This is Africa at its best. It’s easy to see why millions of people visit the South African city every year. Simply put, it has it all: beaches, gardens, mountains, harbors and waterfronts, wine lands, islands and wildlife.

6 Reasons Why You Should Visit Cape Town

1: You can visit one of the New 7 Wonders of the world

Cape Town has a lot to offer, and its highlight sights are spectacular. Let’s start with my favorite, Table Mountain. It’s the iconic mountain that looms over the city and harbor. It’s also one of the New 7 Wonders of the world.

Hiking Table Mountain is one of the best things you can do when visiting Cape Town. There are a few different routes, from one which is suitable for all fitness levels to some more daring and difficult climbs.

Then there’s also Lion’s Head and Devil’s Peak, which offer harder climbs, but views that are just as impressive. From the peak, you’ll be able to see the entire city, the ocean, the famous cricket stadium, the royal gardens and more. And if hiking isn’t for you, you can get a cable car up and down, so you can soak up the views and save your energy.

2: There are beaches galore

If beaches are what you’re looking for, Cape Town has plenty. Your options include Clifton’s four beaches, Llandudno’s beach on the Atlantic seaboard, Fish Hoek’s swimming beach, and the beaches at Cape Point. Any of these beaches are bound to blow you away with their stunning landscapes, and they’re all perfect for lazy beach days.

Or if you’re feeling more adventurous, Cape Town’s beaches are perfect for water sports like jet skiing, kayaking, stand up paddle boarding – you name it!

3: You can watch penguins lazing on the beach

It’s not just people that enjoy the beaches of Cape Town, it’s the local penguins too! Cape Town is home to the famous Boulders Beach. Why is it famous? Because 3,000 penguins live there. It’s a bit of a drive from the city centre, but it’s definitely worth it. Just think of the Instagram picture!

4: The city is packed full of sights and history

The V&A Waterfront is the tourist centre of the city, and for good reason. It’s the city’s hub of activity. It’s where you’ll find some of the city’s best cafes, restaurants and shops, as well as popular tourist attractions like the aquarium, boat trips, crazy golf and more.

The city also has a brilliant city bus tour route if you want to capture the sights in one go. Camps Bay, Sea Point, Hout Bay, Kirstenbosch and the Victoria and Alfred (V&A) Waterfront are all en route and each is definitely worth visiting.

Kirstenbosch is where you’ll find the impressive botanical gardens, and from here you take a boat to Robben Island, where Nelson Mandela was imprisoned for 18 years. And if you’re feeling more daring, you could do a great white sharking diving trip instead… Warning – it’s not for the faint hearted!

5: The city is perfect for wine-lovers

Cape Town is one of the only cities in the world with a city wine route. If you’re a wine fan, this is not to be missed. Why wouldn’t you want to spend a day exploring the famous wine lands which produce bottles of wine sold all over the world?

There’s a day-long tour that takes you from vineyard to vineyard, allowing you to sample the different and diverse flavors of South African wine. It’s a long day, but worth every minute! And you might just go home feeling even jollier than when you started!

6: Wildlife is everywhere

Wildlife is everywhere in Cape Town. At various points in the city you can find seals, penguins, baboons, flamingos, rock hyraxes (which look like a weird mix between a squirrel and a rabbit), and lizards. And, if you head out on a boat, keep your eyes peeled for whales, sharks and a wide variety of exotic fish.

How to spend the perfect day in Cape Town

If you only had one day to spend in Cape Town, here is how I’d spend it. I’d start with an early hike up to the top of Table Mountain, before it gets too hot, take the cable car back down, enjoy the Kirstenbosch Botanical Gardens, before heading to the Waterfront to watch the sun go down and sample the local food and wine.

Cape Town is a must for all travellers. Aside from its incredible beauty, there is so much to see and do. Whether you want to experience the wilderness of an African safari, spend your day drinking the famous wine, watch some cricket in the Sun, or build up an appetite by hiking the mountains, Cape Town can offer it.

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Like a David Attenborough documentary come to life, you can witness the great zebra and wildebeest migration, come face to face with lazy lions and enormous elephants, and try to spot a leopard or cheetah camouflaged in the vast surroundings.

Getting to Serengeti

Our tour was provided by Intrepid Travel and was superbly professional throughout.  Everything ran like clockwork. Our guide was knowledgeable and answered all questions. We always knew where we were going and what we were supposed to be doing, which isn’t always the case on group tours!

We began in Nairobi in Kenya and drove for a couple of days through the country before crossing the border to Tanzania and reaching Lake Victoria, our first campsite.  Along the way we admired the beauty of the Kenyan countryside and the Maasai herdsmen with their colourful flowing robes.

