No visit to Cape Town, no sightseeing trip, no day out exploring the Peninsula is complete without a trip up Table Mountain on the Cableway (Bus Stop 13 on the City Sightseeing Red City Tour) – there is just no arguing this fact!

Check out the fun had by this lot when they visited Table Mountain

The good news is that you can hop-on to the City Sightseeing bus and it will drop you off right at the cableway ticket office – something you will fully appreciate when you see the line of cars parked for kilometres up and down the road.

This official Wonder of Nature is the flattest mountain in the world and really is the most famous icon in the Cape.

But it is not just worth seeing because of its reputation – a trip up the mountain is loads of fun! From the bottom, when you get to stand in the revolving cable car, to the top where you can enjoy seriously breathtaking 360º views of the peninsula – a real bird eye view!

And speaking of birds – be sure to appreciate the amazing fauna and flora that you find on Table Mountain. Dassies, porcupines, snakes, tortoises – the list goes on. Not to mention the indigenous fynbos – this is, after all, a national park.

Take a stroll along the well kept paths, have a drink and something to eat in the restaurant (or pack a picnic), get your camera clicking – and again, marvel at the views!

The ‘Cape Town’s Red Bus Movie’ project was created, produced and directed by City Varsity’s 1st year Film and Media Department students, under guidance from their lecturer Riaz Solker.
 Thor Rixon directed, edited, and did the sound production. Amrish Shah was the producer for the project and outside actors from the industry made up the cast.

1.    BOULDERS, CAPE TOWN

Boulders Beach is situated just beyond Simonstown, Cape Town. It is a lovely place for photographic opportunities, family outings and picnics, sheltered from the prevailing winds, with white sand, big grey rocks and clear blue sea. A separate part of the beach has been taken over by Penguins since two breeding pairs arrived in 1982, and there are now about 3000 of them. They attract many visitors, both local and overseas, who enjoy being able to get close to watch their fascinating ways and the penguins seem to enjoy being photographed. They are protected and the Beach falls under the control of Table Mountain National Park.

2.    BO-KAAP, CAPE TOWN

Another ‘must photograph’ spot in Cape Town is “Bo-Kaap”. You can hop off the Cape Town City Sightseeing Bus at Stop 12 – Jewel Africa. Within easy walking distance are the houses of Bo-Kaap. The houses, which seem so small from the front but stretch far back into secluded gardens and patios, are usually painted with an assortment of rainbow colours which make each one unique. One can spend hours there as there is so much to photograph! It has to be the most colourful and beautiful suburb in Cape Town!

3.    COMPANY GARDENS AND MUSEUM, CAPE TOWN

Stop number 6 on the City Sightseeing Bus route, is at the Cape Town Museum and Company Gardens. The Gardens were developed in the years when ships stopped in Cape Town to replenish supplies particularly of fresh fruit and vegetables for their crews. There are lovely views of Table Mountain from the “Gardens” and one can enjoy the tranquil companionship of very tame doves and squirrels. One can walk around photographing the exotic plants, flowers and trees as well as the lovely buildings and animals. It’s a difficult place to leave once you get there!

4.    GROOT CONSTANTIA WINE ESTATE

One special stop for a photo session is Groot Constantia Wine farm. It is situated in the Constantia Valley and offers so many different possibilities. There are amazing photographic opportunities, from the wonderful flowing vineyards, to the beautiful old buildings, to the magestic view of the surrounding mountains and breathtaking views of the southern suburbs. Whether the weather is good or bad, the mystery surrounding Groot Constantia is captivating. You can eat at Simons Restaurant or purchase a picnic to enjoy on the lovely lawns  or you can enjoy a meal at the lovely Jonkershuis Restaurant.

5.    GREEN MARKET SQUARE, CAPE TOWN

Stop 4, Cape Town Tourism, on the Cape Town City Sightseeing bus route, is a photographer’s dream. Do a self-guided walking tour from here to Greenmarket Square which is surrounded by beautiful old buildings including the magnificent Metropolitan Methodist Church.

