Mouille Point, Woodstock, World of Birds and Hout Bay

I booked our AirBnB in Cape Town based in part on the proximity to the Sea Point promenade with playgrounds every couple hundred meters. We started our 3rd day there before walking to Mouille Point, which had a bigger, private playground area with great views over to Lion's Head mountain. On vacations, I love seeing how much the kids' playground skills have improved and what new risks they are willing to take. 

She was crying because she couldn't go down to the water to play the "water game" (running in and out)

All aboard the little blue train! 

Pete found a beer brewery he wanted to try, Woodstock Brewery, and it was just a few minutes walk from our lunch spot, so the kids had lunch while we tried local brews.

Lunch for the grownups was at Pot Luck Club, a delicious Asain fusion spot on the top floor of a former cookie factory (The Biscuit Mill). Maeve was tired so we were thrilled to get a cozy booth and watch her snuggle in for a nap during our meal! Bliss. Meanwhile, we got a private lunch with our big boy who was willing to try a number of daring dishes. Reminded us of the time 2 year old Jude fell asleep at one of our Parisian lunches

After lunch we went to the World of Birds Wildlife Sanctuary and Monkey Park, the largest bird park in Africa. We had a long uber through some very nice suburbs to the other side of Table Mountain to get there. The kids loved running around seeing all of the animals. The highlight being the Monkey park, where squirrel monkeys climbed all over us for treats. Poor Pete got peed on (his back!). Jude was enthusiastic about the little friends, Maeve was more apprehensive, but was brave at the end and wanted one on her head, too.

The Blue Crane, the National Bird of South Africa. Just gorgeous (as is the National Flower we would see the following day)

"Hello! Hello!"

Maeve tells us her favorite bird it the flamingo! 

It was around 5pm and the park was closing so we took a look at the map and seeing that we were close to Hout Bay, decided to head to this protected beach town for the evening. I had considered renting an apartment here instead of in downtown Cape Town when I first started trip planning, so I had a good sense of the place already and knew there was a beach front restaurant with a playground. It was pretty chilly, but again, the kids didn't care and wanted to run in and out of the water, slowly shedding clothes until Maeve was happily butt naked! The only other beach goers were locals out walking their dogs along the beach and I'm sure they thought we were crazy. 

Two peas in a pod, these two 

The clouds on the mountains were amazing

We made our way to the restaurant and ended the evening with yummy food, drinks, a sunset and fun for the kids. Vacation mode is on!

Two adult meals, two kid meals, 4 drinks and bottled water for 40 euro! A good exchange rate at the moment allowed us to live it up this trip (airfare and safari aside!).

Table Mountain, City Bowl and V&A Waterfront

There was enough to do in Cape Town to entertain the family for at least a week so we crammed a lot in during our 3 days there. We received a lot of suggestions for things to do in SA from friends and friends of friends. Wanting to enjoy the culinary scene, we booked two recommended lunches and worked our daily plans around that, the weather and the temperament of the kids! Armed with a list of things to do, we were more spontaneous than usual on this city break. 

We had pre-booked tickets to take the aerial cableway up to the top of Table Mountain and saw that our second morning had the best weather forecast. I was constantly refreshing the online information about whether the cableway was running and if you could see anything at the top because we were blanketed in fog down below. It kept showing good visibility so we took our chances and went up, up and away above the cloud line. The cablecar is circular and has a rotating floor so you get 360 views on the way up the very steep journey. 

At the top, there were walkways leading you across the top of the "Table." We took in the views, watched the kids climb the rocks and then sought shelter from the wind in the cafe before taking the cablecar back down. 

Cape Town below

It was cool to see the fog come in from the coast and blow over the mountains. This weather is what keeps Cape Town smog free. 

Looking down to the end of Cape Point

Camps Bay beach below where we had spent the previous evening

I wanted to explore and photograph the colorful Bo Kaap neighborhood, but was content to see it from our Uber as it was really hilly without anything to excite the kids. 

We had some time before our lunch reservation at Kloof Street House so we explored the Company Gardens, former vegetable patch of the Dutch trading company.

Table Mountain in the distance.

Kids being very civilized at our yummy meal! 

A big fan of passion fruit jam

We spent the rest of the afternoon at the V&A Waterfont, harbor side upscale shopping and entertainment area. The draw was the Christmas program, a very sweet 30 minute show, where the kids got to join at the end and dance to All I Want for Christmas. Then Santa came from below the stage and the kids swarmed him! Everyone then waited their turn to talk with Santa and get photos. Jude told him he wanted a jet for Christmas and Maeve, holding her new bunny, told him she wanted a bunny ;) 

The modern, luxury mall could have been in any major city, but the holiday decorations were decidedly African and so colorful and beautiful! There was a summer palace where the kids got their pictures taken with the Queen and King in gorgeous garments designed by a leading South African designer. 

Most of the other decorations were traditional African basket weaving installations. So festive! I admired them all while I made my way to the far end to get Pete and I sushi at a recommended spot. Meanwhile, the kids had convinced Pete to get face painting and balloon animals before I took them on a ride in a kiddie train around the complex. Then it was home after a long, busy day! 

The Welters turned us onto the wine after their SA trip. We hope to get to this vineyard before we leave!