South Africa - Cape Town

To provide some guidance for those who are planning to travel to South Africa and families with kids, I thought it would be good to list some useful tips.

You can read the details here

1 - Renting a car

2 - Driving on the intercity roads

4 - Climate

5 - A cot for your child

6 - Vaccination

7 - Electricity

8 - Prices

9 - Money transfer

and more...

When we landed in Cape Town, the weather was warm with a mild wind blowing. On the way to our hotel, I felt that this city looked somehow familiar to me, but I didn't know how. We were at the very south of the world, in a different country on a different continent where the season was summer in December, what could have been familiar?

Winchester Mansions at Sea Point - a lovely part of the city - is a very nice hotel with a courtyard, a pool and comfortable rooms.

The link to the website of Winchester Mansions

The staff is very friendly, the food is nice and children are welcome. Actually most of the families staying at the hotel had children.

Courtyard with the main restaurant


Pool area:


What I liked most about this hotel is its location. Sea Point is at the back of Signal Hill, but still not too far from the center.

Our room at Winchester mansions was heavily decorated with classic furniture, a thick carpet on the floor, closets made from dark brown wood, a table and two chairs with many carvings, a bathroom with a big sink and again wooden furniture, lookinh not like just a place to sleep while on an adventure holiday but rather like a cabin you would stay in for a romantic weekend.

Outside the hotel, towards the ocean-side a large grassy area wecomed locals and tourists alike, who were taking a walk, cycling, playing football and rugby while their children ran around breathlessly with the dogs.

My daughter on the grass


Sea Point


You can also book a daily tour at the hotel to visit the Cape Peninsula, vineyards or go shark diving. There are millions of things to do in and around the city. If you want to go to the city center or V&A Waterfront, they have a free shuttle.

I would definitely stay here if I went to Cape Town again.

After we arrived at our hotel, checked - in and unpacked, I told my husband how nice everybody was . The lady at the reception, the porter and other people we saw at the hotel. There was something in their looks and words that I couldn't put my finger on.

In the afternoon we went to V&A Waterfront to have something to eat. After having a quick look around, we decided to sit at an Italian restaurant. The food was absolutely delicious. But what surprised us was not the taste of the food, it was the extremely low price. Then we noticed that this country was a seafood heaven with lots of fish and calamari for really reasonable prices. Actually after eating Italian food, I was sorry that we hadn't realized there were so much seafood available. But we were lucky to have discovered it on out first meal out.

Then, we had fish and calamari for almost every lunch and dinner. Did I mention it was like heaven to eat so much fish and pay so little?

On the right, the red clock-tower at V&A Waterfront. The bridge is built on a canal and when a sea vehicle is passing, everybody gets off and it opens to the side.

Below is one of my favorite pics:



And here is a picture of the best calamari you can eat in the world. Sorry that half of the plate is eaten, I couldn't resist them.

On our second day, we figured out what was so familiar to us.

We were having our breakfast in the lovely garden of our Hotel, Winchester Mansions, and my daughter was blowing bubbles from a toy in her hands, which was given by Tanya, our travel guide from go2africa.com. I will write about her and the web site soon. But first our breakfast.

There was a girl working as a waitress at the hotel, serving tea and coffee. When my daughter could not blow the bubbles, this sweet girl ran up to her to show her how to make a giant bubble. Then with another technique, she made many smaller ones. My husband and I were watching this scene and smiling at them. Both of them looked very happy as well.

Then it came to me. I figured out what felt so good here in SA: The people and their sincere interest in every guest. This girl really wanted to play with my daughter, I could see her eyes shining when she was blowing the bubbles. This wasn't a fake moment.

My daughter was happy to blow some bubbles.


South Africa is similar to a Mediterranean country, with its climate, food and warm people. You never feel like a stranger there. Everybody talks to you, asks how you are doing and is ready to sit and spend some time with you. They have the same relaxed attitudes as us.

As of our second day, Cape Town already felt like home.

A view from Sea Point, where we stayed:

During our three-day four-night stay in the Mother city, this is what we did:

V&A Waterfront
the Official site of V&A Watefront

This is the must-see-place of the city, with restaurants, hotels, curios, shopping centers, aquarium, walking tours and many other attractions. You can sit at a waterfront restaurant with bare feet and enjoy your meal or an afternoon drink. You can also listen to music and watch the dancers in the open air theater right in the middle of the place.
You can find whatever you like here. Clicks is the most recommended store for things like toothpaste, shampoo, electric adapter etc.


See th clouds coming down from the Table Mountain?

Two Oceans Aquarium
Again a must-see place, especially if you have kids. There are many sea creatures from both the Atlantic and Indian oceans. There is a pool filled with various ocean plants. You can touch them and feel their textures. There is also a big pool for sharks, big turtles and other fish called "Predator exhibit" and a kelp forest.
During the day, there are some hours set for feeding animals, like penguins and predators. Another activity is to observe tiny creatures, like plankton, with a microscope.
After your visit, you can stop by the shop and restaurant to buy curios and get a refreshment.

Penguin feeding:


A black-spotted morey eel:


Kelp Forest:


Hop on - hop off bus
Actually I don't like using these kinds of sightseeing buses when I travel. But the hotel gave us two free tickets for a daily tour and we decided to try it to go around on our second day. Well, it was really worth it. The bus goes to the city center, shows the important buildings and monuments and takes you to Table Mountain. Then from there it goes down to Camps Bay, for which I have saved a whole section.
View of Camps Bay from the sightseing bus:


Table Mountain & Cableway
One of the top attractions of the city is climbing to Table Mountain by cable way. When the air is fine and not windy, the cable way is open and you can go up the mountain to see a breathtaking city view with lion's head, signal hill, Robben Island, the waterfront and many more places. There is a restaurant and curio shop up the mountain. The walking area is limited but you can go around and see almost all parts of the city.







Full Day Cape Peninsula Tour
We saved one day for our Cape Peninsula tour. We had arranged the tour from the hotel and our driver came right on time to pick us up. We traveled in a car, so the atmosphere was more friendly and we had the chance to ask our guide everything on our minds.

He took us first to Hout Bay, a small fishing village on the Atlantic Coast, then we drove through the famous vineyards of Constantia and finally reached the Cape Point. On the way we saw many baboons walking on the road and blocking the traffic. Our guide told us that when they were fed with food that we eat, they got used to humans and when they were hungry, they left the area they usually live in and attacked houses. To prevent problems with them, special hunters with tranquilizers were walking around the houses at night.

Mum baboon on the side of the road, holding her baby

On the way back, we drove along the Indian Ocean, which is warmer than Atlantic. We saw Simon's Town, Boulders Beach and all the small villages around the peninsula.

Hout Bay


Cape of Good Hope and Cape Point


Penguins at Boulders Beach

I decided to make a new section for Camps Bay because this is the place I liked most at Cape Town. This bay on the Atlantic Seaboard has lots of long beaches, great houses, expensive restaurants and bars. Most of the celebrities like Leonardo DiCaprio and Mickey Rourke are said to be staying here when they visit the city.

The view is fantastic both towards the sea and mountains. The sunsets are especially worth being included in your "to do before you die" list. It was very close to Sea Point, where we stayed so we spend a lot of time there.

Here is a web site I found after returning home

And some photos taken by me: