3 Days in Cape Town, South Africa

Cape Town, South Africa has been a dream destination of mine for several years now. Last summer, I finally had the chance to visit the city (and the continent of Africa) for the first time. It did not disappoint!

I had read that it is best to visit many African countries during the winter months. Since South Africa is in the southern hemisphere, June (which is winter down south) was the perfect time to go. I spent three days exploring the city, which was a good amount of time for a first visit.

Before I describe my itinerary, I wanted to mention some things about safety. I know that some of my family and friends were worried about what would happen to me if I traveled here alone. While the South African unemployment rate was 34% (!) when I visited, which led to some interesting socioeconomic observations, I can say that I felt perfectly safe exploring Cape Town. The biggest piece of advice to follow is this: do not walk outside after dark (or at dusk and dawn). It’s totally okay to be out grabbing dinner/drinks or sightseeing in the evening, just as long as you Uber and don’t walk to your destination. Other than that, you should act as you would in any other big city.

Day 0 – Arrival (and My First Power Cut)

I arrived in the late afternoon via a flight from Istanbul (shoutout to Turkish Airlines which is one of my new favorites!). It took around an hour to go through customs, but everything went smoothly. I was able to exchange my euros for South African rand at the airport, and then I took an Uber directly to Villa Viva Cape Town, my hostel for the next few days. We passed a township on the way, one of many scattered around the outskirts of the city. Townships are under-developed areas that were originally created during apartheid. Around 60% of the city’s population still lives in these areas, and it was eye-opening to see glimpses of one in person. Soon we were in the city where things felt more “normal.”

One of many townships on the outskirts of Cape Town

I had just gotten settled when I experienced my first load shedding event, which is a controlled power outage to manage the city’s electricity supply. While the outages are inconvenient, they are also well-organized. Neighborhoods receive advance notice when the outages will occur, as well as information about the stage of load shedding (from least to most serious). There is also a website that tells you when and where the outages will occur. These typically last for 2-4 hours, although this one only lasted an hour. This made my first evening in the city feel very authentic! (Note – there has been no load shedding since March 2024, so it seems they have made significant progress with the power grids).

Day 1 – A Full Day of Sightseeing

I woke up early for a full-day tour of Cape Town that I booked through Viator. We rushed to Table Mountain first thing, as the mountain often closes by mid-morning due to high winds. It was incredible! It was everything I had imagined and more. The only downside was that it was cold and incredibly windy. The mountain ended up closing soon after we arrived, so I highly recommend going early.

A beautiful morning on Table Mountain

View from Table Mountain

Next we stopped at Simon’s Town and Chapman’s Peak, which are known for their beautiful views. We then headed to the Cape of Good Hope, also known as the most southwestern point of the African continent. I felt like a famous explorer and almost cried at one point – I couldn’t believe I was finally there in person! We saw wild baboons, ostriches, and Eland antelopes and also hiked to a stunning viewpoint at the top of the Cape.

A very windy morning in Simon’s Town

The Cape of Good Hope!

A stunning view at the top of the Cape

Afterwards, we visited Boulders Beach to see the colony of African penguins. They were very cute but smaller than I had expected. Next, we had lunch as a group where I tried the kingklip, which is a fish local to South Africa. We then drove back into town and I got really carsick with all the windy roads. I highly recommend taking motion-sickness medicine if you are prone to carsickness! After a full day of sightseeing, the tour guide dropped me off at my hostel. I Ubered to the V&A Waterfront for dinner, then had a quiet rest of the evening. It was an amazing and very informational day!

The cutest little penguins at Boulders Beach

Day 2 – Stellenbosch Wine Tasting

I started the day with another early morning tour; this one would take me to the Stellenbosch region to try some famed South African wines. There were four other people in my group, and the van was silent as we made our way out of the city. Our first stop was Zevenwacht Wine Estate, where we visited the wine cellars and tried some delicious wine and cheese pairings. The van was much more talkative as we headed to our second stop in downtown Stellenbosch. We walked around for a bit, then went to Marianne Wine Estate which was amazing! The wine was paired with kudu and springbok (types of antelope) and beef, which brought out the flavors of the wine in a very interesting way. We also tried a wine that was Gordon Ramsay-approved.

Our tasting at Zevenwacht Wine Estate

The beautiful Marianne Wine Estate

Two members of the group left after the second pairing, so it was just me, a 60-something-year-old woman from Alabama, and an 81-year-old man from Australia. I was worried that it would be awkward, but we had the best time together! We split a pizza for lunch, then visited an artistic pig named Pigcasso at an animal sanctuary. Afterwards, we rode a tram to Rickety Bridge Estate, the third winery. This tasting was just okay, but we were having such a good time that we didn’t really mind. On the way back to Cape Town, our guide taught us a lot about the townships that we passed on the way. The most interesting fact was that you need anti-smash and grab windows if you drive through this area, as there is a good chance you will get robbed otherwise if you encounter a traffic jam. I was very glad we were with our guide for this adventure! I spent the evening with my new friends and was thankful that I had had a fun group to spend the day with.

My wine-tasting buddies

Pigcasso, the painting pig

Pigcasso’s work of art

Day 3 – Wind and More Wind

I slept in for a change which turned out to be a mistake. I had wanted to visit Robben Island (where Nelson Mandela was imprisoned), but by the time I arrived at the dock it was closed due to high winds. As with Table Mountain, I recommend going on the first boat of the day for the best weather. I spent some time exploring the V&A Waterfront instead, and then headed to the nearby aquarium which was nothing special. It was a slow day, but I got some much-needed rest before the 27-day camping trip I would be embarking on next.

Overall, I had an amazing introduction to Cape Town and Africa in general. I had a lot of eye-opening experiences and learned a lot about a part of the world that I had minimal knowledge of.