We had an interesting conversation with our driver yesterday on the way to the Castle of Good Hope, in which it became clear that – rather than booking a hiking tour of Table Mountain, Boulder’s Beach and the Cape of Good Hope as we’d requested – the Radisson had instead booked us in for a driver-only tour for tomorrow.
I raised this with the Radisson’s concierge upon our return, and she confirmed that yes – this was a driving tour albeit with a driver who could also act as guide, but that said guide would not be going hiking. I pulled up our very lengthy e-mail chain in which we had specifically requested a hiking tour.
Thus began a lengthy round of negotiation in which we considered every reasonable option, and some unreasonable ones to boot.
Do we arrange for an extra hiking guide to accompany us? It would be roughly USD$300 to do so, which we were not prepared to pay.
Do we can cancel the tour entirely and book with someone else? This would be entirely last minute, so no guarantees as to what we could arrange. And how could we leave Cape Town without seeing Table Mountain, Boulder’s Beach or Cape Point?
Could we forego the hiking guide in exchange for a discount? There had been some security challenges on Table Mountain, and we really wanted to have a guide there to help read the situation as needed.
Eventually we settled on toning down the hike, and in return the concierge would find us a guide who would join us for a gentle walk around the top of Table Mountain. (Not a terrible idea regardless given the current heat wave is expected to continue into our mega-tour day.)
This brings us to 8 am this morning, where we are sitting in the van with our guide Byron – who was given absolutely no notice that we expected him to hike with us atop Table Mountain.
Thankfully, he agrees to go with us regardless but considering the cost of this tour – US$550 for the day – you’d think they would have gotten these last-minute details right. Anyway.
A brief drive up to Table Mountain, and we make our way onto the gondola. Our guide – Byron – asks whether we’d booked the FastPass tickets. No, we simply bought regular tickets the night before.
The concierge had said that FastPasses would be unnecessary, and that thankfully is the case – it’s a quiet Sunday morning and we’re able to walk right onto the gondola without waiting. This is fortunate indeed as the wait can easily be two hours during peak times.
The gondola rotates as we climb to the top of Table Mountain, offering everyone a chance to enjoy the beautiful view over Cape Town.
We reach the top and begin to explore. It soon becomes clear that our guide was correct, and that we would have been fine exploring on our own. Still, we’re glad to have him around.
The views are stunning:
Those of you who have read this trip report from the beginning may notice that the landscape in Cape Town looks similar to that of Falkland Islands. That’s because the Falklands are believed to have broken off from Southern Africa a very, very long time ago. It’s one theory at least.
We carry on, and catch occasional glimpses of wildlife:
Including some adorable dassies (also known as hyraxes):
We wander for about an hour before heading back down. We make a mental note to take a longer hike here during our next visit, when it will presumably be cooler. (It’s another toasty 26 C today, and even warmer in full sun.)
Back in the van, and we’re off to Boulder’s Beach.
On the way, Byron gives us some background regarding the African penguins. They didn’t arrive in Boulders Beach until 1983. There was a period where they flourished in the area, but they are now considered endangered.
The population has declined for a range of regions – there are now fewer sardines in the area due to overfishing, but there are also more “regular” penguin-eating predators like seals, as opposed to “apex” predators like the great white sharks which had previously kept the seal population in check.
Two orcas – known as port and starboard due to the slant of their dorsal fins – had been killing great whites and eating their livers, causing other sharks to relocate to Australia.
Our guide suggests two different spots where we can see African penguins. The first is a public beach:
The second is the official Boulder’s Beach National Park. We ask whether the penguins are in an enclosure, and when Byron confirms that they are we opt to head straight to lunch at the nearby Harbourfront restaurant instead.
As continues the theme, they have a beautiful view:
My son has a burger:
I have the fish, chips and shrimp:
While my wife and daughter just have the fish and chips.
The milkshakes and the fried hake are delicious. The shrimp are fine, but not nearly as good as the shrimp aboard the Wind.
My wife does a bit more research into the official Boulder’s Beach National Park, and it looks like only part of the exhibit is done as an enclosure – it’s mostly open to the ocean. So we decide to double back and pay it a visit.
It’s expensive considering what it is, but when else are we going to see these adorable African penguins?
We’re not here long, but it’s well worth the stop.
From here we carry on down the road – and spot some baboons!
They’re heading toward a group of school children, likely honing in on whatever snacks they might have on hand. (The teachers were well aware of the baboons, and moved the kids to safety.)
Another brief drive, and we soon arrive at the Cape of Good Hope.
Byron explains that False Bay got its name after sailors previously confused it with Table Bay, which is located just to the north of False Bay. A white beacon was placed in False Bay to help sailors navigate the shores – and the back of the original beacon in Table Bay painted black to avoid confusing sailors, who otherwise might have spotted two beacons at the same time.
The landscape is striking:
Not much wildlife to speak of, though we do spot an ostrich:
We take a few minutes to watch the waves pounding against the rocks, and then hike the nearby hillside to get a better view.
It’s steep but not particularly challenging, apart from the heat. And the views are well worth it.
We then head up to the lighthouse, but run out of time before we’re able to make the ascent. Here’s as close as we get:
Our original itinerary called for us to hike Table Mountain until noon, so I have absolutley no idea how they expected us to get everything in and then return by 4 pm. This is when Byron helpfully points out that Cape of Good Hope was not included in his version of the itinerary. Well, it most certainly was included in the e-mails we sent when booking the tour. It seems our game of broken telephone continues.
But with views like this, who cares?
While up at the lighthouse, we notice a herd of Shelby Cobra replicas:
These are apparently available to book as part of driving tours in South Africa. Very, very tempted to book this kind of tour at some point in the future.
In any case, it’s time to head back to Cape Town. We take the most direct route – bypassing Chapman’s Peak – as we need to pack up for tomorrow, and we’re on the verge of running into extra-expensive overtime. (Not sure Byron would have charged us for that, but I’d rather not find out.)
So would I recommend the Radisson-affiliated African Eagle for a tour? Hard to say. Everything turned out well, but it required more hand-holding than I thought necessary. Would it have been different if we’d booked with our current concierge from the beginning? Perhaps, though some crucial, last-minute bits of information didn’t seem to get passed along.
Would we recommend Byron as a guide? 100%, unequivocably. He was excellent. So maybe talk to African Eagle and request Byron specifically? That’s certainly a thought.
But with all that said – we then immediately turned around and asked the Radisson’s concierge to book us a driver to take us to the airport tomorrow. All’s well that ends well, I suppose.
Off to Den Anker for dinner tonight.
My son has the burger – again:
My wife has the tuna:
My daughter has the chateaubriand:
And I apparently forget to photograph my shrimp, but they were pretty good.
For dessert my son has a sundae:
And my daughter has a colour-your-own cookie:
And we get one last spectacular sunset:
Back to the room to finish packing – it’s been an epic day, but we are toast!