After the 4-stage PE Plett MTB event, we were shuttled back to the PE airport. Safair doesn't allow you to check in for your flight at the airport until 2 hours prior to departure so we had to wait almost 2 hours in the airport lobby before our early evening flight. We were pretty exhausted as we had a 7am race start that morning (Sat Feb 24th), raced for almost 3 hours, finished the race, showered, got our awards, waited a few hours for the shuttle to leave, sat in the shuttle for 90 minutes and then arrived to the airport. Although we had our bikes (and cases) driven to the race thanks to Manic Cycles, we flew back with our bikes to Cape Town.
After checking in for our flights, it was a breeze through security and then we went to the Bidvest Premier Lounge to wait until our flight was boarding. I was really excited to have some good food options after 4 days of not-so-great vegetarian options.
Our flight arrived at 8:20pm in Cape Town and after collecting our suitcases and bikes, we were greeted by our hotel shuttle driver. I arranged a shuttle pick up with our hotel so that we didn't have to get an Uber or Taxi. The shuttle was a little pricey ($22 USD or 430 Rand) but it was worth it for the no-stress airport to hotel transport in the evening.
We arrived to our hotel - Onomo Hotel Cape Town - around 9:30pm. I found this hotel online and I got a great deal around $100/night (including breakfast). We were a bit hungry so after checking into our room and unloading our stuff, we walked to a convenience store next to the hotel to get some yogurt and bottled water.
We had a great night of sleep (after 4 days of camping and racing) and used Sunday as a recharge day.
We slept in, ate a delicious breakfast at the hotel (which was included in our stay). I second guessed myself with our hotel location as I wondered if we should have stayed by the ocean but I realized our hotel was in the perfect location for us.
After working on the computer for several hours in the morning, we ventured out for lunch and then explored the city.
We ate lunch at Le Petit Cape Wines and Tapas Bar (at Green Market Square, where our hotel was located) and it was absolutely amazing. We then walked to the Bo-Kaap neighborhood. We saw some amazing art and I saw a kitten so it was a great day ;)
Karel got his flat white fix at Kimili Coffee, which was located next to the Red Bus Sight Seeing offices. When we were ready for dinner, we walked to Hudson's Burger Joint. There were several vegetarian burger options. Our meal was delicious.
As we walked back to our hotel in the early evening, I couldn't believe how many locals were out at the bars/clubs on a Sunday night.
On Monday, after eating breakfast, we bought out tickets for a day on the Red Bus and started our journey around Cape Town.
I highly recommend doing the Red Bus tour if you are visiting Cape Town. Not only do you get to see a lot of the area but you also learn a lot with the headphones and informative story-telling throughout the ride. You can stay on the bus and jump off at any of the 24 stops. Just make sure to hold on to your hat if you sit on the top level of the bus as it can get windy.
We rode the bus to shuttle stop 11 and got off at Sea Point. We hadn't swam in a week and I was really missing the pool. I researched pools in the Cape Town Area and came across the Sea Point Swimming Pool which looked amazing. A 27 meter outdoor pool by the ocean.
We got off the shuttle, paid $1.80 to enter the pool area and I could not wait to swim. Well, that was short lived as the water was freezing! It was not heated and very cold. I managed ~400 meters and then I couldn't take it any more. I went to the diving well to swim until 700 meters. The diving well was a little less cold but the water was green and looked like a lake, which was a strange feeling.
Karel was able to swim a bit more than I could but nonetheless, it was still a cool experience. Karel got ice cream after the swim (I took a while to warm up) and then we waited for the bus to hop back on (every 20 minutes a bus arrives to the designated stops). We finished our ride around Cape Town and got off at stop 5 (the Tour office) which was where our hotel was located.
Our hotel was in the prime location of the town as it is also where all the vendors set up their shops every morning (and take it down every evening). If you want to buy gifts and souvenirs, this is a good spot to shop. You can negotiate with the vendors but just be aware that the items are similar at each vendor tent.
We were pretty hungry when we arrived back to our hotel a little after noon so we decided to go back to our new favorite restaurant Le Petit Cape Wines and Tapas Bar for another delicious lunch.
In the early afternoon, we jumped back on the bus and took the blue line bus to stop 22 - World of Birds and Monkey Jungle. There weren't a lot of people there which made it feel like a private visit to the largest sanctuary of birds in South Africa. It was really neat to be so close to the birds. We spent around 90 minutes walking around and it was a really cool experience. The monkeys were extra cute.
We got back on the blue bus and finished off our daily tour. I really enjoyed the information that we learned on the blue bus line so I highly recommend getting on that bus line, even if you don't plan to get off at any of the stops.
