It was great to relax for a bit, and have a base for a few days, after having to pack up and move at least every other day. We spent a bit of time at V&A Waterfront, did a bit of window shopping, and managed to get some free internet time to sort our photos/blog.
We spent a day in Cape Town CBD (central business district) which isn't too glamorous. We visited the gardens and the SA museum, which included the planetarium. Unfortunately, the art gallery is closed on Wednesdays, the day we were there!! Still, we wondered around for a bit, passed a few shops and felt slightly nervous of our safety (though nothing to worry about).
We also got a few bargains at the craft market at Green Market Square. We browsed for a bit and heard "it costs nothing to view", "Excuse me, I have a question", "good price for my lucky first customer" countless times. This was a bit too much for Marc so he needed a hot chocy to recuperate ;) Once re-energised, we played hard ball and found some nice "cotton" prints with some typical African designs. We took a liking to one with a white background and various San people (the original Africans) designs painted on. The price started at R250 for 1, but we ended up getting 2 for R280. She asked for R300, and we would have paid, but the saleswoman was chatting with her friends in her native tongue and started laughing, giving us the feeling we were being ripped off!!
We did feel a bit bad for not paying the full price, as R20 is maybe £1.50 and nothing to us, but hey, she looked a like she was putting on a show to get more money, and they don't cost much to produce!
Besides, it then meant we then had enough money left to by a nice hand painting of two giraffes at sunset. Evelyn really wanted this painting as it reminded us of our Hluhluwe safari, when we saw the two herds of giraffe at close range.
We spent a day on Robben Island. This was pretty interesting, and showed us more of the island than just the prison (ex- leper colony, World War II barracks, limestone mine, and some wildlife (buck, ostrich, deer). The tour was good, though a bit bias against the old white government. The ex-prisoner was also very interesting and gave a good insight to what life was like as an apartheid prisoner - tough, with guards ever trying to divide prisoners, yet this brought them closer together and made them more determined to succeed. In fact, many prisoners became better educated, and therefore, more of a political threat whilst they were locked up. All in all, it was worth going across to the Island.
Table Mountain from Robben Island
We also went out to a small town, Wellington, to buy some discounted Calibri towels - which we heard about from the lady at Simons Town - Evelyn insisted on getting them. So, if you come to stay, towel-drying will be like the Ritz ;) The Aquarium at the V&A Waterfront was good, and we timed it right to see feeding in the kelk fish tank, shark tank and the penguin and seal enclosures.
Us at Milky Lane - Yummy
Our final highlight here was the botanical gardens, which were beautiful. It was very pleasant to walk around in the sun, then have a picnic with the guinea fowl, ducks and their babies walking around. Our final evening we took our hosts out to a great steak house to say thanks for putting us up. This was a great last day in Cape Town and would definitely recommend this place to holiday.
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