When Wayne and Lauren Barnard created Island View Tours to make a difference to the Cape Town tourism industry. It was while they were taking their ritual afternoon walk along the picturesque Bloubergstrand promenade. Looking out onto the glistening Atlantic with Robben Island in full view they decided that the time was right, and Island View Tours was born.
Since that day, Island View Tours have focused on creating and arranging authentic Cape Town experiences. Family-run, their philosophy is simple. Take guests on a real and honest journey of their own hometown and those guests will remember their experience. For the rest of their lives.
Working together with Ker & Downey Africa, who create personal travel itineraries throughout Africa for those who appreciate service. K&DA offer personalised day tours throughout the Cape Province.
Oversized rock
As we also take in the view of Robben Island it is easy to see why this little piece of land has become so significant to each and every South African. It was here that the political activist, lawyer and later the country’s President, Nelson Mandela was imprisoned. He remained on the island for 18 of the 27 years of his imprisonment. That was before the fall of apartheid and introduction of full, multi-racial democracy. Looking out across Table Bay you can only marvel at the fact that this oversized rock helped shape this country. It shaped its history, its future and its people.
Ker Downey Africa had arranged for us to have a tour of the Cape Peninsula. They described it as one of the most breathtakingly beautiful places we will visit in our lifetime. And they were not wrong. It was one of the many highlights Ker & Downey Africa had in store for us during our visit to Cape Town. Our driver, Glenn, picked us up in a customised limousine. He guaranteed phenomenal photo opportunities, insights to the history of the Cape and encounters with our famous African Penguins.
Our full day, private tour travelled along the Atlantic Seaboard via Sea Point, Clifton and Camps Bay. We were headed to (The Republic of) Hout Bay. Its a quaint village and fishing harbour with magnificent mountain views and beach. Here we got to meet some of the local fishermen and photographed a resident Cape Fur Seal.
Chappies
We continued via Chapman’s Peak drive, “Chappies” as it is affectionately known, on the Atlantic Coast. It is one of the most spectacular marine drives in the world to the Cape of Good Hope Nature Reserve and Cape Point. Which is perceived to be the meeting point of the Atlantic and Indian Oceans. Along the way we spotted some of the most beautiful, unspoilt beaches along Cape Town’s coast.
The two peaks at the tip of the peninsula, Cape Point and the Cape of Good Hope, form just a small part of the 7750-hectare reserve. This largely untouched stretch of land is home to buck, baboons, Cape Mountain Zebra. And a whopping 250 species of bird!
The historic Simon’s Town, is a village with charming Victorian architecture. This neighbourhood is renowned for its rich maritime history and is home to the South African Navy, which holds a festival in the town every April. Just outside of Simon’s Town, we made our way to Boulders Beach. The beach is a nature reserve that is home to a massive colony of African penguins.
Eclectic mix
We watched penguins and tourists swim in the safe, sheltered, warm turquoise blue waters. The winding road took us along the coast, and we made a stop at a gem on the False Bay coastline, Kalk Bay. The eclectic mix of historic buildings, cobbled streets, bohemian bric-a-brac shops, vintage bookstores, art and antique galleries, ocean and mountain views, quaint cafés and restaurants, colourful fishing vessels and creative locals is what makes it so charming, offering a unique experience unlike anywhere else in the Cape.
Our final stop before heading to our hotel is Muizenberg. A beach-side suburb, situated where the shore of the Cape Peninsula curves round to the east on the False Bay coast. It is considered to be the birthplace of surfing in South Africa and is currently home to a surfing community, centred on the popular ‘Surfer’s Corner’. Agatha Christie, the famous author and playwright, wrote that after nursing duty she would daily take the train to Muizenberg to go surfing. Every weekend sees surfers and beachgoers alike flock to Muizenberg to take a dip. But the relatively warm waters are not Muizenberg’s only attraction… once you’ve shaken the sand from your toes there’s plenty more to get up to in this trendy, hipster town.