Day 11 – Cape Town

We left the stunning scenery of the Stellenbosch wine lands as we journeyed to arguably the country’s most diverse city – Cape Town. On entering the city we were unprepared and overwhelmed by the massive stretch of shanty towns that lined the main freeways for miles before the city.

 

It was absolutely shocking to see how far the communities reached and to see how these people lived.

Before settling into our hotel, we visited the renowned Kirstenbosch Gardens, home to an amazing collection of indigenous South African plants. It was absolutely stunning – especially as it was overlooked by Table Mountain and Devil’s Peak.

From walking along the tree tops bridge,

 

discovering the beautiful, native flowers

 

 

 

 to admiring the park's striking modern art,

the whole place was wonderful!

We then continued on to our hotel – a modern, luxuriously furnished building in the heart of the metropolitan hub.

After settling in, we visited the V&A Waterfront – a large shopping centre and bustling harbour, home to names such as Gucci, Burberry, Tommy Hilfiger and Prada. Unfortunately we didn’t have much time to shop in the centre as we went to wander round the “Red roof” craft market which hosted a wonderful selection of handcrafted goods – from masks to mosaics; portraits to jewellery; printed bed sheets to painted beads as well as some wonderful sculpted animals and African bowls.

 

After shopping 'till we dropped, we recuperated with a few cocktails as we watched the sun go down over the harbour and table mountain.