Day 28: South Africa - Making Cape Town's Acquaintance

After 2 days of plane travel, we landed in Cape Town at 7:30am.  Unlike in the UK, going through border control and customs was a fairly quick process and we were able to pick up the car rental and find our hotel in town within the next hour and a half.  We got a great rate at the Taj in downtown Cape Town and were eager to check in to a nice plush room.  The Taj is a beautiful hotel in an old bank building right in the heart of downtown Cape Town - walking distance from many landmarks and Long Street, known for its restaurants and nightlife.  We attempted to check in early but our room was not yet ready.  To kill some time, we checked our bags and went to a local cafe for some coffee (flat whites!) and a fruit smoothie for me as I had developed a head cold on the plane.  

While waiting, we read the local paper and the big headline was one that was all too familiar to us: BIG STORM THIS WEEKEND. BATTEN DOWN THE HATCHES. 

Nuts.  

The weatherman predicted gale force winds, relentless rain and a possibility of hail for the next three days.  I guess they heard we were coming!

After a few expletives, we realized this wasn't that bad. We had phenomenal weather in South America and decent weather in PR. Plus, I had a cold coupled with jetlag and needed some rest and Chris felt he would soon follow my lead.  So it was good that we had an excuse to relax indoors for a couple of days, especially since we had such a lovely hotel booked.

We also decided to capitalize on the remainder of the sunny day at hand, as the rain would arrive first thing the next morning. After our snack we walked to the V&A Waterfront, which is a marina with lots of restaurants, bars and shops. It's a touristy area, similar to Navy Pier in Chicago.  We walked around a bit, and when we sat down on a bench to admire the view of Table Mountain, I immediately fell asleep in the sun (one of my favorite ways to pass time). 

We walked back to the hotel before lunchtime and our room was ready!  A welcome sight after two consecutive nights on a plane:

Our room at the Taj Cape Town

View from the room - Table Mountain. We wouldn't see it for the next 3 days!

After a quick shower and change, we decided to take the car out to Kirstenboch Botanical Gardens, which is located 20 minutes outside the city. We explored the gardens for a couple of hours, admiring the view of the mountains and the city. We enjoyed learning about the vast variety of plant species.   We probably could have spent more time there, but were pretty tired at that point.  Here are some highlights from the gardens:

These Guinea Fowl roamed the grounds.

Cycads are one of the oldest plant groups in the world! This is one of the few remaining plants from dinosaur times!

View of the mountain backdrop through the haze.

I wonder how many tourists have take this picture...

My favorite sculpture in the gardens.

After our visit to the gardens, we drove back along the coast to watch the spectacular sunset!

We drove back to Cape Town on these golden cliffs.

One of the many stops we made along the way.

Sunset in Camps Bay

We arrived back to our room around 7pm and were so tired that we ordered room service and turned in for the night.