And so Milou’s journey with TCA and Village n Life comes to an end!
It was an absolute pleasure working with Milou over these last 5 months, and we are confident that she will only make waves wherever she goes! While it was sad to see her go, we wish her all the best – and hope that she carries the skills she picked up and memories she made here with her forever! -ed
That’s it! After spending 5 months in the most beautiful city I have ever been, Cape Town, it is time for me to go back to the Netherlands. I have been to many nice restaurants and have done so many fun and nice things. Since there are soooo many fun things to do in Cape Town I will describe my personal highlights of my time in Cape Town in this blog.
In February I arrived in Cape Town to start with my adventure.
Highlights of February:
- The first highlight of my first month in Cape Town is definitely that I am living with 14 Dutch girls! I never expected it to be so much fun to live together with 14 girls, but this is definitely a big highlight of my stay in Cape Town.
- We already heard that there are so many good restaurants in Cape Town, so in the first month of our stay in Cape Town we started with exploring all sorts of different restaurants in Cape Town. The restaurants that were a highlight for me are: Willoughby & Co in the Waterfront (they sell good sushi), Tigers Milk in Kloof Street (cheap and cozy), Van Hunks in Gardens (cheap and good food), La Belle in Camps Bay (delicious lunch), Roxy Late Night (great vibe, cheap, great nachos and burgers) and V&A Food Market (different kinds of food).
- Since South Africa is known for the good wines they make, we really wanted to taste this ourselves. In February, I visited a few wine estates; Spier Wine Farm, Delaire Graff Estate, Boschendal and Beau Constantia.
- Even in February there were some less sunny days in Cape Town, which gave me the perfect opportunity to go for a relaxing day at the spa. I have been to the spa in the Westin Hotel. The spa is small but is very neat and clean and has an infinity pool which gives a great view over Cape Town.
- The first festival I went to in Cape Town is the Ultra Music Festival at Greenpoint Stadium. This was a highlight because we met a lot of new people during the festival and the music was great. My personal highlight of the festival was local artist, DJ Black Coffee. He made the crowd go crazy!
- Because of the sunny weather, we spent a lot of days on the beautiful beaches in Cape Town. My favourite beach is Clifton 2nd beach, since this beach is so beautiful and clean and there are not a lot of tourists here.
- A very cool thing to do is watch a movie at the open air cinema in Kirstenbosch. Besides ordering your ticket for the movie online, it is also possible to order a seat with a pillow. I would recommend this because it makes watching the movie more comfortable. There are several food stalls where you can get popcorn or nachos. We watched the movie the Lion King so this was a great experience.
- In February we discovered a restaurant named La Parada in Constantia. Every Sunday evening there is a DJ standing outside and it is the perfect way to end your weekend. They sell delicious food and great wines, and it is an awesome experience to go here on a Sunday evening. If you want to sit while having dinner, I would recommend to make a reservation since it is very popular.
- A must do is definitely the hike on Lions Head. The view on top of Lions Head is amazing! However, I would not recommend doing it in February because of the hot weather and it is very busy on Lions Head in February!
Highlights in March
- This month started with celebrating my 20th birthday. I have never celebrated my birthday without my family and I missed them very much. However, I celebrated it this year in Cape Town with a bunch of friends and some good food and wines. We had dinner at Beluga. This is an Asian restaurant with sushi, oysters and dim sum. Perfect to celebrate your birthday!
- With a new month, it was time to discover some new restaurants! My favourite restaurants we discovered this month were: Beluga (good dim sum and sushi), Gold Restaurant (14 small dishes, live music, African entertainment), JC Brasserie Pub (cheap but nice food), Café Paradiso (love this Italian restaurant!), Café Caprice (nice Camps Bay view, good lunch), Kloof Street House (the camembert starter is my favourite!), Cape to Cuba in Kalk Bay (only the look of the restaurant is already worth going there), Forks (amazing tapas).
- Even though we are in Africa, we still want to support the Dutch national football team. A cool place to watch football games is The Fireman’s Arms in De Waterkant. They sell nice beers and good pizzas!
