Friday, February 9, 2018

Hop-On/Hop-Off Adventure Part One

I had booked a hop-on/hop-off bus tour of Cape Town and Tuesday was the day. Initially it was planned that way because on Tuesdays pensioners can get in to Kirstenbosch free.


Transport is challenging. A bus comes past the caravan park in the mornings at 7.45 and goes to Simon’s Town station.  However, there is sea sand on the tracks between Simon’s Town and Fish Hoek so one buys a train ticket and uses it to board a Golden Arrow Metro bus to get to the Fish Hoek station.


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It looks like it’s been a while since the train used the track.

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There was a 25 minute delay before the train left the Fish Hoek station.


We only found out later that we were in a 3rd class coach whereas we had paid for 1st class. It was an experience. I saw a young black man give up his seat for a lady. In the beginning everybody was quiet and mostly focused on their cell phones but after a while chatting started. One young man was standing in front of two young ladies chatting them up. Every now and then a vendor would come onto the train selling chips and sweets. At one stage a boy got on with a tin can and started begging for money. He should have been in school at that time of the morning.


We arrived at the Cape Town station after 10 am and tried to find our way on foot to the tourist bus terminus. It wasn’t too far but there were some seedy looking characters in the area and we were watchful and clutched our belongings closely.


Once we got on the tourist bus we moved from 3rd world to 1st world.

view from the busThe first stop we hopped off at was the cable car to the top of Table Mountain. What a pleasure not to have to drive up the steep and windy roads and not to have to try to find parking. The bus dropped us at the entrance. We had pre-bought our tickets so we could go straight in.


They seem to have upgraded the cable cars since I last did the trip. It is more like a round car and the floor slowly revolves, giving everybody a chance to see all sides.

I was a little nervous, especially when we got close to the rock.

close rocks

cable car

Lovely views from above

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view from the topWe walked around admiring the rock formations, the shop and the vegetation.


little tree on the top smallBrian on Table mountain 2shop on the toprock formationsmallrock formation 2small


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