Little Travel Bug: Cape Highlights

On our second to last day in Cape Town, we took a full day van tour run by Illios Travel. It was a long day but we got to see so many different sites that we would not have been able to get to solely on our own. They pick you up at 8am at your hotel and drop you off around 5:30pm. The cost was about $65 and that included entrance into all of the parks. I would totally recommend this tour - it was the "Cape Highlights" and our guide - Archie. He was hilarious, and was able to tell us alot of information, facts, etc. that were not in any of our guidebooks. I would definitely recommend this tour and anything else from Illios Travel.

http://www.legendtourism.co.za/capetown_pack_5.htm

We started at a lookout point over Camps Bay with a view of the 12 Apostles in the background. Our next stop was Hout's Bay, a small fishing village south of Cape Town. At Hout's Bay, we took a ferry over to a seal colony. There were probably over a hundred seals and they smelled horrible but were so fun to watch play. They were baking in the sun or swimming and barking all over the place. The road to Chapman's Peak was closed but we walked up part of it and then continued to drive down the coast. Archie also drove us through an informal settlement in Hout's Bay.

Our next stop was the Cape of Good Hope. The drive down there was the best part because it is along the coast. The ocean is a beautiful blue-green color - the picture below does not do it justice. The Cape of Good Hope was extremely windy which was not the best for me in a dress...

Also at this location is Cape Point where to can take a funicular to the top of a hill (or hike it in 15 minutes). At the top, there is a viewing platform that is near the old lighthouse. Also - a great gift shop at the bottom of the funicular!

The next stop was Boulder's Beach in Simon's Town. Simon's Town is the cutest town on the coast - I wish we had spent more time walking around and shopping. There are a number of bed & breakfasts there and it is about a 45 minute train ride from Cape Town. The beach is full of jackass penguins who waddle around the beach and climb on these huge rock boulders at the end of the beach. You can go swimming with them and they are totally used to humans. Little kids (and 25 year olds like myself hah) will love it there!!

Our final stop for the day was at Spier, a wine cellar in Stellenbosch. We were running out of time at this point and were only able to taste a few wines. They were amazing! We all bought bottles as well to bring home with us. Next time, I plan on doing a full day tour to the vineyards from Cape Town. One wine cellar is not enough!