Part 6: V&A Waterfront - March 23, 2018

5/6/2018

So at this point, I had somewhat adjusted to the time as I was sleeping longer than previous nights, but still getting up fairly early. With this being a new location, I decided to take advantage of the early morning and just watch the sunrise, especially with the apartment having a private deck facing the East, and the common deck area facing the west.

On the East side of the apartment, you could further off into the suburban parts of Cape Town. You could also see Devil’s Peak. While the bulk of Table Mountain is right next to Devil’s Peak, it is not quite visible from the private apartment deck.

On the West side of the building, there were common space decks that allowed you to see the whole of Table Mountain along with Devil’s Peak and Lion’s Head. You can also spot Signal Hill, which is where you would find the noon cannon. A cannon that fires at noon every day except for Sundays and Holidays.

Devil’s Peak made for a great way to monitor the rise of the sun on a fairly clear day like today.

And once it was up, it really brightens up Table Mountain and the surrounding hills on the West Side. It also become easier to distinguish the skyline of Cape Town’s central business district, and other landmarks like the Cape Town Soccer Stadium, built for the 2010 FIFA World Cup.

Another fun find in searching the horizon. While it was still in the morning fog, from the private deck and towards the Northeast, I was able to find the Cobra, a roller coaster that was located at the first theme park of this trip, Ratanga Junction. The park was only open on Saturdays at this point, however, so it wouldn’t be until the next day that I would visit it.

Since I was up bright and early, it made for being able to take advantage of a full day to explore. Since I was not really sure where to begin, I made my way first to the Victoria and Alfred Waterfront, or the V&A Waterfront for short. This harbor area was created from a very large land reclamation project in Cape Town’s early days as it did not originally have a natural harbor, and companies would not insure or fund ships that went to or were based out of Cape Town before the project because many had been lost to storms in the area. With this reclamation project, they extended the shore by around two kilometers!

Today, the V&A Waterfront is a popular destination for shopping, restaurants, entertainment and attractions. It offers some fantastic views as seen below with Table Mountain looming in the background.

Cape Town really puts and emphasis on Table Mountain, as there are several tour companies that will take you to the cable car you can ride to the top, and in the V&A Waterfront, there are a few of these “picture frames” where you could have pictures taken with the mountain in the background.

The V&A Waterfront also features a few canals that you can cross over by bridge, one of which was a very unique bridge. The Marina Swing Bridge offered the same general concept of a draw bridge, but it rotated on an axis at one side of the canal rather than raising and lowering.

Throughout the V&A Waterfront, there is also a wide variety of artwork, such as these painted rhinos that were located all over the area, along with a variety of other statues and sculptures. Several shops even had African theme sculptures that you could purchase.

As it was getting closer to breakfast time, I made my way over to Victoria Wharf, a large shopping complex in the waterfront area that featured a large selection of shops and restaurants.

For breakfast, I decided to go with Spur Steak Ranch. This chain can be found all over the larger cities of South Africa as I had seen several locations in Durban as well as Cape Town. While it seemed that they were known for their steaks and burgers, being breakfast time, I went with one of the most unique items on their menu, and that was the Bacon Banana French Toast. The banana was sprinkled with cinnamon and offered a flavor that I had not combined with French toast or bacon before. There were a few bites in which I had just the bacon and toast together, and overall I did enjoy this meal.

After breakfast, it was about time for more exploring, and one of the other sites in the V&A Waterfront is Noble Square, which features statues of the four winners of the Nobel Peace Prize from South Africa, including Nkosi Luthuli, Archbishop Desmond Tutu, F.W. de Klerk and Nelson Mandela.

As the day continues, it would be time to see more of Cape Town, which would come with one of the main bus tours available in Cape Town.

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Part 6: V&A Waterfront - March 23, 2018