Cape Town, South Africa: Far Away but Fantastic

Story and photography by
Nancy & Eric Anderson 

 

"Visitors to Cape Town tend to make three mistakes," says Mariette du Toit, general manager of Cape Town Tourism. "They call our mountain Tabletop. They're surprised to find the weather seasonal; they expect it to be hot even in our winter -- and they always say they should have given themselves more time to explore our city."

One mistake visitors won't make, however, is the dollar/rand conversion. The dollar, still strong against the rand – it gained almost 20 percent against the rand in 2007 -- allows visitors a luxury hotel that can make memorable what may be for many a one-time visit to a far-off land. The new kid in town is the Cape Grace Hotel Built only 10 years ago, the Cape Grace Hotel was deemed the best hotel in the world by readers of Condé Nast Traveler. You can expect it to be expensive and it is, but it offers (all complimentary) parking and 24 hour internet access; wake up call coffee or tea; morning coffee, tea and pastries in the library; full breakfast in the hotel restaurant or with room service, daily wine lectures with tastings; port or sherry all evening in the library; and free use of the hotel spa, transfers and access to a nearby health club, and to any places within six miles of the hotel. One reason why guests like this hotel so much may have something to do with its in-room neck massages offered to arriving jet-lagged guests who might well come complete with aching necks from trying to sleep on the long flight.

A further plus for the Cape Grace is its location on the Victoria and Alfred Waterfront under Table Mountain (remember it’s not called Tabletop!). A complex of more than 75 restaurants and 400 upscale shops and galleries, the Victoria and Alfred Waterfront has a Colonial Victorian architectural style and is already one of the top six tourist attractions in Cape Town today. In addition to its theaters, aquarium, and maritime museum, it has an impressive array of craft shops for local artisans. As their skills improve, these local artisans may get promoted to the "Red Shed" Craft Workshop and then eventually have their own boutiques. It is also the Nelson Mandela gateway to Robben Island and the prison where he spent so many years of his life a building now the island’s museum.

Locals eat at the Quay Four Seafood Brasserie and The City Grill Steakhouse. When they're looking to wet their whistle, they head over to the Paulaner Brauhaus and Restaurant. However, the most interesting dining experience in town is by far Lavender Hill Kitchen, where a local couple offers African delicacies in their home to Cape Grace Hotel guests. It’s never clear whether this extra is available so clarify with your hotel concierge.

Another top-rated tourist attraction in Cape Town is Table Mountain itself. Only a ten-minute trip from Cape Grace Hotel to the cable car at the mountain's base so guests are provided with a courtesy limo for the easy commute. Another ten minutes gets you to the top of the mountain, weather permitting, where unbelievable panoramas of South Africa await you.

The Cape Peninsula National Park on the other hand, is a day trip. Deciding on a tour operator (e.g., Tessa Redman of Tours and Trails; tessa@tandt.co.za) is a good choice, since there's so much to see. Whether you're interested in watching the famous penguins at Boulder Beach, enjoying lunch at the Cape's Constantia Uitsig, or taking a stroll through Kirstenbosch National Botanical Gardens, there's enough to keep you busy for an entire day.

And if you're in the mood to test your traveler's wings along with your taste buds, there's always the Winelands. Located about 45 miles east of the city, the Cape Grace Hotel will pack you a picnic lunch and arrange a car and driver to take you there. You should include on your day's to do list the Cabrière wine estate, with dinner subsequently following at the Haute Cabrière Cellar Restaurant (27-21-876-3688). This strikingly beautiful part of South Africa with the rolling hills, towering mountains, Alpine-like meadows, vineyards, and Dutch Colonial villages will give you the opportunity to experience the real South Africa wonders.

If You Go

Of course, nothing good in life comes easy – especially long distance travel. South African Airways calls the journeys from Atlanta and New York to Cape Town "the longest flights in the world." West coast travelers really should break the long journey (31 hours from San Diego to Cape Town) by staying at a JFK airport hotel the first night out (such as the Courtyard by Marriott). Even with this travel break -- which at the Courtyard includes AAA discounted rates, complimentary morning coffee, and free internet access and JFK airport shuttle -- travelers still face a punishing distance the next day that can't be avoided to reach the tip of Africa.

The affluent may opt for South African Airways business class with the increased room and the new reclining seats that allow better overnight sleeping arrangements, both coming and going. In addition, business class in the Boeing 747 has improved interiors, with individual screens offering a variety of movies and computer laptop electrical plug outlets. We’ve been bumped up to Business Class twice with South African Airways. It claims it’s maturing into a well-equipped organization but it sure has room to improve. The first time was the heaven you’d expect from anything better than economy. The second time, however, nothing was working well on the plane including the flight attendants: a ground staff attendant stopped us on entry to the plane to confiscate a carry on because it “looked too heavy” (SAA has an inflexible policy that your carryon must weigh less than 7 kg or 15 lbs). When asked to confirm with her purser we couldn’t bring in our carryon since business class was only one third occupied, she came back saying she had and the decision was the same. The line behind us became restive so we yielded the bag reluctantly and thoughtlessly and entered the plane with only a camera bag. Our reading material and comfort items were in the confiscated bag; the individual TVs were all inoperable and the plane had no magazines or newspapers so it was a long boring journey. When the purser came by on routine rounds to ask how we were, she was surprised to hear she’d been misquoted. In fact the attendant had not asked her advice. Conclusion: an institution is only as good as its individual members and Robert Louis Stevenson got it wrong when he said, “To travel hopefully is a better thing than to arrive.”