Incredible tour of South Africa and Mauritius – part 2
In my previous blog let me take you through the beginning of our mad round trip to South Africa and Mauritius; the destination choice and planning at the destination! In this blog I will take you through the first moments in South Africa (Cape Town) and I will share the places to be & to stay!
Cape Town International Airport
We landed late in the evening at Cape Town airport with KLM. Or, in South African: Kaapstad Internnasionale Lughawe 😉. Collecting our hire car via Sunny Cars went very smoothly. Our flight was the last that evening so because of that it was quite quiet at the airport and everything was dealt with quickly. The advantage of flying business class is of course also that you are first to reach customs and your suitcase is also the first on the baggage carousel… Nice additional benefits!
Drive safely!
Soon we were on our way to our hotel. Always a bit exciting, not only driving on the left, but also arriving safely at your destination. Along the way in South Africa you have to take all sorts of things into account: people who “can't” drive, cars and roads that are sometimes poorly lit, beggars along the road who suddenly appear next to your car at a traffic light, etc. etc. Especially when you drive past the miles-long townships you have to be somewhat on your guard. It is not for nothing that large LED signs indicate not to stop because of high crime rates.
Anyway, the journey went without a hitch and after about 35 minutes we were standing in front of the hotel. It was already late, however immediately the doorman of the POD Boutique Hotel at our car to assist us. We are always surprised once again by the enormously friendly people of South Africa. Fortunately without servility, but simply genuine. Wherever you go, people just exude a warm welcome.
Soon we were checked in and up in the room. What a wonderful hotel it is: intimate, personal and fully equipped. Highly recommended in Camps Bay for the business traveller. Less suitable for (large) groups, as the hotel has only 17 rooms. For a small group of about 30 people, definitely recommended! After enjoying a glass of wine from Stellenbosch, it was time to go to sleep so that the next day, as the weather forecast predicted, we would wake up to a clear blue sky and an ocean view. Marvellous!
Waking up with a view of Cape Town's icon
And sure enough, when I opened the curtains in the morning, I looked out onto Table Mountain on the left and the ocean on the right! When it is summer here, it is winter in South Africa, so the temperature was around 18-22 degrees that day. Which we think is a lovely temperature to start with! After a truly fantastic breakfast (everything fresh), we set off. The two days we had there were devoted on the one hand to a few activities, such as climbing Table Mountain and Lion’s Head and a visit to the botanical gardens and V&A Waterfront. And on the other hand to a number of business visits.
Top hotels in Cape Town
So we visited a number of restaurants in Camps Bay and at the V&A Waterfront, as well as several hotels. After all, we have a number of groups travelling to South Africa in the coming months, so a pre-check is a must.
This way we visited both established and new hotels and restaurants. Such as the One and Only hotel, the Marriott Waterfront, The Rockefeller, the Radisson RED and the very special Silo hotel. The relatively new The Silo Hotel is well worth a visit (the interior is truly fantastic!). You don't necessarily have to go into the hotel, you can also visit the Zeitz MOCAA museum where you get a great impression of The Silo hotel.
A visit to this building is truly an experience. When you see the building you are impressed, but inside you are drawn in by the play of natural light, the bright colours and the striking materials. Here you imagine yourself in an environment of pure luxury and top-tier service. The manager of took us through the history of the building, while we were just looking around us and upwards. It is a truly high-end hotel. Travellers and groups looking for this will certainly not be disappointed. It is a TOP hotel in a TOP location.
Next to The Silo lies the trendy Radisson RED Hotel Cape Town V&A Waterfront. Something completely different, but certainly just as good. Trendy, different, but very hospitable. This hotel is also located in the best (and safest) neighbourhood in Cape Town, bordering the V&A Waterfront. This area has a lively shopping mall on the waterfront and there is a very extensive choice of restaurants. In fact, apart from Camps Bay, there is no better neighbourhood to choose your hotel.
It was great to be able to (and allowed to) visit all our regular suppliers in this area again. You could still feel the traces of Corona everywhere. Cape Town has had a hard time, as it largely depends on tourism and trade. But Cape Town has bounced back and everyone is trying their utmost to make up for those two years. In any case, we are able to send a few lovely groups that way and thereby contribute to a recovery there.
After all those visits and doing a bit of shopping, we headed back to Camps Bay for a delicious lunch. Two restaurants were lined up for this, so we had held back at breakfast because there was going to be a lot of tasting again. Fortunately, only one restaurant was scheduled for inspection in the evening.
In the next part I will take you to those restaurants and our visit to the wine region of South Africa: Stellenbosch and Franschhoek, among other places! Are you reading along?