We are moving to America in a few months and wanted to have a week long trip before leaving Europe. We decided on Cape Town since its so much longer to travel to via the states. You would typically have to fly to Europe first and then to Africa-  essentially doubling your travel time. From London we flew 7 hours to Ethiopia where we had a short layover before another 7 hour flight to South Africa. A really long trip for my 4 and 5-year-old boys… but as always they were travel pros and did really well. This was our first trip South of the equator. I’ve come close with Singapore but it was really exciting leaving the winter in England and arriving to the summer in Africa. My goals for this trip were to:

1. Eat all the seafood

2. Beach and sunshine- especially the one with the colony of African penguins

3. Enjoy all the mountain views

Where we stayed

We planned this trip pretty last-minute so finding affordable accommodation on the beach wasnt easy. Cape Town, after all, is in the height of summer and on the water. I eventually settled on a new apartment property in Sea Point that wasnt on the beach but had a rooftop pool. We were really pleased. Every time we used the pool we had it to ourselves and the views are simply amazing, especially at sunset. It’s a great central location with free parking. Renting a car in Cape Town is essential since the city is very spread out and not very walkable. Elements Luxury Suites is in a residential area about 6-15 minutes to restaurants and the seafront.

The seafront promendade is also a great place to watch the sunset and people watch with Lions Head as your backdrop. There is a large park called Blue Train Park where you can let the kids burn some energy. This isn’t really an area for swimming as its very windy with rough waters but there are spots you can walk around the water’s edge and climb rocks.

 

Boulders and Foxy Beach 

About an hours drive south is Simons Town, a city on the False Bay which has warmer waters than the beaches near Cape Town. I had read online that most people visit Boulders Beach on day trips in conjunction with the Cape peninsula and that early morning or the end of the day is the best time to see the penguins. I am really glad we went as soon as the beach opened as we had a good hour practically alone with the penguins. Around 10 am the beach became very crowded and the penguins began to swim away. GET THERE EARLY. You will not regret it.

There is a viewing area at Boulders when you first pay your conservation fee. This is a board walk that leads you down to view the African penguin colony from above. There were hundreds of penguins, many with eggs and quite a few newborns! They keep this area of the beach swim free as to protect the nesting penguins and their little chicks. It was really exciting seeing these wild animals in nature after seeing them in zoos my entire life. An experience not to be missed.

If you walk back up to the ticket area and then down the other section of the boardwalk you will reach Foxy beach. This is where you can go swimming and get closer to the penguins…although it is illegal to feed or touch them. They are very serious about this as we witnessed the police being called on a man who touched a penguin. The African penguins are an endangered species and feeding them would only cause harm to conservation efforts. I did have one little guy randomly sneak up behind me and bite me on the leg but otherwise they just ignore you if you don’t get too close.

The first section of Foxy beach had a few penguins here and there and most tourists will probably stick to this area. However, if you want to see more penguins up close you will have to do some climbing and maneuvering in between some large granite boulders to make your way to other areas of the beach. You could also do some swimming but the water was too cold for the boys as it got deeper and we had our DSLR camera.

 

This was probably my favorite excursion in South Africa. To see my children run and play chase amongst a colony of endangered penguins was a pinch-me moment. A reminder of how fortunate we are to get to experience these things with our young children. This is why we spend our money on experiences…not things!

After exploring the beaches we had lunch at Seaforth which overlooks Seaforth Beach, another area you can spot penguins roaming around. The food was amazing and the views can’t be beat… a fabulous dining experience.

Cape Point National Park 

To enter Cape Point is not cheap..but still worth every penny. We arrived midday and at this point we had to wait in a fairly long car line to access the park. You can spend much more time there than we alloted but if you’re short on time (as we were),  it can absolutely be done in conjunction with Boulders beach on one long day. Simply driving around the national park was experience in itself, as we got to see a zebra and some ostriches roaming about!

We pretty much stuck to the two main sites: Cape Point and the Cape of Good Hope. At Cape Point be aware there are baboons roaming the car parks harassing people for food. When they have been fed by people they become aggressive and its said they have to be put down by the rangers. I experienced this as an aggressive baboon cornered me and Kellan in the toilets. I was so startled I screamed and some rangers came to chase it off with a bat. We also saw a baboon run onto a tourist van and steal its trash bag, with two baboons fighting over its contents.

 

You can hike to the cape lighthouse or you can pay to ride the funicular one way or round trip. To save time we rode the funicular both ways. The views from the lighthouse are amazing. There are a lot of steps and windy, 360 degree views along the cliffs. If you visit here in the winter you may be able to see whales.