- Every Thursday night there is a beer pong tournament in Forex Bar & Restaurant. There are a lot of students here and it is a fun way to get to know more South African people.
- There were two awesome festivals in March we went to. The first festival is We Love Summer Festival. This festival was outside and had one stage. The music was very nice and we really enjoyed this festival. The second festival we went to in March was Elrow Festival. This festival has an inside part as well as an outside part and the vibe was great!
- Besides eating and drinking a lot this month, we also did two different hikes. The first one we did was the Elephant’s Eye Cave Hike in Constantia. The second one we did was the Wally’s Cave Hike in Cape Town. The Wally’s Cave Hike is part of Lions Head and is a short hike which is awesome to do after work.
- One of the most beautiful routes to drive around Cape Town is the Chapmans Peak Drive. One day, my roommates and I rented a car through Avis and we started driving the Chapmans Peak Drive. We drove from Cape Town to Constantia via Hout Bay, then to Kommetjie and then to Cape Point and Cape Of Good Hope. After seeing a lot of Ostriches and all the different beautiful nature, it was time to drive back to Cape Town. We drove via Simon’s Town, where we made a stop at Boulders Beach. Boulders Beach was so much fun because there were a lot of penguins.
Highlights in April
- This month started with an Easter breakfast with my 14 roommates in our house. After the breakfast, we went to Clifton 2nd beach where a group of our friends were sitting on self-made sand benches having some drinks and enjoying our time in the sun. This is definitely a huge highlight!
- During the whole year there are different vintage markets in Observatory. The vintage markets were held at a place called Trenchtown in Observatory where you can eat delicious nachos.
- Every first Thursday of the month Capetonians celebrate life with each other, all around the city. My friends and I went to La Parada at Bree Street but there are many more places to go to for a fun First Thursday.
- One of the best restaurants of Cape Town is the Pot Luck Club. The Sunday lunch is definitely a highlight because of the nice view, good food and great atmosphere.
- The biggest highlight of this month was definitely that my parents and my brother came to visit me. We had a lot to catch up on, so we started with nice drinks at Bilboa Restaurant in Camps Bay. During this week we had dinner at these restaurants: Bilboa Restaurat, Rick’s Café (cheap and cozy), Kloof Street House (one of the best restaurants of CT) and Asoka (good cocktails and tapas). We did some surfing at Muizenberg and ate nachos at Tigers Milk. My brother and I went to a soccer game between Cape Town City and Orlando Pirates in Greenpoint Stadium. We did a wine tasting at Babylonstoren which is a beautiful wine estate. The biggest highlight is definitely skydiving!! This was so so so awesome!
- This month, it was time again to go to a festival. We went to Eden Festival in Stellenbosch. This festival was held on a wine farm in Stellenbosch which made it very cozy. Definitely a highlight.
- Watching the sunset is one of my favorite things to do, so we went to Signal Hill. The fun part about watching the sunset on Signal Hill is that you can bring your own wine and snacks and relax while watching the sun set.
Highlights in May
- Already on my third month in Cape Town! To start of this month properly, my friends and I did went sandboarding and quad driving in the Atlantis Dunes. This is such a cool experience to do in the dunes and even more fun with a big group.
- I never thought that I would do a Table Mountain hike but I did!! Together with three of my friends we did the Skeleton Gorge Table Mountain hike. Even though it was a difficult hike, I would really recommend this hike because it is awesome and so beautiful.
- At night it is so fun to play games in Grand West Casino and Entertainment World. During the week it is not that busy.
- New month, new festival! This month we went with a big group to Into the Wild Festival in Stellenbosch. It is a trance party in the woods with gives it an awesome vibe.
- As an intern at Village ‘n Life, I was invited to go to Aquila Private Game Reserve with my two colleagues, Yasin and Maanie. This was definitely a highlight because my dream came true because I saw my favourite animal – the elephant – for the first time in real life!! You can read about my experience in my blog about Aquila.
- Together with 10 of my roommates, we hired a car and drove to Cederberg. We stayed at Gecko Creek Wilderness Lodge in Cederberg. This was a highlight for me because it was back to nature for a weekend and we had no phone reception so we were all without our phones in the nature. Such a cool experience to wake up at sunrise and relax in a hammock.
