Travel Talk

Flight to Cape Town & Trip to Bo-Kaap, South Africa

February 22, 2012August 5, 2019 by SHABL

Good evening from Cape Town,

The time is late and yours truly is tired from a busy day of safari, a charter flight courtesy of Federal Air to Johannesburg and finally a flight with South African Airways to Cape Town. I’ve been in Cape Town less than 3 hours and I already love it. Luckily the question where to stay in Cape Town is already sorted. Now I can focus on loving and enjoying Cape Town. I’ve ha da smile from the time I saw the other people arriving in the luggage claim; this place has a good feel to it.

We took an early morning game drive and saw lots of animals but focused on birds, even got to witness another leopard scaling the side of a ridge looking for prey, didn’t see it close any deals but still was interesting to see it maneuver the cliffs with such grace and ease. Afterward it was off to Singita Sweni Lodge for breakfast. The Sweni Lodge is right next to the Lebombo where we are staying only styled different and meant to accommodate less people. If you had a family outing, this place would be perfect.

Shortly after it was time to say farewell to the dreamland that was our safari adventure at Singita and board a Federal Air charter to Johannesburg. From our location in Kruger National Park to Jo’burg was roughly 2 hours and there we waited to board a South African Airways plane to Cape Town. Since the airlines is a member of the Star Alliance, gave them my Aeroplan number and collected some points. Supposedly the intercontinental flight from the USA to South Africa alone is 17,000 points. So you know, my one way flight from Bulgaria to Ottawa this summer only cost me 25,000 points. If you aren’t collecting miles for your travels, you are seriously missing out.

Moving on…

Arrived in Cape Town and as described earlier, the place has a vibe to it. We immediately proceeded into the Bo-Kaap area which used to house all the Malay slaves. Cape Town has a very interesting history and is the original site in South Africa where the settlers landed. Suffice to say slaves from Java, Indonesia and the region were brought as workers. They were given an area and when they were freed, given the land. This land has a killer view of Cape Town and is now a sought after area.

We went to a lady who knows the area well and had a traditional meal at her home. The photos of the table are the appetizers. The main course was penang fish curry and these delicious meatballs. She explained the history of the place from what it once was to what it has become. We also discussed district 6 which is famous for the events that transpired in 1967 where countless natives lost their land under apartheid. There are now government programs to compensate the victims but it’s not such an easy task.