If you have ever watched the Saturday afternoon programme on SABC3 about Charlys Bakery (Charly’s Cake Angels) – the popular, busy cake shop, you can see their colourful premises as the bus winds around the streets of the city – pink with a huge awning our front. If you look you will see all sorts of colourful and interesting things along the route, taste the various smells like the smell of the ocean or the smells emanating from restaurants along the route.

After trundling up Long Street, with all its interesting shops, restaurants and people, the bus hauled its low gear way up the foot of the mountain towards the turn off to the Table Mountain Cableway. I could see the rows of parked cars all the way up and was thankful that I was not one of those trying to find parking. If I wanted I could just step off the bus and catch the cable car to the top and get back on one of the buses later. Again, if you decide to get off check your timetable for the last bus leaving that stop. Quite a lot of people got on here when we stopped and after a short wait the bus turned in the circle provided and tiptoed its way carefully back down the winding road, affording a wonderfully panoramic view out over the city and the bay. I also noted clumps of the wonderful Pincushion Protea that gave splashes of golden yellow to the lower slopes.

Edging out into the stream of traffic flowing over the top of Kloof Nek and down towards Camps Bay, the top of the bus again gave wonderful views of the whole mountain range behind Table Mountain and I learnt another piece of information about them, that there are 17 ‘Apostles’ and not 12. Looking at the gorges cutting up into the back of Table Mountain it is also hard to imagine that a huge steam locomotive was hauled up one of these to help with getting material up to the Back Table when the dams were built.

Winding down towards the sea on this glorious sunny day we made out way to the sea front at Camps Bay. I did not spot anyone famous unfortunately but a lot of people got on and off the bus. The beach was not overly populated either, but on my second go round there were lots of brightly coloured umbrellas. The wonderful smell of garlic wafted past my nostrils from the restaurants and my mouth watered at the thought of the various dishes people were busy eating for lunch. Hmm, time for another sandwich and swig at my juice bottle!

Leaving Camps Bay I spotted the aforementioned colourful chutes floating on the air currents around the back of Lions Head, on their way down to land just below the road on a piece of open ground. The bus made its way along the cliffs, which are festooned with des res’s hanging precariously onto the rock above and below the road, creeping between lines of parked cars and oncoming traffic along the narrow road, carefully negotiating odd bits of building works, until we came to Seapoint and the seafront road.

Buy your tickets here:

• Online at www.citysightseeing.co.za
Adults R110 (offline price R140), Kids (5-15 years) R70, Kids under 5 free.

• On the bus

• At out Ticket Office, outside the Two Oceans Aquarium: Bus Stop 1

Hi, I’m Corinna Turner. Cape Town and environs are so beautiful and varied, and have so much to offer. By going places and writing about them I feel I can share a little bit with those who are not fortunate enough to live here. More importantly I feel that there is a lot that local people don’t know about their city and environs. Cape Town City Sightseeing tours are one of the things that many Capetonians have not thought to try out, and I would like to change that. I am also known as Cape Winds Virtual Services you can find out more at www.capewindsvirtual.weebly.com