My first real day in Cape Town started with a drive to the Old Biscuit Mill market. My plan had been to climb, but the visibility was low so I headed into the city instead. I didn't stay long at the market as it was incredibly crowded and shopping doesn't do me much good. I enjoyed driving around that part of the city, though - they call it Woodstock and it was much less fancy than downtown.
Next up was a show at an independent theater, or so I had planned. I wasn't interested in the shows, but the theater (called The Labia... it's a last name, I promise!) was nice. I decided to go to the big museum and finally found a place to spend some time.
The museum was huge and of good quality. I read about the history of the area and about some of the different types of people who still live beyond the reaches of metropolitan Cape Town, Johannesburg, Pretoria and Durban. I also watched a Planetarium show about stars in the Southern sky and it was really good. By the time I finished with all of the animals (so many in South Africa) the museum was closing and it was time for dinner.
My original hostel was booked, so I went to a new one on the north side of town called Atlantic Point. It was a great place to stay and I ended up booking the rest of my nights here. Great staff, tons of interesting and friendly people, a good bar and just in general an inviting feel. I was there only 10 minutes before meeting some girls who invited me out for African food - score!
Before dinner we went to The Beerhouse with a huge selection of imported craft beers. Overpriced and not local, but great beer and a nice way to initiate good conversation. Dinner was at a place called Mama Africa, and it was great:
My choice was a veritable zoo of animals, including alligator, ostrich, springbok, kudu and "venison" which I'm guessing is impala. Sorry, animal lovers, I had to.
We had wine and brandy and listened to a band play really good jazz, and talked for a couple hours. Afterward we walked to a super posh bar to meet another group. I wasn't a big fan of this bar, and it had no local flavor whatsoever, but we only stayed for a few minutes. Then it was back to the hostel and to sleep. A great introduction to the traveler's culture in Cape Town.
No comments:
Post a Comment