I spent just over a month in Eastern Africa during early 2012.

When leaving, I was already making plans to return. So I finally am…!

This time, a bit different to before. No typical safaris, no grassland savannahs, no African tribes. But cities, lemurs and diving! I’m flying to Johannesburg, then onto Cape Town. I missed Cape Town last time and really wanted to visit!

The plane left on time at 6pm. I was pleasantly surprised at my vegan lentil curry dinner – it was so good! But I wasn’t feeling well, and the next 11 hours were quite uncomfy. I was still pretty tired when we were skimming over the roofs of Johannesburg – we went right over the city – I could see the stadium and coloured turrets that I had a photo taken with 3 years ago!

By the time we landed in Johannesburg, my leg had cramped up. It was so painful to walk, so I hobbled around. It was so rubbish. Even though I was transiting, I had to pass through passport (such a long queue!) and pick up my bag, only to drop it off at the transfer desk again. It involved 2km of walking (hobbling). What a faf!

I only had an hour until my next flight. And I fell asleep the entire way. Coming into land, we had a great view of table mountain. But the top was totally covered in cloud. That’s a shame.

As I was only on a domestic flight, coming out of the airport was quick. My taxi was waiting. And we were soon zooming down the highway into the city.

Just outside of the airport is one of the largest townships in Cape Town. I wasn’t expecting to see a township here. But there are many. Right past the township, we were in the high-rise city centre.

I’m staying fairly central, in an area called Green point, at a cute guesthouse. Set in a jungle-like garden, with a small pool.

The 1,086m high table mountain surrounds one side of the city. I had planned to go up the mountain today. But the cableway is closed due to strong winds and the cloud. So I had to have a rethink of plans!

I still felt ill and really tired. And really didn’t feel like doing anything. So I went to the supermarket. That was exciting! So much fruit, dried fruit, coconut water, nut butters – everything is so healthy here! Feeling a bit better, I also stopped for a quinoa salad and green juice at a cute cafe. After dropping off my shopping, I felt rubbish again. So just went for a leisurely walk down to the V&A waterfront. This is a newly developed harbour area, full of bars, restaurants and a shopping mall. I wandered around the shops for a while, found a cool food market and admired the view.

The view of the mountain was cool – the clouds were continually pouring over the edge, like a waterfall. The ‘tablecloth’ (!).

I got back to my room around 5pm and went straight to bed!