Exploring Cape Town: Two Oceans Aquarium and Castle of Good Hope
By Saskia CarelseExploring Cape Town: Two Oceans Aquarium and Castle of Good Hope
But still, I didn’t want to spend my day with doing nothing so I decided to go for an “indoor activity” with which good old Google helped me out. I finally decided to go to the Two Oceans Aquarium, as I am already experienced in getting to the V&A Waterfront (with train and mini bus). Finally arrived, I first went to the Food Market on the Wharf, which was also advertised as a great indoor activity – but I was actually only very hungry, because I skipped breakfast. Nevertheless the food market is awesome! I really cannot describe the variety of foods properly – you have to see it yourself. It’s really a shame that I cannot eat for four or even more. Next time I’ll try the waffles next to the entrance. If you should wonder where I ate this time, it was a German bakery, pretty unoriginal, as I am German, but it is definitely nice there. I was surprised to find Glühwein and Leberkäse on their menu – positively of course!
Next I finally went to the Aquarium itself to get my ticket and have a look at all the fish. What I think really unfair is, that although those touristic places advertise discounted prices for students, none of them accepts any European student cards but only South African ones. What do they think? I’m not less a student than all the others and my money doesn’t grow on my little personal “money plant” either! Nevertheless that’s not only a problem with the Aquarium but a general one!
The Aquarium in general was very nice and interesting. There were a lot of exotic fish and other marine animals to see and everything was very nicely displayed and described on little information boards. I liked the basin full of little “Nemos” and all the skates and rays the best. But those dark orange star fish and sharks, the strawberry anemones and kelp forests were fascinating as well. Apart from that, there were those paper fish that look like fallen leaves – my god sooo cool, I have never seen or heard of them before.
In total I spend around two hours in the Aquarium and I really enjoyed it – except for the moment when I thought I lost my cell – I almost had a heart attack over that, but that is another story. In the end I found it in the pocket of my hoodie…
After that, I decided to find my way into the heart of the city on my own instead of taking the bus. During that, I made a quick side-trip to the V&A Waterfront Craft Market, which is currently on the North Wharf due to some renovations going on there. It is really worth going there – so many nice and beautiful things to look at. This definitely isn’t a waste of your time.
After getting out of there, I continued my way into Cape Town's city centre and although I didn’t have a clue where to go, I found it quite easily due to all the signs indicating the direction.
Then I strolled down and around Long Street, found a few shopping centres, all of them very unsatisfying , but in the end I came upon a German bookstore, which so made my day!
Then, I continued my way across town and eventually found myself in the train station, but it was only 3 pm at that time and I definitely didn’t want to go home yet. That’s when I made up my mind to have a look at the Castle of Good Hope, which is surprisingly near to the train station – and surprisingly many traffic lights to cross.
Arrived there, the same story with the entrance fees and the student discounts, but never mind, I am already used to it, so I paid my R30 and was allowed in. Unfortunately the Castle closes at 16.00, that’s why I felt a bit pressured to hurry up. Nevertheless I got to see almost everything there. After having paid a visit to the “museums” and “exhibitions”, I called it a day and left the Castle at almost 16:00, walked back to the train station and got back home.
So this was another “adventure” I had the pleasure to have here in Cape Town, I hope there are a lot more activities to come that I can talk to you about!
Written by Nina Dammann who stayed at Riverlodge Backpackers as an intern. If you're interested in an internship at Riverlodge Backpackers, please don't hesitate to contact us.
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