Birthday in Cape Town, South Africa

August 11, 2015

Birthday in Cape Town, South Africa

All I wanted for my 30th birthday was to swim with Penguins. Is that too much to ask for? Naah. You can do that in South Africa!

Cape Town 4

I solo-traveled from Washington, D.C. to Cape Town, but once I arrived I was surrounded by friends. I am fortunate to have such a generous friend in Tiffany, my host whom I met whilst living in NYC.

As a birthday present to myself, I redeemed 130,000 Delta SkyMiles for IAD-LHR-CPT & CPT-AMS-IAD including a First Class ticket. I have always been an extremely loyal Delta flyer but the company has recently devalued its mileage acquisition (you now receive one mile per one dollar spent on the flight, rather than one mile per mile flown). For example, instead of receiving 5000 miles for a cross-country round trip flight New York to L.A., if you pay $400 for the round trip, you only receive 400 miles. That’s quite a steep devaluation… BYE DELTA. In light of this, I’ve broken up with my ex-beloved airline and decided to cash in my SkyMiles for some trips to Africa. Currently seeking a new airline to go steady with… American Air??

So there I found myself, turning the page into my third decade of life, on the southern most edge of the world.

My first stop after arriving at the CPT airport (print out your return itinerary so the customs agent doesn’t yell at you on your birthday) was Sotano, overlooking the beach at Greenpoint. Tiffany was still at work, so her bestie Lou picked me up (this was our first time meeting) and we immediately toasted to 30 with a round of flat whites followed by a bottle of local Graham Beck rosé.

Cape Town 20 — Flat whites are originally from Australia, but is super popular in Cape Town usually as the first coffee drink listed on the menu. It is espresso with microfoam (steamed milk with tiny bubbles) poured on top.

Cape Town has great seafood, the best squid I’ve ever had was here and my favorite fish dish was discovered at Grand Cafe, in Camps Bay.

Kingklip Tagliata is a soy marinated white fish topped with rocket, tomatoes (cherry and sun-dried), green onions and shaved Parmesan. Oh my goodness gracious that meal was on my mind constantly for the next few days. Ask Tiff, I didn’t stop talking about it. I’ll blog my own recipe for this dish later!

The next morning, we drove an hour south to Simon’s Town for the penguin colony at Boulder’s Beach. The refuge began with two African Penguins and within the last 30 years, have multiplied to about 3000 penguins. These guys live in a protected zone but are free to roam without cages and feed naturally in the ocean.

Cape Town 42 — February is the last month of summer in Cape Town, so the ocean water was quite nippy!

Cape Town 6 — Boulders Beach, the ultimate postcard photo.

Cape Town 41 — This little beach is protected by the large rocks (boulders) so the waters are calm, clear and low tide allows a little rock climbing to some secret penguin spots!

Cape Town 40 — We sat upon this boulder and sunbathed, basking in the beauty of this sanctuary.

Cape Town 39 — These black-tie beauties walk and swim right next to you. Don’t get too close though, those beaks are pointy and they WILL peck you. I watched someone get his butt pecked and it was hilarious.

Cape Town 43 — The fanciest black-tie only beach affair I’ve ever attended.

Cape Town 21 — Once Tiff peeled me away from the penguins, we stopped by Cape to Cuba for a late lunch on our way back north to Cape Town.

Our next day was spent in the Winelands, about an hour northeast of Cape Town. People always think of France or California for world-class wine, but my new favorite wines are from the Wine Farms in the Cape Town region.

Cape Town 5 — Our first stop was at Babylonstoren, a Cape Dutch farm that would make Gwyneth Paltrow go wild. We booked a Garden Tour and followed Gundula, the garden fairy wealth of knowledge around the most beautiful and well planned vegetable, fruit and plant gardens.

Cape Town 14 — Tiff, Lou and I outside of Babel restaurant, which is inside Babylonstoren… wishing we had a reservation which is booked out months and months ahead. *Photo by Tiffany.*

Cape Town 38 — Wine tasting at La Motte in Stellenbosch.

Cape Town 23 — Lunch in Stellenbosch, at Pierneef a La Motte where we had THE BEST BUTTER. I have an entire photo on this post devoted to butter, yall.

Cape Town 24 — Beautiful landscapes in Franschhoek, at La Petite Ferme Wineland

Cape Town has magnificent mountain views from almost every spot within the city. Table Mountain National Park dominates the city as a spectacular backdrop and countless outdoor adventures and activities. We woke up early one morning and hiked Lion’s Head.

Lion’s Head mountain peak is at 2195 feet above sea level and is such a fun hike! It takes about 2-3 hours for a round trip hike with a short section of mild rock climbing:

Fun rock climbing at Lion's Head — Fun rock climbing at Lion’s Head

Most of the hike is steep, so be prepared for an amazing quad workout! It was a beautiful clear day, so the views of Cape Town were incredible.

At the summit of Lion's Head — At the summit of Lion’s Head

Don't forget to stretch, bust out your favorite yoga pose and namaste. — Don’t forget to stretch, bust out your favorite yoga pose and namaste.