We also had the opportunity to visit a soapstone co-operative where the local men and women joined to create beautiful soapstone figurines.  Seeing their skill in chiselling, polishing and painting was eye-opening and we happily purchased some gifts for those waiting back home.

Enter the Serengeti

Once we reached Lake Victoria we set up our tents and had another great experience as we were given a bicycle tour of the neighbouring town.

We saw the local fishermen bring in their hauls of sardines and visited a market with an incredible variety of fruit, seeds, grains, and materials for sale.  Some sellers were delighted to take a photo opportunity with us and posed like professionals!  This was great fun but the best was yet to come.

Our next stop was a church where the worship took the form of song and dance and we joined in with our best efforts – no doubt we gave the regulars a good laugh with our attempts.  With lots of hills to climb we were ready to rest and prepare for our journey into the Serengeti National Park the next day, our main event.

Serengeti National Park – The Main Event

At the gate entrance we stopped for lunch and saw our first animals close up with some mongoose and a baboon crossing.  We were delighted but soon such animals would be small fry.

We were travelling at a good speed to make it to our campsite with time to spare to set up our tents. The slower game drives would be the next day but we still stopped a couple of times when something caught our guide’s eye.

By chance it was on this initial journey we had our only opportunity to see the ‘king of the jungle.’ A male lion lounged at the roadside casually sunning himself, not bothered in the slightest by our presence.  He was a majestic figure with his crowning mane. However as we soon discovered, the lions in the Serengeti are a relaxed bunch and he hardly moved a muscle.  We didn’t mind as seeing such a creature up close and personal was all we hoped for.

Camping under the Serengeti stars

We camped two nights in the wide open Serengeti plains, which was an experience I will never forget.  The sky was perfectly clear at night, every star shined brightly and we were out in the open without any fences separating us from the animals.

After strict warnings regarding the procedure for any night-time toilet trips we went to sleep in eager anticipation of a day’s game drives.

We woke at 5:30 to make the most of our day and after a hearty breakfast hit the roads.

The Group Safari

This was what we had been waiting for and it did not disappoint.

Soon zebra, buffalo and wildebeest became as common to our eyes as sheep and cattle back home, they were everywhere. The predator cats will surely never go hungry!

We soon saw the destruction a group of elephants can cause as they tear up and devour trees in their path.  These beasts lumber around at a leisurely pace and work their trunks with remarkable skill.  A couple passed directly across our vehicle, their sheer size was so impressive, likewise the giraffe who almost stuck his head in our window to say hello.

There were warthogs, baboons, gazelle, hippos, and various birds in abundance.  The rarer sightings were leopards and cheetah, leopards generally relaxing on the branches of a tree.  We went off our track for a view of two cheetah hiding in the long grass and were very appreciative of our driver for bending the rules this once!

Lionesses relaxed on the rocks and all animals tried to avoid the piercing heat of the sun.  The simplicity of watching these animals go about their daily lives was wonderful and hours felt like minutes as we drove around in the dust.

The landscapes were awe inspiring and a great sense of peace can descend as you contemplate another world very foreign to our hectic daily lives back home.

Ngorongoro Crater

The next day was our final destination for safari activities as we made our way to Ngorongoro Crater. It spans 260 square kilometres at its base and was formed when a volcano exploded and collapsed in on itself two to three million years ago.

This is the only place where we could potentially see a rhino although there were no guarantees; sightings of this conserved animal are rare.  The crater itself was fascinating, with a huge amount of animals contained within.

It was here that we encountered the most exciting experience of our trip, pulling up at the roadside to see three lionesses only a few feet from our jeep.  Imagine our surprise when a fourth suddenly popped up from its hiding place in the grass and strolled over right to the edge of our jeep to enjoy the shade!

We could have touched her through the window if we were foolhardy enough, but scrambling to take photos and videos from the safety of our jeep was more than enough excitement.

We also spotted one rhino in the very far distance. Even with binoculars it was difficult to make out, but we counted it to make sure we completed our viewing of the “big five”. These big five are the elephant, rhino, buffalo, lion, and leopard. They are so named because unfortunately they are the most popular animals for poachers to target and also the most difficult for them to hunt.

Goodbye Serengeti

This concluded our trip, there was the option of climbing Mount Kilimanjaro for the brave but we had done more than enough for one holiday.  This was an amazing experience and once you do not mind a little hardship I would recommend it for any adult.  Our trip would not be well suited for younger children and would be ideally suited for single travellers or couples.  Take a chance on an African safari adventure and you will have eternal incredible memories.

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