Hoosier Cruiser

CAPE TOWN

April 3-4, 2026

Over two days in Cape Town, I journeyed to the top of Table Mountain via cable car, toured the Company Gardens, visited Duiker (aka Seal) island, and enjoyed a wine and chocolate tasting at South Africa’s oldest winery.

Table Mountain is the centerpiece to Cape Town’s iconic background. The mountain rises nearly 1100 meters and sections of it are over 550 million years old. Flanked on either side by Devil’s Peak and Lion’s Head, Table Mountain was wreathed in clouds on our cable car ride to the summit. The cable car holds around 65 and rotates 360 degrees on the ride up. At the top there is a cafeteria-style eatery and a gift shop. We had about two hours to explore the many trails and vantage points for picture-taking. You would think clouds wouldn’t be much of an issue below 1,000 meters, but they came and went constantly. We did see some permanent residents, the Rock Hyrox or more commonly known as “dassies “.

Later that day we visited The Company’s Garden. It is in a park-like setting that the Dutch had originally established as a source of provisions for Dutch East India ships on their way to India and the Spice Islands. We saw some magnificent trees, flowering plants and a working vegetable garden. There was also a singing group performing.

On the 2nd day, we took a coastal route thru some of the nicer suburbs of Cape Town to reach a small harbor for our short boat ride to Duiker (or seal) Island. Duiker is actually a nickname for the Cape Cormorant, an indigenous seabird, but the seals get top billing. Afterwards, we made our way to the winery district and Groot Constantia, South Africa’s oldest winery established in 1685. We were treated to five different wine-chocolate pairings. All were delicious, but I opted for the rose and more chocolates to take back to the ship.

Next: Namibia

Table Mountain gallery