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South Africa
Visit the Penguin Colony and get close (as close as the boardwalk and fencing will allow you, which is within a few metres) to lots of penguins. They strut their stuff for the tourists and their cameras. When you're done, leave the colony itself and turn left on along the footpath to the other side of the Boulders Bay. Here you can sit and watch the penguins parade by a few feet away, or, if you're really lucky, swim with them.
Kirstenbosch Botanical Gardens is a heavenly place to visit. On the slopes of Table Mountain, with clear crystal fresh air, one of the nicest things to do is listen to the open-air concerts on a summer's evening.
Dusk descends gently over the sloping green lawns and the air, scented from the diverse range of flowers and plants, is filled with a different choice of music each Sunday evening.
Take a picnic including some superb chilled South African white wine to sip, while you relax, take in the views and listen in one of the most beautiful gardens in the world.
Rhodes Drive, Newlands
Private Bag X7, Claremont
Tel: +27 21 799 8899
Fax: +27 21 797 6570
INFORMATION OFFICE: (021) 799 8783/8620 weekdays: (021) 7614916 weekends
www.nbi.ac.za/kirstenbosch/mainpage.htm
The best aquarium I've ever been to with species I never even knew existed like the giant spider crabs, which can grow up to 1 metre tall, and the tomato clown fish, whose males can turn into females at will. You'll also see sharks, stingrays, penguins and crocodiles. Well worth a visit, plus it's near all the great shops so when you're tired of fishing for bargains…
Dock Road, Victoria and Albert Waterfront, Capetown
Tel: +27 21 418 3823
The West Coast is only now starting to be discovered by tourists. Yes, the water is cold and yes, the wind can blow but the views and of course, the seafood, more than make up for it!
Paternoster has a great beach and a lovely, unspoilt fishing village feel. Head to the hotel for some of the best 'honest' seafood you'll find in the Cape.
Head up West Coast Road for about 80kms
www.paternoster.co.za/
It's extremely thought provoking to see how these citizens have come to live in such an interesting, tight community. You will see schoolchildren in nothing more than a corrugated hut, and women cooking for hundreds. There are also very different ethnic groups that keep to their own township.
Vicky's B&B is in a township where you can stay and experience true hospitality. It is also a moving experience; the children have very little, and yet are very happy.
They want to travel the world, just like you. Their hopes and dreams are the same as anyone's. Don't miss this really interesting and emotion-provoking experience.
All hotels, Guesthouses, B&B will have information, try and book with one that puts money back into the townships
Kalk Bay Harbour - reminiscent of a Cornish fishing harbour. Arrive about lunchtime to watch the fishing boats come in with their catch of the day. It's fun watching the catch being landed and then auctioned off. The seals come right up to the harbour edge to pick up the scraps thrown overboard.
Kalk Bay
In Cape Town you're spoiled for choice when it comes to beaches, but if you're looking for something a bit different try Boulders - it has it's own colony of penguins which mingle with the beachgoers. The beach itself is nice, although the water is a little cold in winter.
Unsure of the exact address, but as the neighbouring penguin colony is a major tourist attraction it should be easy to find
Eat under the stars, in a treehouse or lounge around on the huge outdoor sofas and enjoy tribal dancing and other performances. Under 12s can join in a drumming workshop (parents allowed too!) or take an ecology tour around the grounds - there's a cheetah centre on the estate too. Almost forgot, Spier Estate also has a great deli; buy food and wine for lunch and picnic at the lakeside.
Slightly old-fashioned, possibly colonial style, hotel, which offers a touch of class at a price the non-business traveller, with or without his family, can afford.
Relaxing garden, outdoor pool - the very opposite of the modern American style hotel.
Tel.
021 6833044
Stay in nearby Hout Bay or Constantia for cheaper accommodation. Visit the marina and take a boat trip to the seal colony. Travel to Hermanus and in season, there are whale-watching boat trips and scuba diving as well as a reasonable drive to the southernmost tip of Africa - Cape Aghulas.
Try Grootbos nature reserve at www.grootbos.com
They can be seen at Boulders Beach.
Buffels Bay is in the Cape Point Nature Reserve. Turn left from the access road just before reaching Cape Point itself. The beach is extremely quiet and has seawater pools for swimming, colourful rockpools for the kids and a collection of braii machines (concrete firepits for bbq'ing).
The view is magnificent and with very few people the beach is teeming with wildlife including buck, ostrich and baboons. The baboons can be pretty persistent trying to steal your sausages from the fire so ask a local about borrowing a baboon whip to scare them off if they come round!
Great guest House in St James, which is next to Kalk Bay. Very clean and friendly, great value, huge rooms.
A tour company run by a young man from the Cape Town Flats area trying to get his business off the ground. Chris took us on a wonderful day's tour of the wine fields and to the Cape of Good Hope. He was fun, informative and relaxed. We felt good about redressing some of the financial imbalances only too visible as a result of the years of apartheid.
Tel: Chris on 083 246 1924
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