40 Days in Cape Town

Cape Town, South Africa
33.9249°S, 18.4241°E

Sarah and I settled on an Airbnb in a neighborhood in Cape Town called Oranjezicht, a name I never once pronounced correctly during our stay. The area has a suburban feel to it, with lots of trees and dog-friendly parks, but is close enough to Cape Town’s downtown to walk there in under 20 minutes.

Our host, Guy, lives with his son Storm, a budding Youtube star, and his dog Scarlett (past her prime for Youtube but a great companion nonetheless). Sarah and I spent a lot of time with Scarlett, walking her around the neighborhood or to Will’s, the local cafe. Sometimes Sarah would just sit outside and talk to Scarlett about me…totally normal stuff like that.

Cape Town is beautiful. Like, really beautiful.

In nearly every part of the city, you’re never more than a few blocks walk from an ocean view, and the mountains can be seen from nearly every corner of the city. There are numerous local markets, cafes serving every type of food, and some stunning beaches as well. The outskirts of the city are surrounded by vineyards, small coastal towns, and a landscape perfect for nearly any outdoor activity you can imagine. While it was wintertime during our stay, in Cape Town most days the weather was in the 70s and dipped down into the low 50s at night. A lot of local folks complained about it being cold, but to a couple of people from Boston, it was nearly perfect.

Needless to say, we were really pleased with our decision to stay in Cape Town for six weeks. Because we had so much time we felt like we really got to know the city, and get a decent feel for what its like to live here. The extended stay also gave us a lot of time to explore Cape Town’s food scene, which didn’t disappoint. Most days, we ate breakfast and lunch at home, and then ventured out to the restaurants on Kloof Street close to our place, or into Cape Town’s downtown or waterfront area.

Sarah’s been taking cooking classes in each of the countries we’ve traveled to, and in Cape Town, I decided to join her for a class in the Bo-Kaap area of the city. There is a diverse mix of cultures in Cape Town, so we had lots of options for what type of cooking class to attend. Sarah decided on taking a class to learn about “Cape Malay” food because the owner, Gamidah, had amazing TripAdvisor reviews and the pictures of her students’ output looked delicious.

The cooking class also gave us the opportunity to learn more about Bo-Kaap, a neighborhood of brightly colored homes with a history dating back to the 17th century. It was once called the Malay Quarter because many of its residents arrived in South Africa as slaves of the Dutch, taken from Malaysia, Indonesia and other parts of Southeast Asia. The “Cape Malay” people, as they are known in South Africa, have a well-known and tasty cuisine.

We met Gamidah at her home in Bo-Kaap, where she lives with her husband and three daughters. She greeted us with a huge smile and was one of the friendliest people we’ve met on our travels. We made chicken curry, samosas, chickpea chili bites, and roti (a light and airy flatbread originating from India).

So Many Activities

Cape Town and its surrounding areas are known to be a paradise for outdoor activities. Hiking, biking, mountain climbing, camping, surfing, boating…if it’s done outside you can probably do it in Cape Town (there’s even a ski resort a few hours from Cape Town!). We took full advantage.

We Have Friends!

We also had a couple of great surprises while in Cape Town. Sarah’s friend Omar and his new wife Janine were visiting South Africa on their honeymoon, and the timing worked out so that we were able to meet them during their stay in Cape Town. Sarah and Omar know each other from their time at the University of Vermont, in their Orchard Terrace days in Burlington.

We also were able to meet up with a Vienna, Virginia legend, Squeak “Matt” Somerville. In addition to having one of the best (certainly the most enduring) nicknames from childhood of anyone I know, Squeak’s been all over the world and currently lives in Paris. He was only in Cape Town for a few days en route to Tanzania and Zimbabwe, but we were lucky enough to be able to climb Cape Town’s Table Mountain with him.

Goodbye to Africa

Sarah and I left Cape Town wondering how six weeks had passed in such a blur, and even more in awe over how three months in Africa had gone by so quickly. We’ve said this a lot (I can remember the same “how has it been three months?” conversation when we were leaving Asia), but if it wasn’t for all of the pictures to reference, it would be hard to document where the time went. Seven months seems like seven days until we stop and think about the amazing adventures we’ve been fortunate enough to experience.

We were happy with our decision to “travel slow” in Africa and really get to see Kenya and South Africa in particular (we visited Tanzania too but were only there for 10 days, most of which was spent getting up and down Kilimanjaro).

While Sarah and I were both sad to leave Africa, we were also very excited about two things. First, we were only a week away from being home in Boston for two weddings and to visit friends and family.

Second, the week leading up to our trip home would be spent in Istanbul, Turkey, a place that Sarah and I had heard was one of the most beautiful cities in the world.

We boarded Turkish Airlines Flight 045 and said goodbye to Cape Town, but not before witnessing one last stunning African sunset from our seats.