Cabo da Boa Esperança: o que há por perto, como chegar e quando ir · 2026

АМАнгелина Мардоянmardoyanal · 24 de fev. de 2024Ler

A bit of history. Cape Town was discovered thanks to the search for a new trade route from Europe to India in the 15th century. The name Cape Town translates to "cape-city," located at the edge of the Cape of Good Hope. Today, more than 4 million people live in Cape Town. It is a port city in the southwest of the Republic of South Africa, situated on the Cape Peninsula, washed by the waters of the Atlantic Ocean. Table Mountain towers over the city, with a cable car leading to its flat summit. From there, you get a stunning view of the city, the harbor where yachts dock, and Robben Island, famous for its museum in the building of the infamous prison where Nelson Mandela was once incarcerated. My favorite activity was going to the shopping mall; you can have a delicious meal there, exchange money safely, and, of course, go shopping. There are 2 large malls in Cape Town: Victoria Wharf Shopping Centre and Canal Walk. I recommend visiting both, and the first one is located by the port, offering a gorgeous view of the ocean. Once, we were lucky enough to catch a Maroon 5 concert at the Cape Town Stadium (the very stadium where the 2010 FIFA World Cup took place)! Also, during my stay there, I managed to visit The Cape of Good Hope, Boulders Beach (a beach where penguins have lived since 1982), and Bo-Kaap (a neighborhood of colorful houses in Cape Town).

Rravik15 de jun. de 2009Ler

CAPE OF GOOD HOPE Even if a person knows nothing about South Africa other than that it exists, they have surely heard of the most famous cape in the world! Especially since it bears such a beautiful and resonant name, which includes two wonderful words: "GOOD" and "HOPE". Once, this cape was called the "Cape of Storms", as ships were constantly crashing against it. Later it was renamed to its current name, but they say ships kept crashing for a long time after that. And maybe it still happens even now... Katya and I were there last Saturday. The SASTS were supposed to take us there, we politely reminded them about it, and without any argument, they added us to a newly arrived group of volunteers and participants of the "Work in South Africa" program. Students come from all over the world, not just us and Europeans, but also from Canada, Australia, the USA, and so on. They come from everywhere! At 8:30 AM in Sea Point, a bus picked us up, about twenty people gathered, and off we went. I want to note that I had been working like a dog that week and sleeping three hours a night—it just turned out that way. So that morning, I returned from work at 5:30 and got up at 8:00. Katya called and asked if I was definitely going? — What, did I come here just to work? — I replied and started getting ready. We sat down and drove off. Katya was chirping about something and asking questions, and I remember asking her not to overwhelm me because my brain refused to work. But as soon as we hit the mountain road, I immediately felt life and the traveler in me waking up. And the day went amazingly! On the way, we stopped and took a boat to see the fur seals. In one place, there were almost five thousand of them! Then we stopped again. In a beautiful little area called "Simon’s Town". To grab a bite. I bought a bottle of soda, some buns, and chips, and sitting on a bench at the pier, I watched the passing boats. Further on, not far from Simon's Town, we stopped to see the penguins. I imagined them like in nature documentaries or in movies. A meter tall. It turned out those penguins live in Antarctica and are called Emperor penguins. In South Africa, the penguins are the size of a cat. Sometimes a large cat, but no bigger. They line up in a flock and stand like statues. And they don't care about anything, tourists scurrying around or whatever else is happening. Everything is parallel, indifferent, violet! Their down is everywhere and they "smell", let me tell you, not like house pets... But it's so cool to see a penguin alive and in almost natural conditions! Then we drove again. I want to note: so far, no matter which direction I've traveled in Cape Town, the views, in my opinion, are simply stunning! They say if you go further away, it's more steppe and hilly. But here, everything around is just a miracle! On the way, we encountered a train. It was running right along the water's edge. A mesmerizing sight! And then there was IT. Cape of Good Hope! It's so great: you're driving along the top of a cliff, and in front, to the right and left below, is the ocean. The Atlantic. We walked along the cape. It is an absolutely fantastic place of incredible beauty! In one place, there is a beach you can go down to. And it's like in a movie! Or in a dream. But we didn't have time, the bus was waiting for us. All the time we spent on the cape, the feeling never left me that the bus had brought us straight to paradise. We plan to visit again! HOT SPRING My aunt went to a hot spring last year. Somewhere in Europe. France, I think. And she praised it so much! And I was like: "So what! What's the big deal?!" So yesterday, Nick and I went to Caledon ourselves—it's a place in the mountains where they built a whole wellness complex with small stone baths for a few people; and larger pools with water from a hot spring. I went, tried it all out, and came to the conclusion: it is a "big deal"! A very big deal! It's sooooo great! After swimming and splashing around, we w