Day 33-41: Cape Town

November 11, 2024

Where were you when Trump got re-elected?

That week (and more) went fast.

We spent a couple of days with Amanda and Connor (and friends) on a farm near Stellenbosch about 40km from the centre of Cape Town. There was a lot of talking. There may have been some drinking.

Several people have told us not to ride into Cape Town along the N2 from the east. It didn’t look too bad to us, but who are we to ignore local advice. But we did want to go into the city, so we took more advice and a train. We left our bikes and 90% of our gear in Stellenbosch so we could do some sight seeing and buy some gear.

We’ve had some mixed results using WarmShowers in South Africa. A couple of great hosts, and a few that just don’t respond (probably because the WarmShowers app isn’t very good). But we had an amazing experience in Cape Town. Gina and her family offered to host us for a few days. I think the first thing we were told when we met was: “here are the keys to the house – I have to go out and pick up my daughter”. It’s difficult to describe how quickly the family accepted our arrival and included us in their home (instantly?). The family are old hands at this – having hosted lots and lots of cycle tourists over the years (while living in Ethiopia, Sudan, Vietnam, Germany and now here). But amazing hosts. And Gina has similar political and world views, and German, so we had a lot to talk about – from the re-election of Trump to the collapse of the German government after the finance minister got himself fired.

We have been hopeless at taking pictures of all the great people we meet. Unfortunately, Gina and her family are no exception. But we did get a picture of their doggos Macho and Mila 😍

Oh, and Cape Town is a great city. All the better to view from the top of Table Mountain and the Lion’s Head lookouts. A thousand metres up and only 4km from the city centre. There is a cable car to the top of Table Mountain. We hiked, of course.

We did some sightseeing and shopped for a few essentials. We’re expecting this to be last big metropolis as we head north for a while. For example, we wanted to grab some pepper spray (just in case we encounter something or someone a little too inquisitive). Unfortunately, it was easier to buy nearly all of the things we need online and have them delivered (except that not everything was delivered or was delivered intact and that caused some run around). That’s one of the fun ways to explore a city – have jobs to do and find a way to work it out. Another way that having mobile internet is changing travel.

We found ourselves in town on Saturday morning, so sniffed out the local parkrun. Met other travellers there – Dutch and Australians and there would have been others. Who would have thought that parkrun is a tourist activity now.

Sunday night wouldn't be complete without watching the Springboks beat Scotland.

Back with Amanda at the pub watching the Springbok play

Today's ride: 30 km (19 miles)
Total: 1,353 km (840 miles)

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