CITY SIGHTSEEING JOYRIDE

What do fresh air, owls, beach sand, ragged tooth sharks, flowers, a boomslang and a heartwarming pinotage all have in common? Simple: the CitySightseeing Cape Town bus.

Puzzled? Let me break it down…

Taking a mini sabbatical from my usual pulse-racing pursuits, I played tourist in my own city this past weekend and plonked my bum down upstairs on one of those red tourist busses often seen caterpillaring around the peninsula. If you’re after fresh air and the best views imaginable, this is the spot. Adventures like this are definitely better shared, so my beautiful girlfriend joined me for the joyride.

We could’ve happily sat and relaxed all day up there in the sun on our Blue Mini Peninsula tour, listening to the enlightening commentary via our freebie earphones. But instead we opted to embrace the hop-on hop-off vibe with our two-day passes.

So, owls … where do they fit in? They were my standout favourite at the Hout Bay World of Birds stop, a place which plays a vital role in bird rescue and rehabilitation. Then, navigating northwards from there we meandered up Suikerbossie hill and along arguably the most spectacular stretch of coastal road in South Africa, hugging the Atlantic seaboard.

Beach sand in abundance greeted us at Camps Bay, before our Two Oceans Aquarium layover, home to a serene quartet of raggies and oodles of other marine life.

Journeying past District Six, the University of Cape Town and through Newlands, next we wandered around the immaculate Kirstenbosch National Botanical Garden with its gleaming new tree canopy walkway dubbed ‘The Boomslang’. The gardens were showing off, with the late afternoon sun-rays igniting the hazy mountain air.

Day two of our pass saw us repeat the full circuit, minus the stops – just to spoil ourselves with the views again – then we hopped off and on to the Constantia Valley wine tour bus, where we wrapped up our laid-back adventure with a variety of delicious wines at Groot Constantia’s tasting room. (I’m no winee – can wine be ‘delicious’?)

Visitor or local, this is a brilliant way to explore the Mother City.

OF NOTE
Who CitySightseeing Cape Town
Where Departs at Two Oceans Aquarium (plus multiple other stops)
When From 9 am, every 35 minutes (Monday to Friday), every 25 minutes (Saturday, Sunday, school and public holidays)
Cost Two-day ticket R230 (if purchased online). Go to the website for more tour options and prices. Entry to various attractions is extra
Contact +27 861 733 287, +27 21 511 6000, www.citysightseeing.co.za

Photography Mark Samuel, CitySightseeing Cape Town