Cape Town

Time Out explore the corners of Cape Town that most tourist don't reach

Harbour lights: Cape Town's fishing fleet

It’s perfectly easy to slot into ‘real’ Cape Town life without becoming a victim of crime and, with the same amount of caution that you would exercise in any major city, anyone can enjoy the parts that most tourists don’t reach.

Table Mountain dominates every view. Taking the cable car (at around £12 for a return journey) is too pricey for the locals, so if you’re fit then join the Capetonian walking fraternity and walk through Kirstenbosch Botanical Gardens (Rhodes Drive, Newlands; 00 27 21 799 8899; www.sambi.org) in the moneyed suburb of Constantia, where you’ll find the starting point for the Skeleton Gorge route to the top which takes you up wooden ladders and past steep ravines. The walk can be completed in as little as 75 minutes.

For an alternative to the mountain, plan your visit to coincide with a full moon and join thousands of Capetonians as they climb the adjoining Lions Head peak at night. It’s quite strenuous, with chains built into the rock in places, but the view over the city to Robben Island (former ‘home’ of Nelson Mandela) is worth the hour’s hike.

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For a taste of real Cape Town nightlife, avoid the sanitised anaemia of the Victoria and Alfred Waterfront shopping mall. Instead, head to the two more interesting hubs of Long Street, located in the centre of the city bowl, and Observatory, a bohemian southern suburb within easy reach of the centre. The main drag, Lower Main Road, which runs through the centre of Observatory is an endearingly ramshackle collection of Victorian shopfronts with peeling balconies, which house a collection of cafés and bars. Check Ganesh (Trill Rd, Obz; 00 27 21 448 3435; www.cafeganesh.co.za) for its kitschy 1950s furniture and open kitchen serving superb falafels.

Jo'Burg bar, best for kwaito tuneage

Over on Long Street, the ironically named Jo’burg bar (218 Long St; 00 27 21 422 0142) and Marvel (236 Long St; no phone) a couple of doors down at the high end of the road have a distinctly African vibe and it’s here you may well get your first taste of kwaito: uniquely South African dance music that combines ’80s Chicago house basslines slowed down to 33rpm with Xhosa or Zulu language street-rhyme vocals.

A favourite stop-off for many Capetonians is to take the train down the False Bay seaboard to the tiny working fishing harbour of Kalk Bay. Here, the main road is lined with dusty bric-a-brac and antiques shops and the harbour itself is home to Kalky’s (Kalk Bay Harbour; 00 27 21 788 1726), a fish and chip shack where a gargantuan plate of hake and chips in the open air will set you back around £2.

High season is just beginning in Cape Town and, while the notoriously fickle club and bar scene seems to change every six months, ten-year-old institution the Vortex (www.vortexsa.co.za) is still going strong, with its trance parties organised outside the city on various farms and beaches from November through to February. Go to Mr Pickwick’s late-night café (158 Long Street; 00 27 21 424 2696) to pick up flyers for the latest events.

Local knowledge
Mark Sampson, stand-up comedian
‘Take the Chapman’s Peak drive. The road, dramatically cut into the side of the mountain, was closed for years due to rock falls. The views of the little town of Hout Bay and the ocean beyond are spectacular.’
Mark Sampson’s show ‘Feels Funny’ runs in March 2008 (www.samp.co.za).

Get packing
Getting there
British Airways flies non-stop from London to Cape Town from £519 return. Visit www.ba.com for details.

Stay
The Daddy Long Legs (www.daddylonglegs.co.za) art hotel opened in 2005 and contains 13 bargain-priced rooms, all designed by a local artist, sculptor or poet. Choices include the ‘Emergency Room’ complete with X-rays and nurses’ uniforms. Prices start at around £40 per night.

Money
Good: the South African rand is still very weak with the exchange rate fluctuating between 13 and 17 to the pound.

Climate
December to March is the hottest time of year with the climate rising to the 40-degree mark. Winters are usually mild.

Rob Crossan. Photography Jurie Senekal