FLIGHT OF THE PHOENIX: Hopping On and Off in Cape Town

Today's plan of attack was to see as much as possible along the HOHO blue route (mini peninsula tour). The first bus left the V&A waterfront bus stop at 9am (do check timetables as they change slightly during the peak of summer). Our first stop was the Kirstenbosch National Botanical Gardens at the foot of Table Mountain. It was definitely one of the best botanical gardens we've been to and we're not huge flora lovers or experts. The majestic setting and gorgeous weather made for a relaxing morning meandering through many sprawling gardens. There were free guided walks which unfortunately didn't suit our timing as we had other places to visit today!

Walking past the seals again. They seem so happy...

HO-HO here we go!

Prime position!

Bonsai! A great start to our Kirstenbosch visit

Many beautiful meandering paths

Truly majestic setting

The popular canopy walkway

We hopped on the red bus and changed over to the Constantia wine region bus route at the next stop. Everything was well labelled and instructions onboard the bus were clear. We were soon on our way to Groot Constantia, the oldest wine producing vineyard in South Africa. A grapevine was sailed all the way from Holland in the 1600s and survived! It was planted, thrived and the rest was history. The city pass included a free tour as well as wine tasting. Malcolm opted for the chocolate and wine pairing which seemed unusual. There were a couple of interesting chocolate flavours namely white chocolate with guava, and raspberry milk chocolate. They ended up coming home with us along with the matching wines.

There was something about mountains which seem to make places seem more beautiful. Lunch was at Jonkerhuis restaurant within the Groot Constantia Estate. It was a lovely spot to have lunch and the food again was excellent. As a bonus, the citypass gave us a free glass of wine with each main purchased. The children were given free apple slushies which made them very happy. As luck would have it, the bus was there just as we finished lunch and the post lunch sprint gave us our exercise for the day. The next stop...World of Birds.

Ready at the changeover bus stop for the wine route!

Groot Constantia

Beautiful grounds

Found this little fellow resting on the ground!

Available tasting options

He went for the chocolate & wine pairing

and ended up buying 2 of the pairings!

Time for lunch!

Free wine with the city pass!

Another amazing meal. Pork belly. SOOO good

Milk tart

Malva pudding. Whatever it is, we're addicted to it!

World of Birds, as the name suggested, was a place with a large collection of birds. Unfortunately, each individual aviary seemed rather small and the birds looked cramped. The place felt somewhat cheap. Jonah, however, loved the place and found great joy identifying each bird. Strangely enough, the place also had various types of monkeys. There was an enclosure where visitors could walk in with the monkeys roaming free. This was Jonah's favourite, being able to hold the monkeys and have them sit on him. I volunteered to look after the bags outside....

Generally speaking, this was one stop that we would not recommend. We certainly would have been rather annoyed if we had had to pay for entrance! We did complete the circuit around the enclosures at Jonah's request before boarding the next bus back towards the waterfront. We had planned to stop for a township tour but the last township the children saw upset Jonah somewhat and he requested not to stop so we continued on. The bus route back towards the waterfront was scenic beyond words passing by Camps Bay and the Atlantic Coast.

There were sections where you walked in but there were enclosures within enclosures....

Like this

I don't even remember what this bird is!

His butt. We waited and waited and waited...

....finally he turned around!

One of the monkey enclosures. Jonah's highlight!

Surely the ugliest chicken in the world...

The bus stop at the V&A Waterfront was right outside the Two Oceans Aquarium, which again was free with the city pass. Jonah again was in his element, looking at fish, telling us about crabs, jellyfish and touching sea anemones. The aquarium was small but fun. It was good enough for have an enjoyable day with the children but there were definitely much better aquariums in other cities.

By this stage, everyone was tired and so dinner was again at the Waterfront. We had Tapas at La Parada. I am starting to sound like a broken record but the food was good....We managed to get ourselves back to the apartment relieved to crash after a full but fun day.