Hout Bay is south of the Cape Town city centre, on the way down the peninsula. We visited this area a couple times: once on our way to the peninsula, and then again later that week.
World of Birds and Monkeys
We visited the World of Birds and Monkeys primarily to play with the baby squirrel monkeys. There is an exhibit that allows you to be surrounded by them and it is open a couple hours a day. This was our first stop on the way to Cape Point. It had been raining on and off that morning, so when we arrived it felt great to get some hot tea and a breakfast sandwich at the cafe.
Our first stop was the penguin exhibit, where it was feeding time. The trainer was hand feeding them, and we watched as he trained a few babies to eat from his hands. It didn’t look like an easy task. I was so excited to see penguins at Boulders Beach the next day!
Next, we got to play with the baby squirrel monkeys. The guide explained that we should take everything out of our pockets, as the monkeys will take anything they find. I’m glad I did, because as soon as we walked in, two monkeys climbed on me and instantly inspected the pockets in my backpack. They are very lightweight, so you almost can’t tell they are climbing on you.
After the monkey exhibit, we walked around the rest of the sanctuary to see some unusual animals. They had many more animals than I expected, from meerkats and lemurs to ostriches and tortoises. This was our first interaction with animals in South Africa, and it made me so excited for all the animals we would see on the rest of the trip.
Chapman’s Peak Drive
The coastal road down the Cape Peninsula is called Chapman’s Peak Drive. It is a toll road, so if you go, you’ll need to make sure you have cash with you. The drive is considered to be one of the most beautiful in the world. There were several stopping points with benches that I imagined would be fantastic spots to watch the sunset with a bottle of wine. We didn’t have time, but on my next trip I will make it a point to do that! Although only a small section of the road to Cape Point is considered Chapman’s Peak Drive, the entire road had one jaw-dropping view after another. I didn’t expect it to be so beautiful the whole way.
Sandy Bay
Later in the week, after we had returned to Cape Town from our road trip, we were in the mood to do another hike. I found a hike to the shipwreck on Oude Schip Island. The hike starts at the parking lot for the Sandy Bay beach in Hout Bay. We parked and walked through the shrubby path to get down to the beach. It was really foggy that morning, and I was hoping the sun would come out eventually. On our path, we noticed some giant boulders down by the beach. We climbed down and observed the seemingly angry ocean crash along the rocks.
We continued on our hike and arrived at Sandy Bay. The beach is very secluded: we only saw a couple people our whole time here. When we arrived at the beach, the clouds started to break and we saw blue skies! It felt amazing out and instead of resuming our hike, we decided to lay on some rocks and enjoy the sunshine. We even saw some seals on the edge of the water!
Check out my video below on Cape Town!