There is a Craft market where one can purchase African art and it is a short walk from the Square to St George’s Cathedral. Here one can eat in “The Crypt” beneath the Cathedral which was a refuge for many activists, including Nelson Mandela, during the Apartheid years. The Cathedral has beautiful stained glass windows and an unique labyrinth.

6.    HOUT BAY, CAPE TOWN

Mariner’s Wharf in Hout Bay is Bus Stop number 26 on the Blue Mini Peninsula Tour on the Cape Town City Sightseeing open-top bus. A must for keen photographers, one can enjoy all of the fruits of the sea at this lovely restaurant while looking over Hout Bay Harbour across the Royal blue and Turquoise sea to the cliffs on which Chapman’s Peak Drive has been constructed.

From Hout Bay one can take a cruise on one of the charter boats to Seal Island where hundreds of seals can be seen relaxing on the rocks or swimming around the boat. There is a fish market, and lots of craft markets to look at and explore.

7.    KALK BAY, CAPE TOWN

From Boyes Drive above Kalk Bay Harbour one can hike, camera in hand, and climb up the mountain where there are very interesting caves to be explored. Some of them are quite a tight squeeze and one should have someone who knows the caves well before venturing too far. Once again, the views are magnificent, stretching from a distant view of Cape Point, Simonstown and Fish Hoek, to Kalk Bay Harbour itself nestled like a jewel at the foot of the mountain.

8.    MUIZENBERG BEACH, CAPE TOWN

The Muizenberg Beach consists of miles of white sands and white topped waves endlessly rolling in to be caught by surfers and boogie-boarders. Walkers and their dogs are to be found enjoying the crisp breezes each day from sunrise to sunset. When the wind is right there are kite-boarders flying like butterflies with their multi-coloured wings.

On Sundays, hoards of venders flock to Sunrise Beach where they set up their tents and kiosks for the crowds of people who arrive to scratch through the many articles on display. Once again, I can never resist taking my camera to capture the moods and beauty of the beach.

9.    SILVERMINE, CAPE TOWN

For great photographic opportunities, a drive to the top of Ou Kaapseweg, the pass over Silvermine/Muizenberg mountain, one can drive into the Nature Reserve, park the car, and take a pretty strenuous hike to the top of the mountain where there are magnificent views over Hout Bay Harbour and the Karbonkelberg.

On the way down a detour will take you to the Elephant’s Eye, one of the many caves that can be seen at a distance from Constantia and most of the Southern Peninsula. There are so many beautiful indigenous flowers which one can photograph along the way, not to mention the breaktaking view!

10.    ST JAMES BEACH, CAPE TOWN

St James Beach is a lovely secluded safe beach, very popular with young families because of the large tidal pool in which many Capetonians have learnt to swim.

There are many highly prized brightly painted bathing boxes which are handed down from one generation to the next and photographers flock to St James to take photos of these unique boxes and along the catwalk to Muizenberg. Young families love St James Beach as there are fascinating rock pools where little ones can catch tiny fish and find lovely shells and pebbles.

My Name is Yvonne Luden. I have always been passionate about photography for as long as I can remember. I spent the whole of my first salary buying my first camera – a second hand one at that! I have upgraded each time and now am the proud owner of a Nikon D200. I just love taking photos around our beautiful city and country. I also love taking photos of children and fun family shots. I feel that one learns from every single picture you take, and one can only get better!

Having heard about the screening ‘Mr. Devious’ at the District Six museum, it seemed to be a good opportunity to see what the Hip Hop Bioscope had to offer. As a third-year history student at UCT and a resident Capetonian it seemed like an interesting location to visit.

