Walking the streets

I'd have been disappointed if we'd come to Cape Town and only walked around the V&A Waterfront. Staying on our last night further back into the city was our opportunity for a stroll along real streets. 

We set out a little too early as the streets were a touch too quiet and the sight of an empty park, unnerving. So, we changed our plan slightly and walked along one of the main cafe street scenes and hung a left into one of the doorways, finding a funkily decorated place with great coffee. 

We felt quite secure seeing security people on most street corners and began to walk more boldly up towards Bo-Kaap, a brightly coloured Malay area of houses. We chose the wrong road first, which didn't feel too inviting, but soon located the main street to amble up. 

It was good to see some of real life first hand - children playing and teenagers hanging out - without feeling we were there to observe them, rather to admire their quirky streets. 

Walking back through the gardens was an eye opener and saddening. It was now filling with people, mainly tourists, but bodies of homeless people sleeping in the sunshine littered the green lawns. The disparity is levelling. 

The media certainly plays up the crime stories but the UK government advice website also puts the fear of god into you. From what we've seen for ourselves and heard from local people, the advice is simple for Cape Town and shouldn't detract from a visit:

Don't explore after dark unless you're somewhere like the V&A Waterfront where it's buzzing. 

Wait until the streets get busy in a morning if you're going out on foot.

Don't wear flash jewellery or watches (easy when you don't have any!) or leave gadgets on show in the car.

Stop for no one if you're travelling by car.  If it looks like police waving you down, drive into a service station before stopping.

Visit! 

The holiday has been tremendous. The variety we've packed in makes it feel like we've been here more than two weeks and we made sure we had plenty of chilling time too.

The country is stunning, wildlife phenomenal and people wonderful. I still don't think Johannesburg would be on my list of places to go but we'd certainly love to come back to South Africa. It's been fascinating to hear so many different perspectives while we've been here, all with a slightly different story to tell and all very real.

We've met an awful lot of incredibly nice South Africans.