Planning a group trip with people that have never met, and only meet for the first time at the airport is not easy. This was my third time doing such trips and for the first time, I took time out and prayed before this one. I asked for it to be great, for everyone to get along, for them to enjoy the planned itinerary and for us to come back safe. I am happy to say my prayers were answered, this was the best #ChicaTravel group trip so far – we all just clicked and connected and I honestly could not have asked for a better group of people to spend the 4 days with. 

When I consulted with @tebogo_pinpin (Western Cape Travel Planner) about planning the trip, I was clear that I didn’t want anything on the itinerary that people typically do when they visit Cape Town. I specifically said no Camps Bay, no Table Mountain, none of that – I wanted him to show us places in the Cape we hadn’t seen, so we had quite a back and forth with the plans until we got to what became the trip. I must thank Tebogo for being patient & for handling this trip with great professionalism.  

Day 1: Cape Peninsula Tour, this included Muizenberg, then Penguin Colony, Cape Point & Cape of Good Hope.  

Once we were done with the incredible Cape Point, we went to go have lunch at Simon’s Town before checking out the Penguins at their colony, I really liked that old school, small town vibe of Simon’s Town. I would love to go visit one day when I need a day or two in a quiet place to switch off.

We later on got to take a drive and stop for sunset shots at Chapman’s Peak Drive – man, if you have not been to that part of Cape Town, the views are to die for!.

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The highlight of this first day’s itinerary was absolutely the ocean views at Cape Point

We spent our first night at Club Mykonos, which surprised me with their many activities but the accommodation itself gave me Sun City Cabanas vibes so definitely not my kinda place. Their sea facing restaurant where we had breakfast, Marc’s Beach Bar was great and the food delicious.

Day 2: West Coast Nature Reserve Tour, after breakfast at Club Mykonos, we headed off to the West Coast to visit the National Park and I was very surprised by this Nature Reserve.

What an incredible place bathong, it reminded me so much of Zanzibar and I will admit, I was embarrassed about not having known about it all along. Just confirms how much of South Africa I still need to see. This was everything!

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When you visit West Coast, be sure to pack your bikini and picnic basket for an even better experience, I fumbled and went there with my long pants. I looked cute but not practical for the shots I wanted to take by that rock heheh. . 

After our fab time at West Coast, we took a 3-hour scenic road trip to Arniston & checked in at the Arniston Hotel & Spa. 

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Day 3: Arniston Tour : We also explored the historical Kassiesbaai – this is one of the last working fishing villages in South Africa and one that you absolutely must explore on foot. 

I didn’t even know there was such a place until I had Tebogo Pin Pin on the podcast. I started googling pics of this beautiful village during our chat and knew right then, that I had to go. A month and a half later, I was in Arniston. 

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Kassiesbaai is small, unique and has an interesting history, but what makes is special is that it’s unspoiled and still has Fishermen who go to sea in their 19th century-shaped boats just as their forefathers used to do centuries ago… 

There are about 2000 people living in this peaceful village, and our guide was Barbara Burger, who is the Guest Relations Officer at Arniston Hotel & Spa. Barbara tells us that the hotel employs mainly those living in the village. 

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Arniston does not have a police station and only has a primary school : the nearest police station and high school are in Bredasdorp, 20km away. There isn’t a lot of crime in the area, as the residents all know one another and are like a family. There are unfortunately now and again, incidents of Gender Based assaults, which are often due to alcohol abuse, often these are ‘resolved’ internally.

The beauty of this place, is that everything is within walking distance. There were so many highlights during this point, it’s very difficult for me to pick one. I am plotting my next visit to Arniston already, I need to go and do it at a much slower pace than we did.

I can’t however not mention that one of the best things we did during this Arniston visit, was to go and have dinner at a local’s house – Wilneen’s restaurant. She indulged us and came out after our dinner, to tell us all about how she started her business, first as a shop and to the restaurant as well. What an incredible experience this was.

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If you visit Kaassiesbaai, please go have a home cooked, wholesome meal at this place. We were so glad we did it.

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We wrapped up our adventure trip with a drive to Cape Agulhas to see the southernmost tip of our continent, which is where the Atlantic ocean and the Indian Ocean meet. So no, Cape Point is just the southern west Point, Cape Agulhas is where the line is at. 

This was such a great trip! I look forward to the next one because I know it will be even better than this one. The only thing I would change about this itinerary is to do it over 5 days, instead of the 4 days. The last bits felt a little rushed and I think if we had just one extra day, it’d be perfect.

A big thank you to all the people that took out their R6,500 to travel with me. to my photographer Bae @Lesole_Snap, you rock , and another BIG thank you to everyone that engaged with my posts on social media via @chicatravelpodcast as well as @mslelob.

Thank you, and do check out all other pics using this #ChicaTravelCape hashtag.

Ends.

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