- Because my friend Julie is an intern at Cape Grace Hotel in Cape Town, she invited me to stay a night with her in the hotel. The hotel is very beautiful and neat. That evening we had dinner at Signal Restaurant inside of the hotel. The food was delicious and the staff were very friendly.
- My friends I did an escape room activity at HintHunt at the Old Biscuit Mill. Unfortunately we did not make it out on time! That was a pity but made the experience no less fun. It is a great way to get an adrenaline kick!
Highlights in June
- In June, a lot of restaurants have winter discounts. The highlight restaurants for this month for me were: The Bungalow in Clifton (sea view and good food), El Burro Taqueria (cozy restaurant), Zenzero in Camps Bay (delicious carpaccio and pastas), Hudsons The Burger Joint, UMI in Camps Bay (very nice sushi and sea view), La Boheme (cozy and good restaurant), The Cousins Trattoria (recommendation: The Cousins pasta, it is pasta served in a Grana Padano cheese wheel!!) and Mzoli’s in Gugulethu (go early and buy your meat in the store next to the restaurant).
- For nice cocktails I would recommend Harringtons Cocktail Lounge.
- Together with my friend I enjoyed a one-night stay at The Bay Hotel in Camps Bay. The staff was very friendly and the hotel is beautiful. That morning we had breakfast at Tides which is inside of the hotel. You can read about my stay in The Bay Hotel in my blog.
- Definitely a highlight was going to Bloubergstrand. The view here was the most beautiful view of Cape Town I have ever seen. The beaches are clean and neat and there are multiple options to have a good lunch with the nice view.
- My roommates and I did a high tea at The Twelve Apostles Hotel in Camps Bay. The high tea is in The Leopard Bar in the hotel. This place is so beautiful! Everywhere you see the leopard theme coming back. Besides this fun theme the view is also awesome.
- Two guys named Andile and Singata took us on a tour through the two different townships – Langa and Gugulethu. This was a very interesting experience and I am grateful that Andile and Singata took the time to show us around. Read about the whole experience in my Township Tour blog.
- It was time to explore the West Coast more this month! My friend and I went to stay at The Farmhouse Hotel in Langebaan for one-night. The room was cozy and nice and the hotel is like typical farmhouse which made it so cozy. I really liked the West Coast and you can read more here.
Highlights in July
- The last month of my internship started with a Goldfish concert at Grand Africa Café & Beach. Goldfish is a South African dance duo who make very popular and really good music.
- The biggest highlight of this month was definitely my trip to Namibia. This trip was so much fun and Namibia is a very beautiful country. Read about the whole trip me and my roommates took on here.
- Access park – so many cool things to buy at discounted prices!
- July was the month of the World Cup Final between France and Croatia. We watched the soccer game at the Mojo Market in Sea Point. This is a food market where they even sell Dutch food like poffertjes!
- Some nice places to have breakfast or to go to for dinner: Harvest Café & Deli in Bo Kaap (delicious Acai bowls and healthy smoothies), Eastern Food Bazaar (very cheap and nice curries), Black Sheep Restaurant (delicious tuna steak tartar and friendly staff), TODAY & TOMORROW (cool atmosphere and delicious pizzas), YOURS TRULY (nice cocktails and friendly staff).
- On a Friday evening it is very nice to go to the Bay Harbour Market in Hout Bay. They sell cute souvenirs here and there is also a food market inside. We were lucky that there was live music as well.
- Another great highlight of July was having lunch at Die Strandloper in Langebaan. From Cape Town to Langebaan is about an hour and a half, drive but definitely worth it! A lunch at Die Strandloper consists of 10 different dishes which mostly consists of fish. The restaurant is outside so go if the weather is nice. The atmosphere is very nice here!
As you can see I made the most out of my time in Cape Town! I am very sad that I have to leave already, but now I am going to travel South Africa a little more with my mom. Unfortunately this is the end of my time at TCA. I learned a lot from all my colleagues and I wish them all the best!
Baie dankie!
Milou