SA: Cape Town

My trip to South Africa was mostly spent in Cape Town. I landed in Johannesburg, spent a jet-lagged night in Pretoria at Matt's dorm and flew out early the next day. Cape Town, as far as I can tell, is the top tourist destination in South Africa, being near the coast, near mountains, near wine country, near the Cape of Good Hope and just generally a pleasant place to be. Unlike some traveller destinations however, it appears that Cape Town is a functioning city that happens to get a lot of tourists. That was definitely the feel around our hotel.



The waterfront was also bustling with tourists and people who actually work. It looked to be a functioning harbour; there were numerous dry-docked boats and many in the harbour being or waiting to be unloaded. There were also seals.

(front to back: Vien, Matt and Allen)

I was impressed by the city. Few others combine the energy for tourism with real business (though truly, only for a business elite, which I'll remark on later). The mountains so close to the city heart also reminded me of home, although an ocean of sand can't compete with the Atlantic.