Getting off the City Sightseeing Red City Tour bus at Stop 9 puts you right next to the museum. Don’t let its hardened exterior fool you, I was surprised to find how peaceful and homely it felt inside. Despite its modest size, the museum has a wealth of information written along its walls but what really made an impact was how the history of District Six is incorporated into the walls of the museum so that not only do you see the history around you, you feel it too.

When walking in, the first striking image is a vast map of the old district’s streets and buildings stretched almost entirely across the floor. Just beyond that, the old street names are hung along a wire frame stretching from floor to ceiling no doubt trying to portray the scale and size of District Six’s once bustling streets.

To the right, the Little Wonder Store has its mementos on display but also offers a selection of books written about District Six. Nomvuyo’s Room is a little bedroom adjacent to the store and is inspired by the book entitled ‘Sala Kahle District Six’. For some strange reason this little room made a deep impression on me, inscribed on the wall is a little epitaph “God bless our home” and I couldn’t help but empathise. In another life that could have been my home the one day, and the next day, nothing.

‘Places of Work’ is the general theme upstairs including a small yet detailed recreation of a hair salon. The centerpiece, underneath a large stained glass window, is a mural “dedicated to all those individuals who have made and continue to make the District Six Museum a living project”.

Alongside the mural is another little room similar to that of Nomvuyo’s. Inside the room a speaker projects an old voice that reminisces on what he remembers when living in the area. The walls of the room have old bits and pieces of everyday items plastered into them, some broken, some whole. I couldn’t help but feel a solemn nostalgia in the room, a sense that along with the lives that were taken away from the area, their possessions too are disappearing into the obscurity of history, very much like the rubble of the district’s houses further up the road.

Pressed for time my girlfriend and I went to find the museum’s very own bioscope. Along the way we went through a very small but conveniently placed coffee shop (for those who need a little warming up) and proceeded into the bioscope. The bioscope itself is no more than a large room with a projector but very inviting nonetheless (a local DJ providing the tunes).

Directed by John Fredericks the screening was heart-wrenching at times. It follows the prodigal South African rapper Mario van Rooy a.k.a Mr. Devious who moved from Bonteheuwel (an area filled with people subject to the Group Areas Act, especially those from District Six) to the Cape Flats developing his art along the way. He story was an inspiring one, he moved from obscurity to becoming a social activist on the cusp of greatness, searching for a positive way to uplift the youth from the dangerous and sometimes malign environment of poverty.

Unfortunately, like many who try to make a positive difference his life was cut short in January 2004. A tragedy heightened by its irony as he is stabbed to death by the very youths he tried to help. On that note I left the museum and along the way caught a glimpse of a registry book on the front desk. In the book people from around the country and world get to leave a parting message. One simply said “painful”, another, “interesting” and couldn’t help but resonate with the former.

I came in the search of interest and left with a little more, an inspiring memory. If you are looking for an experience that will give you a unique glimpse into the past while giving you food for thought, then the District Six Museum will give you just that. Pay it a visit; the final two screenings are on the 12th and 19th of May showing Afrikaaps and Sathima’s Windsong respectively.

Find District Six Museum’s Bus Stop 9 on our Red City Tour on the corner of Buitenkant & Albertus Street. (Closed Sundays)
Get the time table here: www.citysightseeing.co.za

Buy your tickets here:

• Online at www.citysightseeing.co.za
Adults R110 (offline price R150), Kids (5-15 years) R70, Kids under 5 free.
Canal Cruise: Adults R20, Kids (5-15 years) R10, Kids under 5 free

• On the bus

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

I am currently a third year student at UCT and matriculated at Camps bay High School in 2009. My majors at UCT are English and History and for fun I go for regular hikes across the Cape Peninsula and can’t think of many trails or mountains I haven’t navigated within the area. I’ve traveled throughout the Western Cape by car for simple sight seeing and bird watching, including all the way up the West Coast and on a occasion to Graaff Reinet and Port Elizabeth.

