Wilbur Smith country!

A short break in Africa? Yes well even my mother thought I was mad but you know, life is too short and sometimes you just have to seize the opportunities when they come, so when I was offered the chance to spend three nights in Cape Town, I jumped at the chance.

Off I flew with a group of friends for a weekend of luxury in the 5* Table Bay hotel, situated on the vibrant waterfront of this exciting city.

We arrived in glorious sunshine early in the morning, and after a short 20 minute taxi ride, we were at the hotel. This hotel has an amazing location as from reception, you can either walk out to the waterfront area with its cafes, bars and street musicians, or you can take the escalator up in to the adjacent shopping centre which has loads of shops.

We couldn’t have our rooms straightaway, so we wandered down to the waterfront for a fabulous and very cheap lunch. Seizing the moment, we then decided to take advantage of the sunshine to visit Table Mountain. It’s only 20 minutes in a taxi from central Cape Town, and the cable car takes about 10-15 minutes to take you to the top. It’s probably not an experience for those who suffer from vertigo! When you get to the top, there are three signposted walks around the top which is basically rocky ground with knee high shrubs. The walks vary from 20 – 40 minutes and aren’t challenging at all. Beware though that some of the walls around the top are literally just a foot high so toddlers need to be on reins and small children kept hold of very firmly.

From the top the views are amazing. You can see the Indian and Atlantic oceans and the stunning location of Cape Town itself. You need to go on a sunny day for sure, and the cable car only operates in good calm weather.

The next day, we set off for wine country. The Village at Spier offers something for the whole family and is just about 45 minutes outside Cape Town so perfect for a half day trip. We experienced the cheetah outreach programme here: it is an educational and conservation project which aims to protect cheetahs for the future. We were able to stroke the two cheetahs they have there, which are part of the project - quite an experience.

They also have an eagle encounter which has to be the best and most informative wild bird demonstration I have ever seen. Except for the moment one of the larger ones landed on my head!

We then wandered around the onsite shops and looked at the traditional handicrafts before heading on to Moyo, their signature restaurant for a fabulous meal. Moyo is a massive tented enclosure with great atmosphere. Seats come with blankets which when we were there was needed as though it was sunny, it was freezing. Lunch was barbequed kudu, ostrich, and various other meats which I didn’t wish to have identified! Lovely though!! We had traditional musical accompaniment and it was a fabulous experience.

The next day it rained, and I spent the day wandering around the art gallery and the museum. Living within easy access of London, you tend to be a bit blasé about the fantastic art we have such easy access to. The art gallery had a few notable names, but we also ate at the Mount Nelson hotel, and they had more substantial art on their dining room walls than in the city’s gallery!

The national museum was more impressive and is worth an hour’s visit. It would also suit children too. They have an impressive display of san rock art which was really interesting, as well as the normal suspects found in any natural history museum.

One place definitely worth a trip if travelling with children is the aquarium which has the most amazing spider crabs: some of them a meter across as well as a living kelp tank which was something to see!

All in all, this city is definitely worth a longer stay: due to the inclement weather we had at the end of our stay, we were unable to get to Robben Island and also down to Cape Point. I must go back one day ...................