If you are a yoga enthusiast like me, head on over to Hot Dog Yoga in Seapoint. The 6:30 am Ashtanga class was the hardest/ best yoga class I’ve ever taken.

Afterwards, head on over to Victoria and Alfred Waterfront mall for the best sushi in Cape Town: Willoughby & Co. I was a bit hesitant by a mall sushi restaurant… but y’all it was delicious! There’s usually a wait, but it goes by pretty quick.

Willoughby & Co. sushi. Get the 4x4 roll, oyster shooters and of course... local rose wine. — Willoughby & Co. sushi. Get the 4×4 roll, oyster shooters and of course… local rosé wine.

Wash down your lunch with some seaside cocktails at Mondiall, a restaurant with spectacular views.

Gorgeous views of Table Mountain from Mondiall, at V&A Waterfront

One place I always visit in every country and city is… The grocery store. It’s my favorite ‘tourist’ destination. I browse each aisle, usually impressed by the prices and intrigued by the foods unbeknownst to me. If I find something weird, I buy it. I love asking locals what the weirdest food dish their culture has to offer. It typically turns out to become my new favorite food. Adventure- eating is quite a hobby of mine.

Woolworth’s is THE grocery destination in Cape Town. I see it as a food-centric Target. The branding is clean, the generic store brand foods are great and it is truly a fun experience just walking up and down the aisles. I had quite a few meals from Woolworth’s, including a fun dessert night at Oona’s house full of all the local South African dessert foods.

Cape Town 44

It was a good thing that Tiffany is as much of a foodie as I am, because the next morning we woke up and went to The Old Biscuit Mill for Saturday morning Neighbourgoods Market in Woodstock. It’s like Smorgasbord but in a large barn- hipsters, craft beer and artisanal food galore. I loved it. The market is pretty hectic on Saturday’s but the lekker food more than makes up for it. (Like my South African slang?)

Cape Town 45

Cape Town 25 — Drinking local Jack Black beer in a glass I brought home with me as a souvenir. Thanks again for the gift, Tiff :)

Proteas, the official flower of South Africa

South African oysters are fleshy, and not as briny as the Northeastern American variety I’m used to. These were delicious!

The beaches of Cape Town are all scenic, thanks to the Twelve Apostles (mountain line). Each beach in Clifton is named numerically- Clifton 1st Beach, Clifton 2nd Beach, etc from north to south. Each beach is separated by boulders. Clifton 1st is the preferred locals beach, so there we spent one fine afternoon.

Having a local's favorite beach dessert- Passionfruit lolly, sold by vendors walking along the sand. — Having a local’s favorite beach dessert- Granadilla lolly, sold by vendors walking along the sand.

The South African culture is truly a mixing pot of different ethnicities, resulting in multiple languages used by the locals as well as a unique slang. I really enjoyed dropping “lekker”, “ag shame”,”howzit” and “hectic” with my American accent. When Tiffany and I were living in New York, she would always teach me fun slang terms from South Africa. I remember learning “amazeballs” right at the beginning of the whole “amazing” word craze. Nowadays, we use the word “amazing” for everything, not necessarily for that which truly “amazes” us. However, not everything can be “amazeballs” and for this, I will be forever thankful for Tiffany’s introduction to this word.

If you walk north of Clifton 1st beach, through a small path in front of some beachfront apartment homes, you will find yourself at Moses Beach.

The perfect beach lunch is from Giovanni's, an italian style deli in Greenpoint. I custom made the most lekker squid, avocado salad and was so happy! — The perfect beach lunch is from Giovanni’s, an italian style deli in Greenpoint. I custom made the most lekker squid, avocado salad and was so happy!

The next morning I took the Table Mountain Aerial Cableway to the summit. I purchased the ticket online so I could skip the line and be eco-friendly with my digital phone ticket (R225 or $17 USD). The cable car is round and rotates during ascension. It is quick and nothing to be afraid of. Once at the top, there are multiple trails and a restaurant.

Lunch on top of the mountain: Ostrich Pie with local beer and Harry Potter sauce ;)

Along the Table Mountain trails, I found TONS of Dassies. Similar to guinea pigs but grow as large as rabbits. Did you know these are the closest relatives to the African Elephant?!?! Unbelievable right?

After spending a few hours on the trails, I cooled off at the restaurant with local rosé and a South African sports drink.

Watching the tablecloth being drawn over Table Mountain in the late afternoon.

I literally ate my way all across Cape Town and digested the food on some major nature ventures, be it the mountainside or beachside. It was a wonderful birthday holiday.

To wrap it up true Melllypoo style, I spent my last day in town visiting the townships an hour outside of town. The townships are the urban living areas that were reserved for non-whites during Apartheid. I spent the day with Dental Wellness Trust, a dental nonprofit, visiting 6 primary schools giving out toothbrushes, toothpaste and teaching children how to wash their hands and properly brush their teeth. A separate #ngoborders blog post will be shared with this experience!