26 August 2025
We arrived at midnight last night so have a sleep in this morning, sort ourselves out and do some washing. We try to find out what times our hotel pick ups are for our tours tomorrow and the next day but struggle to get through to the operators. One said she’d let us know tomorrow through the Viator App but as we didn’t do the bookings ourselves we won’t get any info anyway. The hotel travel person wasn’t able to contact them either so we were thinking that we would just have to be downstairs 30 mins ahead of time. Thankfully the communications eventually went through to our travel agent who forwarded them on for us.
It was a beautiful day so we set out to explore the Victoria & Alfred Waterfront area. After a false start where we ended up in a very rundown port area, we re-corrected and found a walking/running trail that led to the Canals and Waterfront. It is a lovely day, sunny but not too hot (approx 18C) so perfect for walking. We admired the boats in the marina and especially where Table Mountain loomed up behind. Later on there is a large frame where you can have your photo taken with Table Mountain behind.
There are several huge craft halls and we meander through, loving the bright colours and the artistry and want to buy so much that we couldn’t possibly take home. We had to settle for scarves and earrings instead.
Next stop was a Food Hall where we found a stall specialising in Cape Malay style and had a Crispy Tempura’d Malay Chicken Sosatie (a roti wrap) – which was absolutely delicious. We sat outside in Nobel Square beside the sculptures of South Africa’s four Nobel Peace Prize winners, Albert Lutuli, Desmond Tutu, F. W. de Klerk, and Nelson Mandela. And were entertained by a male choir singing traditional songs.
We continued our ambling after lunch further along the waterfront finding even more craft stalls and more musicians. Anne was even co-opted into performing with them. We had a cuppa (Anne had a cappuccino and I had a herbal infusion with lemon, ginger and mint) in a café right on the water and sat people watching for a while before wending our way back around the water.
We found a couple of food stores on the way home for supplies of water and even got some chicken wraps to take with us for our lunch tomorrow (day tour).
Dinner in the hotel restaurant tonight – we shared the sushi.
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