyro, and I would do this while walking on the promenade. I had to ask someone if it was rude to eat in public lol.

The sunset was about to happen and people were out and about on this promenade. The views of the coast were splendid, and the mountains on the background really made a magical frame.

I would totally recommend doing this walk on the promenade, I know it is probably even better in the summer, but even in this chilly day of April energy was still there.

I kept walking north while eating my gyro and getting closer to my hotel. The sunset was behind me and I just did not know right now that every single day in South Africa, the sunset was going to be beautiful.

My plan was to go to the Green Point Park, and then walk to my hotel, but to my surprise the closed the park at 6 pm. So, I took an Uber to my hotel and got to see the last minutes of the sunset from the rooftop.

Time to end the day

The day was finally ending, and even though I was jetlagged with a 7 hour difference, I kind of wanted to continue exploring the city tonight. But the next day I was going to get the chance to do so. If you want to know what happened, just click here.