19.5 hours later new continent, who dis? I got on a plane with my fiancé and two of our friends from JFK to Cape Town on South African Airways in January 2017. This is considered their summer month and was the perfect time to escape NYC.

Theres so many cool things you can do in Cape Town some epic hikes, a beach with penguins🐧 , abseiling off a mountain, and you can’t go to Africa without doing a safari.

Welcome to Camps Bay aka the Hamptons of cape town. We stayed at Glen Apartments (booked on expedia.com)  which way more affordable for a group of four. The Glen apartments also gives access to The Bay Hotel which is a really trendy chic hotel on the beach of Camps Bay

Table Mountain is a hike not to miss! It takes about 2 hours to get to the top but be prepared for some uphill steps essentially but the views are most definitely worth it. I did a guided hike + abseil combo that I booked through ABSEIL AFRICA .

 

Lions Head is another epic hike! I think this one is slightly more challenging than Table Mountain. We took an uber to the start of the trail and did it ourselves! There are some epic views along the way that are truly surreal

If you’re crazy like me and have a fiancé who will go along with your crazy ideas than Wallys Cave should definitely be on your bucket list.  I did a lot of research on it and found forums and watched videos how people go to it since it is off trail of Lions Head. There were moments I saw my life flash before my eyes 😂 but it was worth every moment. I found this blog to be most helpful on how to find WALLYS CAVE.

If you’re trying to brighten up your day you can go to Bo Kaap which is this cute neighborhood where all the streets have different colored houses!

Boulder Beach is where your dreams come true or at least mine did… It is about an hour and half outside of camps bay. We took an uber which was reasonably priced! You have to pay to enter and you can either view the penguins from a distance orrrrrr you can make your way to the beach and get up close and personal with these cuties.

There are many safaris in South Africa some seem really cool where you go for a few nights. For lack of time we went to Aquila Safari Private Game Reserve for the day, which was only about a two hour drive and very affordable for a safari! I booked this through Viator but you can also purchase a tour on their website itself.

 

Obviously you think of animals when you hear Africa.. but wine was definitely calling our name! They have awesome wine tasting tours that I would highly recommend! We booked through African Story Wine tours which took us to multiple wineries in Stellenbosch, Paarl, and Franschhoek

Afternoon tea is always a thing of mine so if a place is known for  it chances are ill be there! The Belmond Mount Nelson Hotel is where it’s at if you have a crazy sweet tooth. The dessert just never ends 😍  and the garden in the back is absolutely beautiful! I highly recommend it is very affordable compared to afternoon tea in other places like NYC or London! Check it out and definitely book in advance

 

Recommendations to eat:

• Nobu Cape Town
• The restaurant at Waterkloof
• Mynt Cafe
• Cafe Caprice
• Zenzero
• Azure Restaurant
• Mezeopli Meze wine & bar
• Barbour House V& A waterfront
• Grand Africa Cafe & beach
• The Bungalow

Top Tips for Cape Town:

1. Uber it everywhere its so cheap!!
2. Restaurants are clean, delicious and so cheap
3. Look up what vaccinations are recommended by the CDC prior to going on your trip! I personally just had to get Hep A Vaccine because that wasn’t something I got in the past
4. You do not need a Visa from the US to go to South Africa
5. You should exchange money to their currency just to have but every restaurant we went to accepted major credit cards!
6. Check out Two Oceans aquarium and their botanical garden if you have time!
7.  Make sure you catch a Cape town Sunset it is unforgettable