Wow, the trip was amazing. What started off seeming like an unenjoyable day for a topless tour at stop 1 due to the weather; and a nagging husband; turned out to be the most enjoyable, informative cloudy day.

The weather cleared up even more, and warmed up as we neared Kirstenbosch Botanical Gardens (Bus Stop 20 on Blue Mini Peninsula Tour).

I have never enjoyed a history lesson quite as much as I did with the commentary. We truly felt like tourists in our own town, we live in Upper Woodstock and drive that route everyday and yet we take it for granted. But after my Blue route experience never again will I.

The District Six and Khoi stories were exceptionally heartfelt and close to home as I’m in a multiracial/inter faith marriage, therefore my husband, being a malay, could relate and said every word was true. He loved it!

I must admit… I switched over to the kids station quite a few times, much fun indeed and I thoroughly recommend it to adults too!

I have NEVER seen my girls, ages 4 and 8, sit so still! And so attentive! I never had to reprimand them, not one nag nor cat fight.

Well done and thank you very much City Sightseeing for the experience! I will definitely be doing it again real soon!

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

Having lived in Cape Town and now living on its doorstep for many years, my husband and I realised that we had become complacent and had never taken the kids, who are 7 and 4, to see the sites that this amazing City, and indeed the entire Peninsula, have to offer.

In fact, I realised that I had only ever gone up Table Mountain once – and that was about 12 years ago!

So – in January of this year we planned a holiday in Cape Town and spent a week camping in Simons Town and explored ourselves silly!

The Scratch Patch, the Toy Museum, Just Nuisances statue, Boulders Beach, Kalk Bay, Fish Hoek, a trip on the train just for the fun of being different – it was wonderful!

But the highlight would have to be the day we took to explore Cape Town on the City Sightseeing bus.  We parked at the Waterfront and jumped on the bus, getting prime seats right at the front on the top.

The kids loved it and I particularly loved the kids commentary that explained what we were seeing in a fun and educational way.

Although we would have loved to hop off at a few places, we had set our sights on the mountain and so we hopped off at the Table Mountain stop so that we could go up the cableway.  It was VERY busy which was the only drawback and we queued for ages before getting onto a jam-packed cable car and ascending to the top – only to discover an icy cold breeze up there and us, stupidly without warm tops!

But – it was still wonderful to show the kids the view from up there and after a walk around, some drinks and ice creams we headed back down and jumped back on the City Sightseeing bus which then took us back to the waterfront where we spent hours at the Two Oceans Aquarium learning all about our underwater treasures.

(I was really nervous about missing the bus but it was as easy as anything – the bus arrived minutes after we did, we climbed on board and before we knew it we were on our way again – seamless, smooth and quick!)

All round it was an amazing – and BUSY – day out but one that I would do again in a heartbeat!  Only – next time we will hop off at the Company Gardens and visit the South African Museum and feed some squirrels.  Or perhaps we will hop off in Camps Bay and go to the beach, drink some cocktails with the gorgeous people that frequent the street cafés, or maybe we will do the Blue Mini Peninsula Tour and go to Kirstenbosch and Hout Bay, and, and, and…so much to see!

Things we learnt:

• Firstly – Cape Town is amazing – we really do live in a beautiful, world class city!
• Remember to wear a hat and sun block if you sit up top on the City Sightseeing bus
• Remember to ALWAYS take a warm top with you up Table Mountain – no matter how hot it is at the bottom
• Give yourself loads of time to explore Cape Town city itself – more than a day is needed ideally as there is so much to see!
• Adults – tune into the kids commentary for a few moments so you can enjoy how cleverly it has been done and how interesting it is
• The Peninsula can be windy!  So be prepared for that – and again, warm tops need to come along as that wind can be chilly!
• The toy museum in Simons Town is well worth a visit and will have most moms and dads feeling nostalgic for their childhood

The City Sightseeing bus is great fun and makes exploring Cape Town so easy, whilst all the time adding to the adventure for the kids who just love climbing onto the big red double-decker bus!

