With Marie and Mathieu at the Bay Harbour Market, Hout Bay. Cheers!

After about three weeks of meandering down the eastern coast of South Africa (see previous post), Mathieu and I arrived to the port city of Cape Town, also referred to as the Mother City as it’s the oldest city in South Africa.

We were joined in the Mother City by Mathieu’s mom, Marie, who flew out from Paris. We were very excited to explore the area with her. And, she brought us an array of beautiful, fun, delicious gifts. Yeah! While Marie was ready to camp and rough it, as she’d done when she joined us on our roadtrip in Mexico, this time we spent a luxurious week in a hip Airbnb apartment with a lovely view of Cape Town’s iconic Table Mountain.

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On our first full day exploring, we had a bit of bad luck. While downtown at the District Six Museum learning more about the effects of apartheid in Cape Town area, someone broke into Wily (our bakkie). They smashed the side window and grabbed the few things left inside: the new kite Marie had brought us (crap) and a day-pack with my favorite hoodie and my down jacket (double crap). It was a bummer but we didn’t let it spoil our trip. We got the window replaced and made sure to be more careful.

Over the next 8 days, the three of us had a great time exploring the colorful downtown area and lively waterfront, tasting delicious wine along the scenic Wine Route, eating good food, hiking/taking the cable car to the top of Table Mountain, walking along beautiful white-sand beaches, watching Jackass penguins (only found in southern Africa) tend to their chicks, perusing interesting handicrafts and artwork at local markets, and admiring the amazing mountainous coastal scenery of the Cape Peninsula, including at Cape Point.

It was a fabulous week in a really beautiful area. And our experience was even more special since we got to share it with our wonderful travel partner Marie. Merci Marie!  

I’ll let the pictures and videos show the beauty of Cape Town and the Cape Peninsula. Enjoy!