One day in Cape Town

by Travel Writer Sasha Arms

If you’ve got just one day in Cape Town, no doubt you’ll want to squeeze in as much as you can to get a sense of the city. One thing is for sure, at the end of the day you’ll definitely want to come back to the city again one day soon.

On your day in Cape Town, make an early start of it and head over to Bree Street in the centre of town for breakfast. At 127 Bree Street, you’ll find Birds Café open from 7am. Your first stop of the day will highlight one of the many lovable sides of the city – the quirky side. You may or may not have guessed that Birds Café is all about birds. You eat along to a soundtrack of bird noises, your table is lit by a swan light, you scoop the sugar for your tea from a hand-made swan dish… You get the idea. In fact, everything you consume your breakfast from, from the plates to the cups and saucers, are hand-made by the Namibian owners and available to buy too. Sitting on upturned milk crates for seats at sturdy wooden tables, you’ll tuck into a hearty breakfast using ingredients sourced locally. If you want to blow breakfast out the window and go straight for something naughty, try the home made scones or a slice of a metre long Apple Strudel.

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Greenmarket Square is a short walk, or waddle if you’ve had breakfast at Bird’s, from Bree Street. Renowned for its market full of traders selling their arts, crafts and other wares, this is the place for you to try out your haggling skills and pick up a few gifts to take home with you.

Company’s Gardens is only a few blocks away from Greenmarket Square. Dating back to the 1600s when some of the Cape’s first settlers from Europe used the land to grow produce, the now tranquil gardens offer some respite from the city. Wander around to look at the memorials and enjoy the gardens and green space. Along the pavement on the edge of the gardens are a couple of benches left over from the apartheid era – one labelled ‘whites only’ and one labelled ‘blacks only’. It’s a chilling reminder of the country’s not so distant history.

Around the Company’s Gardens area is the city’s museum district. For your one day in Cape Town, you could reasonably expect to fit in one or two. All of the museums in the area are of outstanding quality, so you can’t go far wrong.

The Iziko Slave Lodge museum on the corner of Adderley Street and Wale Street housed around 9,000 slaves during the slave era. It’s a grand old colonial building built by the Dutch East India Company in the 1600s and it’s hard to imagine the squalor of past times now. It makes for a really worthwhile museum stop, and among other aspects of slavery, highlights the journeys slaves made to the Cape, a ‘column of light’ commemorating slaves by name and even some accounts of slaves themselves. The audio tour is really good – it’s from the perspective of a German salt trader being given a tour by an official.

The District Six Museum on 25a Buitenkant Street is only a walk away from the Iziko Slave Lodge, and you won’t regret going if you can fit it in. The museum charts the forced removal of coloured people from the central Cape Town district during the apartheid. The large map in the centre of the floor as you walk in makes the situation hit home – former residents have marked where their homes used to be before the area was turned to rubble. There’s also a memorial hall with written accounts of former residents.

At around midday, head over to the V&A Waterfront. Make your way straight to the Waterfront Craft Market and Wellness Centre in the blue shed. The Waterfront has got some excellent fast food options – you probably won’t have time to sit down if you want to fit a lot into your day. ‘Calamari Express’ is in the blue shed, specialising in delicious fried calamari with chips or rice – there’s other fish available too. If fish isn’t your thing, go to ‘Naturally Kauai’ on Victoria Wharf for healthy fast food – they serve really tasty wraps.

After lunch, explore the market and wellness centre a bit more. Do a bit of shopping or indulge in an African Vunkuwa massage. For more unusual and bespoke crafts, go over to the Red Shed Craft Workshop to see craftsmen at work. Be sure to stop by the Siyakatala stall which has products made by people in the townships. Barrow Court in Victoria Wharf has vendors selling their wares from barrows – from bandannas to animal print socks.

The V&A Waterfront is all about soaking up the atmosphere and watching the boats – have a wander around to enjoy the vibe. Make sure you look at Nobel Square and the four bronze statues standing in tribute to South Africa’s Nobel Peace laureates, and the gothic-style old Port Captain’s Office before you leave.

You can’t go to Cape Town without enjoying Table Mountain, so your final stop before the evening is to take the cableway to the top. The views from the top are astounding, stretching down the Cape Peninsula, over the city and out over the ocean and Robben Island.

You should absolutely make your one dinner in Cape Town an African one. Make it ‘Mama Africa’ on Long Street, which serves delicacies such as Springbok steak, Mama’s crocodile kebabs and ostrich steak. They play live traditional music while you eat, which ranges from African Jazz to Kwaito music, which is a kind of African house music.

The music at Mama Africa will prepare you for a jaunt involving the revered Cape Town live music scene later on at ‘Mercury Live and Lounge’ on De Villiers Street in Zonnebloem. Downstairs is a lounge where intimate performances are held, while upstairs you’ll find some of South Africa’s favourite rock and indie acts.

© capespirit.com™

Sasha Arms is a freelance writer, editor and web communications strategist. She has travelled extensively, particularly across South Africa, Europe and the Americas and has contributed to a number of notable publications, including the Lonely Planet Bluelist. Read more about Sasha Arms

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