South Africa

As we drove from the airport into the city we passed some of the wooden shanty towns of the Cape Flats an eye opener for Louise but familiar to me from my trips to Sao Paulo . The city itself was shrouded in brown smog as we passed the high buildings of the business district and the equally tall exploration rigs in the harbour. Protea Hotel North Wharf is our home for the next 6 days and we are impressed! The room is an apartment complete with two bedrooms, two bathrooms, a fully equipped kitchen and a spacious living area, at £56 per night it’s an Expedia bargain!

It’s a strange sensation riding the Table Mountain Cable Car ascending at 10m/s to the 1067m summit and rotating through 360° at the same time but then there are the spectacular views to take your mind off the strange movements. The day was now clear and bright and we gazed over the fantastic mountainous landscape to Cape Point, the Cape Town cityscape and across the Cape Flats to the mountain ranges beyond. Louise sure that the kids were ready to dive over the edge made sure everyone kept to the safety of the paths as we weaved our way amongst the weathered rock formations and flowering plants of the flat mountain top. The only disappointment was no sign of the Dassies, the relative of the elephant that looks like a rabbit sized rodent.