My wife and I are going in the fall, which is their spring. Oct 30 - Dec 3 is the low season right after the rainy season passes (and airline tickets are significantly lower during this time right before summer)

I saw rattler ryan's thread from a few years back, but was wondering if anyone else had ever been and had any recommendations, specifically about the West Coast of South Africa.

We are thinking of staying here:

http://capetown.hotelguide.co.za/Small_Luxury_Hotels-travel/cape-town-boutique-hotel-colona-castle_location.html

Any other thoughts, other than that I should have used tiny URL?

5/6/2008 9:53:08 AM

holler at BobbyD and my2cents

5/6/2008 9:54:45 AM

k

5/6/2008 9:56:20 AM

your url is fine

im on XVGA and there is no scrolling

5/6/2008 10:01:08 AM

bring a gun. Look out for muggers, robbers, and carjackers.

my old roommate's gf went a few years ago and the first day there her group was held at gun point and robbed (despite the fact they had a former marine as their escort).

have fun!

5/6/2008 10:03:02 AM

Check out Table Mountain, Cape Point (beware of the baboons) and the beaches. There's some beautiful places there.

5/6/2008 10:04:01 AM

I can't speak much about hotels, we stayed with family while we were there. We were there during the same part of the year, and it's basically their spring -- although cape town is sort of like the bay area here-- pretty mild year round.

definitely do table mountain, and if you can, hike it rather than taking the cable car.

If you like wine, hit up the Stellenbosch area. Lots of wineries, and i'd say that it rivals napa and sonoma.

The waterfront market/shops are pretty cool to browse, but it's definitely a tourist trap-- shit's overpriced.

The Castle of Good Hope is pretty cool as well.

oh yeah, and as with any international travel these days, try not to look like Americans. Tell people you're from Canada if people ask.

5/6/2008 10:09:47 AM

when i was abroad i saw some people with gigantic canadian flags on their backpacks. whether they were canadian or not, that's a pretty solid idea.

5/6/2008 10:14:38 AM

The Holidy Inn Express was pretty good and it's walking distance from a huge mall. There's a decent casino in Cape Town too. The Robben Island tour is worth checking out. The tours are led by some of the former prisoners.

5/6/2008 11:47:19 AM

Quote :

"bring a gun. Look out for muggers, robbers, and carjackers. my old roommate's gf went a few years ago and the first day there her group was held at gun point and robbed (despite the fact they had a former marine as their escort). have fun!"

Ha, that was in Praetoria that it happened. Cape Town is pretty safe from what I've heard... I'd like to go there one day... if I get to see everything already on the better continents.

[Edited on May 6, 2008 at 1:09 PM. Reason : x]

5/6/2008 1:09:12 PM

Wear a cape so that you don't look like a tourist.

5/6/2008 1:51:38 PM

Quote :

"see everything already on the better continents."

yeah, because there isn't much to see if Africa.

5/6/2008 2:47:52 PM

don't get AIDS

5/6/2008 6:47:25 PM

hit up zimbabwe

5/7/2008 12:03:32 AM

go to the beach, watch great white sharks

5/7/2008 12:10:08 AM

Quote :

"Wear a cape so that you don't look like a tourist. "

5/7/2008 12:00:58 PM

Quote :

" walking distance from a huge mall"

well i mean, that is why i go on vacation to far away places

5/7/2008 11:13:09 PM

Don't get kidnapped.

5/8/2008 1:56:59 AM

If you get AIDS, have sex with a virgin and you'll be cured.

5/8/2008 5:03:13 PM

I'm heading down there monday (right after graduation)! definitely hiking Table Mountain, checking out wineries around Stellenbosch, going on safari at Kruger, and possibly shark cage diving. staying with my cousin, so i haven't checked out any hotels.

5/9/2008 4:02:58 PM

^ We did a safari at kruger as well.

That 5 days might have been the most relaxing 5 days of my life.

Where is your base camp? We were at pretoriuskop. We were lucky enough to see all of the big 5 within the first day. Then there were days where we didn't see anything more interesting than springbok.

but definitely an awesome experience.

5/10/2008 9:09:47 AM

I have a friend in South Africa right now and she did the shark diving the other day. She said it was the best thing she did while there.

5/10/2008 10:06:52 AM

wait until 2010 to go then let me bunk with you for the World Cup!

5/10/2008 12:21:07 PM

^^^ Mbizi Backpackers Lodge, I think. it's a 4 day event. my advisor strongly suggested staying at Oliphants, but we weren't able to get one in our price range to overnight there, but the tour should stop there for lunch

5/11/2008 8:06:13 PM