Best places to take a photo in Cape Town

This is from an article i wrote for the Horizons magazine in June, and just because that month is over and the mags are no longer available, it does not mean that this great info should go to waste.
The idea behind the story was where people can take that 'postcard' photograph in cape town. And here are the top five - plus info on how to get there, costs etc...


CAPE TOWN

Places for a PERFECT Photo

1 Cape Point, or the Cape of Storms, is where one can witness the meeting of the warm Agulhas current and the cold Benguela current – on a good day, the water is two distinctly different colours. Drive out to Scarborough to the Cape of Good Hope Nature Reserve, pay R75pp entry and head south to the Point. Take the Flying Dutchman funicular (ticket R33) and then clamber up to the historic lighthouse, which offers incredible panoramic views. Open 7am to 5pm daily. 021-780-9010, capepoint.co.za

2 As an alternative to snapping from the summit of Table Mountain, try Lion’s Head next door. The views of the city are just as spectacular, but one also get shots of the Atlantic Seaboard. It’s about a two-hour leisurely hike, with a small section of climbing near the top (there are ladders and chains to assist climbers). Pack a picnic, chill out and wait for the sunset. The most popular outing is when it’s full moon (26 June). The Lion’s Head path starts on Signal Hill Road. Do not walk alone, be prepared for weather changes and take a torch.

3The iconic photograph of Table Mountain is best snapped from Blouberg, on the other side of Table Bay. Head from town on the N1, take the turn-off to Paarden Eiland and
keep following the coast until Big Bay, a beautiful beach popular with surfers, windsurfers and kite-surfers. The wind can be unpleasant, but it is the Southeaster (or ‘the Cape Doctor’), after all, that spreads the famous ‘tablecloth’ of cloud over the mountain. On the way back to the city, stop in at the Blue Peter Hotel – upstairs is great for dinner and cocktails, and a nice
day will find locals toasting the setting sun on the grassy bank
out front. 021-554-1956, www.bluepeter.co.za

4 It’s in the Bo-Kaap (the Cape Malay Quarter) on the slopes of Signal Hill that one finds the cute, pastel- coloured houses so instantly recognisable from travel books and postcards. Start in Wale Street and stroll uphill and down side streets. While there, to better understand the
place, visit the Bo-Kaap Museum (10am to 5pm, not Sundays; 021-481-3939, R15 entry) and pop into Atlas Trading (super spice merchant). For the other famous multi-coloured buildings, head to St James or Muizenberg beach in False Bay – home of cute Victorian bathing huts painted in primary colours.

5 The Cape’s baboons are comical, photogenic and none too shy of tourists, but they are also cunning and very dangerous to approach. Animal charity Baboon Matters hosts guided walks to see troops in the mountains near Kommetjie, on the southern Peninsula. See baboons crunching
on pine nuts, swinging up into trees and carrying their babies on their backs. Walks take about two hours, but are not too strenuous. R295 (adults), R140 (children), baboonmatters.org.za