Since the tourist season has hit off in Cape Town our come2capetown team wanted to make a statement on the seven best leisure activities to come to Cape Town for. From having a romantic candle-light sundowner on Clifton 4th beach to feeling the excitement of watching cricket in the Newlands stadium with one of the worlds best views. It is guaranteed that if you do all these activities in one holiday, you have had nothing else then an awesome time.

Having a romantic sundowner on Clifton 4th beach
On a hot and sunny day when you feel the heat coming down on you, instead of going to the beach early in the morning, make a plan to go late in the afternoon. First of all the intense heat of the Sun is diminishing to comfortable levels and secondly, if you go to Clifton’s 4th beach you will also experience something that will stay in your memory for a long time.

Driving from Sea Point, Bantry Bay side along the M6 beach road (Victoria road), Clifton 4th is one of the last the last beaches you will come across before you reach Camps Bay. To park, drive in to ‘the ridge’ next to Clifton Beach house restaurant, Hidden in a Boulders scattered landscape and beautiful ‘petite’ architecture lies the beach that is famous for its romantic candle-light sundowners. Around five o’ clock in the afternoon you will see people coming down the beach steps with picnic baskets and refreshments to watch the sun go down.

And indeed, the sun sets beautifully. But if you want to see an even more miraculous view, wait until there is almost no eye-sight left. You will see candles being lit one by one, until the whole beach only consists of shadows of people in between hundreds of flickering lights. With the lights of the city and the calm waves of the sea in the backdrop it is a perfect ending to a perfect day.

The best day to watch this ritual is during full moon since this happening will attract the romantic friends. Any other warm Friday or Saturday will do as well. Do not forget your candles, though! Do you wantto be perceived as a local? Cut of the bottom of some plastic mineral bottles and use them upside down as (wind proof) candle holders. Guaranteed compliments for you…

Devil’s Peak: on top of Cape Town
Table Mountain has a character to remember Cape Town for, yet Devil’s Peak will make you remember your 360 degrees view of Cape Town for. Op top you literally feel op top of a peak, looking at Table Mountain and the Platteklip Gorge on your left, the harbour, city bowl, Cape Flats, all the way to Muizenberg and Hangklip.
When in the late afternoon, you see the clouds on Table Mountain and Devil’s Peak, you can imagine the smoking contest between a soldier and ‘the Devil’ centuries ago, which gave the Peak its name. The ‘sadle’ between the peak and Table Mountain provided for enough space between them for a fair contest.

The Boulders on top have been shaped into perfect Eames arm chairs to lay yourself down to enjoy a book, an Appletizer and a buddistic silence to reminisce in.
The Peak starts from hospital Bend, aka Rhodes Drive at the top of Observatory. Its slopes gently and graciously ascend from Groote Schuur Hospital past Zebra’s and ‘Bokkies’; past the old Block House to a height of a 1000 meter.

The ADCP tried to change the name to Dove’s Peak in 2002, yet history might not repeat itself; The English in 1503 named it Mount St. Charles before it received its current name Devil’s Peak.

There are many different tracks to walk up Devil’s Peak, the main ones starting from Table Mountain Road, passing Woodstock Cave going up. The other –a 5 hour one- starts at Rhodes Memorial in Newlands, providing a perfect spot for a breakfast before hiking up. You might also encounter Himalayan Tahrs, Fallow Deer, Rock Dassies and Sunbirds.

Two things to remember about Devil’s Peak: 1. trust us, when you are in Cape Town, do walk up Devil’s Peak. and 2. take a map walking up.

Chilling in Long Street
Every city in the world has its own unique street that reflects the vibe of the town and shows the extraordinary mix of people that live there. Long street in Cape Town is exactly that. This is where old meets young, antique meets modern, Mosque meets Church, hard-rock meets R&B, fish meets chips, rich meets poor, kitsch meets style and gay meets straight.

Long Street cuts for about 20 blocks through the centre of the city from the new International Convention Centre to the old Turkish Baths. The street used to run all the way through to the harbour and that is how it got its name; being de longest street in town.

It has old Victorian styled houses with contradictory bright colours. It’s alive day and night with bistros, restaurants and bars. Its Legendary second-hand bookshops are all over the place, just like antique stores, and this is the place where you can get the best kitsch (or funky) accessories.

On 196 Long Street, Deirdre Sarnitz has had her vintage clothing store for the past 30 years. “These are all independent shop holders who give individual attention to the customers. We are not like those big, glitzy stores”, Sarnitz said. Another shop that has been there for the past 30 years is Revelas Fisheries run by a Portuguese immigrant who still uses his old till.

For visitors, chilling in Long Street is the way to meet the Capetonians, because this street IS Cape Town. And like the website www.longstreet.co.za says: “the music flows everywhere… like the traffic and information”.