For dinner we had the most incredible dining experience at Madam Taitou. This Ethiopian Cuisine restaurant was amazing. We ate with our hands, the restaurant was filled with culture and the food was amazing. I got a vegetarian sampler dish that had a variety of different food selections. The lentils were my favorite.
The US dollar goes very far in South Africa so for all of our meals, we never paid more than $25 - total.
For our last day in Cape Town, after eating breakfast, we got in some activity by running 2.3 miles to the Lions Head Parking area. We fast hiked up to the top and back down. Then ran back to the hotel. In total it was 7.6 miles, 2100 feet and took us an hour and 48 hours. It was a beautiful, fun, adventurous 3 mile round trip hike with amazing views along the way. As the locals say, it was lekker!
The hike had a few technical sections with ladders and there was a few "climbing" up and over rocks which made forr a fun hiking experience. It was really cool to see different parts of cape town as we navigated our way around Lions Head.
After we cleaned up in our hotel room, we walked to Clarke's for lunch. I had a delicious salad and Karel had a sandwich.
As for the rest of the day, we packed up our stuff and did some gift shopping. We got a late checkout by paying for 1/2 day and arranged another shuttle to the airport. Around 6pm we took a walk around the garden area. We left for the airport around 7pm for our 11pm, 16-hour flight back to the US.
We had an incredible experience in South Africa. This was our second time visiting and we just love the people, nature, animals, food and culture.
Reunited after 2.5 weeks.
Our flight arrived at 8:20pm in Cape Town and after collecting our suitcases and bikes, we were greeted by our hotel shuttle driver. I arranged a shuttle pick up with our hotel so that we didn't have to get an Uber or Taxi. The shuttle was a little pricey ($22 USD or 430 Rand) but it was worth it for the no-stress airport to hotel transport in the evening.
We arrived to our hotel - Onomo Hotel Cape Town - around 9:30pm. I found this hotel online and I got a great deal around $100/night (including breakfast). We were a bit hungry so after checking into our room and unloading our stuff, we walked to a convenience store next to the hotel to get some yogurt and bottled water.
We had a great night of sleep (after 4 days of camping and racing) and used Sunday as a recharge day.
We slept in, ate a delicious breakfast at the hotel (which was included in our stay). I second guessed myself with our hotel location as I wondered if we should have stayed by the ocean but I realized our hotel was in the perfect location for us.
After working on the computer for several hours in the morning, we ventured out for lunch and then explored the city.
Karel got his flat white fix at Kimili Coffee, which was located next to the Red Bus Sight Seeing offices. When we were ready for dinner, we walked to Hudson's Burger Joint. There were several vegetarian burger options. Our meal was delicious.
On Monday, after eating breakfast, we bought out tickets for a day on the Red Bus and started our journey around Cape Town.
I highly recommend doing the Red Bus tour if you are visiting Cape Town. Not only do you get to see a lot of the area but you also learn a lot with the headphones and informative story-telling throughout the ride. You can stay on the bus and jump off at any of the 24 stops. Just make sure to hold on to your hat if you sit on the top level of the bus as it can get windy.
Karel was able to swim a bit more than I could but nonetheless, it was still a cool experience. Karel got ice cream after the swim (I took a while to warm up) and then we waited for the bus to hop back on (every 20 minutes a bus arrives to the designated stops). We finished our ride around Cape Town and got off at stop 5 (the Tour office) which was where our hotel was located.
We were pretty hungry when we arrived back to our hotel a little after noon so we decided to go back to our new favorite restaurant Le Petit Cape Wines and Tapas Bar for another delicious lunch.
We got back on the blue bus and finished off our daily tour. I really enjoyed the information that we learned on the blue bus line so I highly recommend getting on that bus line, even if you don't plan to get off at any of the stops.
The US dollar goes very far in South Africa so for all of our meals, we never paid more than $25 - total.
For our last day in Cape Town, after eating breakfast, we got in some activity by running 2.3 miles to the Lions Head Parking area. We fast hiked up to the top and back down. Then ran back to the hotel. In total it was 7.6 miles, 2100 feet and took us an hour and 48 hours. It was a beautiful, fun, adventurous 3 mile round trip hike with amazing views along the way. As the locals say, it was lekker!
The hike had a few technical sections with ladders and there was a few "climbing" up and over rocks which made forr a fun hiking experience. It was really cool to see different parts of cape town as we navigated our way around Lions Head.
After we cleaned up in our hotel room, we walked to Clarke's for lunch. I had a delicious salad and Karel had a sandwich.
As for the rest of the day, we packed up our stuff and did some gift shopping. We got a late checkout by paying for 1/2 day and arranged another shuttle to the airport. Around 6pm we took a walk around the garden area. We left for the airport around 7pm for our 11pm, 16-hour flight back to the US.
Reunited after 2.5 weeks.