When you close your eyes and visualize your ideal holiday, the first thing you probably feel is the thrill of exploring new places with family or friends. You might also imagine enjoying a different culture, meeting interesting people, and partaking in all sorts of fun activities, like walking on golden beaches or hiking through beautiful terrain.
If you love to play golf, then you’ve probably included some golf themes into your visualization. Although you probably enjoy playing golf at your local 18-hole course, playing on some of the best golf courses in the world may be an offer you’ll find hard to resist.
One vacation destination that will fulfill all your vacation fantasies is Cape Town. This port city located on the southwest coast of South Africa is a peninsula nestled beneath the lofty Table Mountains. Should you take a cable car to the top, you’ll enjoy a breathtaking view of the city, including boats sailing in and out of a busy harbor.
Here are 5 compelling reasons to take a vacation to Cape Town:
1. Play on World-Class Golf Courses
Cape Town golf courses are among the best in the world. For example, you’ll find playing on the Arabella Country Club, near Hermanus, an unforgettable experience. This 18-hole championship course designed by Peter Matkovich is perched above the Kogelberg Nature Reserve. The eye-catching landscape includes sweeping mountains and the Bot River Lagoon, the largest natural lagoon in the country. The Lagoon runs parallel to the golf course, and you’ll first walk by it on the 9th hole and then again at the 17th and 18th holes. Besides enjoying the gorgeous landscape, you’ll also see plenty of flora and fauna. The nature reserve is famous for its and abundant wildflowers, with botanists estimating about 1,200 different species, and the wetlands have hundreds of waterbirds, including gorgeous flamingoes.
2. Meet warm, welcoming people.
Wherever you go in Cape Town, one thing you’ll quickly notice is how many smiling people you’ll meet. South Africans love meeting people from other countries and are quick to recommend places to go and things to do.
3. Sample delightful cuisine.
Colonized by diverse countries over its history, South Africa has developed a plethora of unique dishes. You can sample meals prepared with diverse cooking techniques and interesting spices. Bobotie, Boerewors, Bunny Chow, Chakalaka, Koeksisters, and Malva Pudding are some dishes that you might want to try.
4. Enjoy breathtaking mountains and beaches.
The Table Mountain, rising more than 3,500 ft, offers a panoramic view of the city and Table Bay. Although you can hike up to the summit or drive there, taking cableway offers the best experience. This iconic mountain, unique because of its flat top and its rich floral regions, extends from northern Cape Town to the Cape of Good Hope in the southwest.
Cape Town also has many golden beaches. For instance, you’ll enjoy visiting Milnerton Beach and Little Bay on Bloubergstrand Beach on the West Coast and Clifton 1-4 and Camps Bay Beach on the Atlantic Seaboard.
5. Catch a glimpse of Africa’s fantastic wildlife.
While you’ll see advertising for game viewing an hour or more outside the city, these excursions won’t give you the full-blown authentic safari experience because Cape Town and the surrounding terrain aren’t conducive to game reserves. So, while you can see wildlife near Cape Town, if you’re keen on seeing some spectacular African wildlife, then you should fly northeast to Kruger National Park. This is the biggest game reserve in Africa, a landscape of mountains, bush plains, and tropical forests, and it’s teeming with a variety of wild animals and bird species. This is the best place to spot lions, leopards, rhinos, elephants, and buffalos, which are usually referred to as the “Big 5.” You’ll also see plenty of eagles, storks, and vultures.
If you’re planning on taking a golfing vacation to Cape Town, the best time in the year to go would be in summer, from November to February, when the weather is hot and dry. If you go early in the summer, in November, then you’ll also get a chance to enjoy the last good month for whale watching. The whale watching season in Cape Towns harbors starts in July.
Follow itravelnet.com