Kitesurfing at Bloubergstrand
Cape Town has long been one of the worlds premier windsurfing spots, but since the Cape Town kite surf craze has hit off globally, it is now one of the top kitesurfing locations as well. Especially Bloubergstrand, that is situated some 30 minutes outside the city centre, provides for excellent kitesurfing conditions.

Surfers fully indulge in the mostly ongoing south easterly wind, driven and condensed between the hottentot holland mountains and Table mountain it has built up just that additional strength for the Kites to get into the powerzone.
A pearly white sand beach and the variety of waves add to it being the premier venue for high performance kitesurfing. The beach are not too crowded with sunbathers since they tend to go to the more sheltered beaches. Blouberg’s Big Bay and Little Bay outside Cape Town give a good chance of seeing surfers take off every day.

What makes this spot extra special is the stunning view of Table Mountain and the city centre that is built around the lower slopes, on the other side of the bay.

Locals enjoy hanging out here, as well as top kite surfers from around the world. At busy days the whole sky above the sea at Bloubergstrand is flocked with bright yellow, pink, red, green and blue nylon kites. This makes a great picture as well for visitors that are not going to hang high in the sky. All hang loose though...

Picnicking at Boschendal wine-estate
Enough wine estates to visit the reknown wine lands in Cape Town and surroundings, all of them different; select on of the many for an extra to the usual wine tasting. For instance Boschendal wine estate “where the French Hugenots first grew wine”, at the gateway to the Franschoek Valley, just a short drive east of Stellenbosch.

Here you can treat yourself on an elegant French-style ‘picque-nique’ beneath the shade of the fragrant pines, against the backdrop of the majestic Simonsberg Mountain. For R80 (children R40) you can buy yourself a pre-packed picnic served in wicker baskets and place yourself on the lawn or on a chair for a relaxed summer afternoon.

You can choose from a range of different picnics, including a vegetarian and a veganist one. With dishes like smoked salmon trout crêpe roulade, feta and green peppercorn pâté, mussels with vodka salsa, sweet potato salad with balsamic and peanut dressing and vanilla ice cream with chunky berry sauce, the menu is certainly mouth-watering.
No wonder it is advised to make reservations.

Watching cricket at Newlands stadium
It is not just about the game of cricket why we chose Newlands the place to go to in Cape Town, it is about the atmosphere this old Victorian style-building radiates. From die-hard cricket fan to being completely ignorant about the game, it is difficult not to have a good time when visiting the stadium.

When you buy a ticket there are a couple of options; getting a seat in a VIP-box, a normal seat in the stadium or you can sit on ground level on the grass.

Even though this last option is the cheapest one, do not mistake it with the crappiest one. On a nice and sunny summer day (the cricket season is in summer) people are sitting on the grass, chatting to each other and having a nice braai while keeping an eye on the game.

A cricket match can last easily the whole day, so do not feel embarrassed to take a book with or work on your tan while you are at it. You do not have to get hungry since almost every typical Capetonian dish can be obtained from one of the take-away food shops.
Naam van een Cape Town team of opmerking over de Protea’s met uitleg over de bloem en national symbol.

But again, what makes this stadium extra special is the view of Table Mountain appearing in the backdrop. It is difficult to keep your eye on the cricket ball since it is competing with the stunning mountain and its ever changing weather conditions.

Oh, and once you know the basic rules the game of cricket, it will be nail biting exciting as well.

Shopping and bargaining at Green Point Market
To understand why Green Point Market (every Sunday on the parking lot of the Green Point Stadium) is such a joy to go to, you only have to know what you can buy there and you are already convinced.

You will find small-sized, medium, large and extra-large wooden giraffes, elephant statues from a couple of ounces to five kilograms, every thinkable mask, paintings with typical bright colours and the well-formed curves of South African women, millions of bracelets and necklaces, radio’s (made from a bit of wire, a small speaker, a battery and a coca-cola can), beadworks and wireworks, art from all over Africa and so on.

Owner Werner Botha of the market stall “Summin Dif’rent” says that Green Point is always a good market because of the variety of stuff. “If you do not go to Green Point then you are not trading. In winter or summer, there are always people.” Botha’s products are self-made like most of the other stuff sold on the market. His bracelets, for instance, are made from the valves of a truck and the garden-lamps used to be car filters.

The curios and gift-items can be much cheaper here then in the rest of Cape Town. That is if you are smart. You have to know the skills of bargaining. Generally speaking if you come out on half the price the stall-holder is asking you, you have done all right. Which is extremely difficult for Europeans though, who plead: “Why don’t they just put a price tag on everything”.
It’s part of the African way and part of our enjoyment of doing business with you…