One of our favourite things is to experience the familiar in an exciting, unfamiliar way. As Cape Town locals, we expect to know everything about this city we call home.

And yet, Explore Sideways was able to show us parts and perspectives of the Mother City that amazed, entertained, and amused us. And we are veteran travel consultants! We are so grateful to have Explore Sideways as a partner in creating incredible and memorable experiences for our guests.

And without further ado, let’s take a look at a Cape Town Experience from the perspective of three of our Africa Travel Experts. Take it away, ladies!



What Liz had to say …

A Cape Town City Tour isn’t the most exciting prospect for a group of travel consultants who have spent the majority of their lives in the Mother City, however, we were pleasantly surprised and actually wowed!

Explore Sideways started with their passion for food and wine and quickly blossomed into a huge variety of delicious, immersive and memorable itineraries to suit any client’s tastes.

We kick-started the day’s events with a fun sea kayak out past Granger Bay (we couldn’t have asked for more perfect weather!). None of us had ever explored the coastline of Cape Town via kayak so this really was an exciting and memorable experience for us all.

I was in awe of the serene sea-scape, backed by the stunning Table Mountain and city landscape, the view a gentle reminder that we all live in the most beautiful city in the world. A raft of penguins bobbed on by and a sunfish (which we almost mistook for a shark!) glided on past during our sea adventure reminding us that we are surrounded by exciting wildlife, even in the big city!

For our next stop, we were whisked further down the coast and onto a cosy beach, tucked away in a cove that none of us even knew existed, close to Camps Bay.

As we approached, the stunning beach picnic could have been mistaken for a mirage as it looked too good to be true. The table was adorned with local cheeses, fruits, fresh gourmet pastries and delicacies and came with some games, beach bats, balls, and so on—although we were all too full to play after gorging ourselves on the gastronomic delights!

The finale of our day exploring the secrets and gems of our city was a private guided walking tour through Bo-Kaap. A former township, Bo-Kaap is situated on the slopes of Signal Hill above the city centre and is a historical centre of Cape Malay culture.

Although we had all been to this area before, none of us had really immersed ourselves in the history and culture that make this place so special. Zak, our guide, had grown up in Bo-Kaap so his personal stories, anecdotes and impressions of his own neighbourhood was a fascinating and thought-provoking encounter that I had never experienced before.

We ended the tour with a visit to his mother’s house, the famous Zanie Misbach, who has been teaching Cape Malay cooking in the Bo-Kaap for most of her life. Our experience in Bo-Kaap was more than a tour, it was an authentic, genuine and beautiful story of what it is to live in this area and the history of what made Bo-Kaap what it is today.

Our day tour with Explore Sideways was an amazing adventure of newfound places, experiences and feelings that we were not expecting. It gave us a new perspective on this city we know so well.




What Nikki had to say … 

One thing I really appreciated was discovering nooks and crannies around Cape Town that I didn’t know existed, in all my 30-something years of living here. Not one thing we did, nor place we visited, had I been to or experienced before!

That scrumptious surprise beach picnic set up was just amazing, and perfect timing too, I was ravenous! I think my favourite part was exploring the Bo-Kaap with Zak—I felt like a guest in his neighbourhood. It felt like a very authentic experience and his Mom Zanie reminded me of my own granny, she was so friendly and welcoming.




What Lenecha had to say … 

It feels as though no words can explain my experience with Explore Sideways.

My highlight was our first stop—kayaking from Granger Bay all the way over to Mouille Point. It was an awesome experience as we drifted deeper into the ocean. It felt like it was a green screen placed in front of me as we had amazing views of the Atlantic Seaboard from the V&A Waterfront, to Table Mountain and Green Point, it felt very unreal and like I was dreaming.

After that incredible experience, we drove along Clifton Beach where we were told we’d stop for lunch at a restaurant.

As it turned out, we walked down a secret-looking road down to a private beach where a picnic was all set up for us on the beach. It was such an amazing surprise (and right on time!)

We then took a drive to Bo-Kaap for our city tour, which was also just one of the best experiences ever. As a Capetonian, I have never done a city tour. I thought I knew it all! The highlight for me was the guide, Zak, and the way he spoke about his experiences. You could tell it was his real, lived experience and was much more visceral than reading about it from a history book.

I could go on and on, but I’ll end with this: the Explore Sideways team is all about doing things differently with a bang! What an astonishing day!

And, there you have it.

Cape Town from the sea, the beach and the iconic Bo-Kaap. We couldn’t have done it better ourselves, and we’re proud to be associated with the friendly and professional team at Explore Sideways. To build an incredible adventure into your Cape Town holiday, just get in touch and ask for Explore Sideways. It’s that easy!