The Cape of Good Hope is the most south-western point of the African continent (not the southern-most point as is commonly believed). You can spend plenty of time hiking in the area along the coastal paths and on the rocks at the ocean. However, we were reaching the end of a very long day and were satisfied taking some pictures and walking around for ten minutes. Plus, after my husband saw signs to watch for cobras he was pretty much done exploring rocky areas. Ben hates snakes!

Victoria and Albert Waterfront

We spent an entire day at the V&A waterfront, driving there and parking in one of the garages for fairly cheap. My boys really enjoyed this day as there are great parks scattered through the area so they got to have a lot of time making friends. It’s not often we travel internationally and the boys get to meet other children fluent in English. That has never held them back but we really wanted to let them take advantage of playing with other English-speaking children.  Something as simple as making a new friend on the playground is all part of the cultural experience for them.

The waterfront has a lot of cruise options that depart for Robben Island, dinner cruises or sightseeing. We elected to spend the day walking around, shopping and eating. A lot of eating. I did find the shopping to be very expensive in this trendy harbour area. There is a ferris wheel, seal viewing area and an a-ma-zing food market. I could have eaten every meal there. The aquarium was a highlight for the boys which had a good indoor play area.

 

Camps Bay

This is the area I had originally wanted to stay in. Its beautiful, its trendy, and there are a lot of seafood restaurants. This is the type of holidays I dream of: sand, water and mountains! Unfortunately, it is an expensive area to stay in, especially when you are booking last-minute, so we had to settle for a day trip. I had read this beach gets very crowded in the summer so we made a point to go on a weekday and it didn’t seem too busy at all. We rented a beach umbrella with chairs and just had a fun day playing. The water is very cold so I didn’t go swimming but the boys did. The boys quickly made friends and we spent time chatting with a family from Scotland and Ireland.

For lunch we stopped at Oceans Blue where I got a full seafood dinner and Ben ordered antelope and ostrich. Ostrich is surpringly good, y’all. We ate so much as lunch I don’t think we had dinner that night. I dont play around when it comes to seafood!

 

Kirstenbosch National Botanical Gardens

We combined the gardens and Table Mountain into one day so we only spent around two hours in Kirstenbosch. South Africa has 6 biomes and the gardens contain 5 of them…so lots to see if you have more time. We barely scratched the surface. There are a couple of cafes and a lot of community concerts and events held here.

Table Mountain

THE must see activity in Cape Town and one of the 7 new natural wonders. Unfortunately, we went on a day that didn’t have the best visibility but it was still an amazing experience. I highly recommend booking tickets online before you go to avoid lines. We didnt. There is also limited parking so we had to find a spot along the winding mountain road. Ben dropped us off to wait in line while he parked. Many people hike the mountain but we were only interested in heading up for the views so we took the cable car up and down. I’m terrified of cable cars (plus this one rotates) so my eyes were closed the whole time… but Im sure the views were great!

For dinner we stopped at the Deer Park Cafe which has outdoor seating overlooking a massive playground. This is where the locals go to let their kids play while they drink and socialize. Brilliant.

Hout Bay and Chapmans Peak 

If I ever went back to Cape Town, Hout Bay is where I would stay. It has a more relaxed, sleepy beach village vibe. The food was some of the best I’ve ever had, the shopping here was much cheaper than it is closer to the city and the beach didn’t feel crowded at all.

Our first stop was to the Bay Harbour market. It was a wonderful combination of food, local goods and a play area for the boys. We didn’t eat here as we weren’t hungry but we did have some gelato. We also bought some artwork and watched some street performers outside the market.

We found a roadside market that let us haggle over prices where we scored a good deal on more artwork and some jewelry. I’ve a lot of things I need to frame now.

The beach itself was windy the day we went, a good spot to fly kites. We didn’t actually swim, just walked around collecting seashells and kicking around the ball. For lunch we ate at Dunes, which had outdoor seating overlooking the water and a sandy playground my children never wanted to leave. My boys are getting to the age where we can sit back and let them do their thing while we relax. SO. NICE.

The boys had so much fun running around that it completely slipped my mind we were supposed to take a boat tour out to an island with seals. Totally forgot! Whoops.

Overlooking the bay is Chapmans Peak, a coastal drive that costs a small fee…but it is a MUST SEE. It was a bit intimidating as there were cyclists everywhere. We were navigating these winding, cliff side roads whilst there are bikes coming full speed from every direction. There are plenty of stop off points to pull over and take photos.

 

South Africa will go down as one of the best trips we have ever taken as a family. Great weather, food and outdoor activities. This is an excellent country to take your kids on holiday. We hope to go back to Africa when they are older…and can go on safari!