First run on 2 May 1970 by just 26 runners, The Old Mutual Two Oceans Marathon (or Celtic 35 Mile Road Race as it was first called), now in its 43rd year, has become a nationally and internationally renowned event. This popular event that has transformed into somewhat of a festival, now also includes a half-marathon (in its 15th year), a trail run, a friendship run and fun-runs. Also included in the annual event activities, is the Old Mutual Two Oceans Marathon Expo, which is held at the Good Hope Centre. Here runners collected their race numbers, purchased last minute gear and supplements and enjoyed exploring the array of stalls on display.

At the expo, young and old, were also encouraged to participate in the Puma Faas Test. Here participants could run on the prepared track and try beat Bolt’s top speed of 44.17 km/h. I gave it a try (dress and all) but didn’t want to embarrass Bolt, so I just jogged the distance. All participants received a cool set of inflatable “Bolt Arms”, which is pre-set in his easily recognizable victory pose. This fun activity caused quite a buzz at the expo, but there was also another topic creating a stir and it had nothing to do with speed. The weatherman had forecast a storm, rain, wind and cold for race day but no-one knew quite what to expect. The Mother City’s weather moods can be quite unpredictable at the best of times and maybe there would just be a drizzle, a light breeze; maybe, just maybe.

Race day arrived and this time it seemed the weatherman would be right on the mark. The sky awoke with a gloomy look on her face and as though she was in no mood for doing anyone any favours. So while many Capetonians lay snuggled under the covers, scores of diligent athletes braved the cold and eagerly congregated on Main Road in the suburb of Newlands, for the start of the Old Mutual Two Oceans Marathon and Half-Marathon. Driving to the start line at 4.30am, we had already spotted many runners covered in black refuse bags and reflective running gear warming up and making their way to the start line.

The half marathon race was fully subscribed with 16,000 runners expected to participate, while just over 9,000 runners would take on the ultra-marathon distance of 56km. The race stage was set, complete with music booming and a lively MC stirring up the athletes, then at 6am the half-marathon runners were sent on their way (along a new route for the first time this year). Later on, at around 6.25am, the ultra-marathon runners made their way down Main Road. The ultra-marathon runners would run along a route that has seen this marathon earning the status of being “the world’s most beautiful marathon”. Passing places like Muizenberg, Fish Hoek, Noordhoek and Chapman’s Peak Drive, it’s easy to understand why.

The rain came down in torrents and the wind joined the party too, but the runners kept going and the spectators kept cheering. Meanwhile, the finish line at the University of Cape Town had been transformed into a mud bath as runners ran, walked, hobbled and crawled to the finish. The half-marathon event was won by local male and female runners Xolisa Tyali and Rene Kalmer, respectively. The main event (56km ultra-marathon) saw the familiar faces of Zimbabwe’s Stephen Muzhingi and Russia’s Elena Nurgalieva, taking the honour of first man and woman home, respectively. After collecting their well-earned medals, shivering runners grit their teeth and then prepared for the walk back down the hill to their cars. Some moaned, some groaned, some cheered, some feared (looking for their transport) but most agreed that it was another successful race and that they would be back next year again. I will be back too, except this time I hope to be donning a race number and joining the half-marathon runners in what has become somewhat of bucket list entry. Maybe you will join me too?

I’m a fun loving, adventure seeking young lady with a zest for life that lives in the beautiful city of Cape Town. I have a Bachelor of Commerce Honours degree and a Postgraduate Diploma in Tourism Management from UCT. I have had the good fortune of travelling and working  internationally on a global secondment programme for a large corporate and have had many amazing  travelling experiences. I also enjoy travelling locally in our beautiful country South Africa and have taken international students on many travelling experiences across South Africa. I love hiking, most outdoor activities, reading, developing people and especially writing. I believe in the power of taking the road less travelled and in the power of pursuing a purpose filled life.