From Cape Town, with Wine

Cape Town proved to be quite relaxed, also living up to its reputation as one of South Africa's jewels. With a few of the lads and new local friends, my few days in this city were ones I won't forget.

For the first day, I took a stroll around the waterfront and took in all the impressive sights Cape Town had to offer. It was completely different to every other city in Africa - a lot cleaner, more organized, and offered much more to do! From there, I proceeded with the lads to one of the local wineries. This winery also had one of three cold distilleries in the world. Luckily, one of the lads knew a girl working there, so we were well taken care of for the afternoon! We all proceeded to go out that night, and Cape Town has incredible nightlife. After a few weeks in the Middle East and more driving around on my own throughout Africa, it was nice to let loose and rewind a little.

Nature was on the agenda for the following day, and I ventured out with another group of friends that I made in the Drakensberg Mountains just a few weeks earlier. After a nice drive out towards the Cape, we landed at Boulder's Beach, famous for their African Penguins. Shortly after arriving, however, the weather took a turn for the worst, nearly writing off the rest of the day. The next day was a bit more pleasant, at least enough to hike Table Mountain, the large tabletop cliffs looking over all of Cape Town. As you can see from the above photo, the views are quite stunning. It was well worth the two hour hike in quite cold conditions. South Africa can be quite frigid at times, and I was barely prepared! Still, it was a nice day out overlooking the bay and back towards the Cape of Good Hope.

It was time to say goodbye to the lads the next day. I ventured out to Stellenbosch with them, an extremely nice town just outside of Cape Town where they landed the plane for the weekend. After waving them off, I was picked up by a new local friend to venture out to the Cape of Good Hope and Cape Point. We hiked to all of the lookout points, even stumbling down to one of the abandoned lighthouses, seemingly on the edge of the world. A nice lunch was well in order, and we headed to a cafe that would remind you of somewhere along the cost of England. From there we headed back to Cape Town via Camps Bay, home to the most expensive real estate on the continent. It was incredible, to say the least. To finish up the day, we headed to Lion's Head, a lookout just above Camps Bay with views of Cape Town and back towards Table Mountain. It was a nice ending to a lovely day with a Cape Town local. 

If you're ever in South Africa, or the Southern African region in general, be sure to put Cape Town towards the top of your list. The city and surrounding region are a spectacle, to say the least.