Charley Boorman’s toast to Cape Town: from relaxation to thrill-seeking

Charley Boorman has been on his justifiable share of adventures. The tv presenter has, alongside along with his pal Ewan McGregor, made a behavior of driving his bike by means of a number of the most distant locations in the whole world – in addition to a number of the most lovely.

That features Cape City. Nestled on the backside of South Africa, the town boasts attractive surroundings, a buzzing foodie scene and sunsets over the ocean.

Cape City. I just like the tradition, and I believe as a vacation spot for individuals to go and go to, it’s a very nice place. It has that safety of being barely Europeanish, and it has essentially the most unimaginable meals. The Backyard Route stretch of shoreline is simply extraordinary and persons are so pleasant. And it’s a really good-value place to go to. It’s additionally a fantastic stepping stone to go to the wineries, and locations akin to French Hook, that are slightly bit inland — or as much as Namibia in order for you a bit extra journey. Plus, it’s in the identical time zone, so very simple, and a fantastic place to flee to within the winter.

Not that way back really. I did a chat on a cruise ship and I met the ship in South Africa with my spouse after which we went on to Dakar in Senegal. We spent 4 or 5 days in Cape City earlier than we jumped on the boat.

I hadn’t been down for some time. I fell in love with the continent of Africa when Ewan McGregor and I did Lengthy Method Down, our second massive TV journey collectively, again in 2007. We drove right through Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania and Malawi, after which ended up in Cape City. My spouse and two youngsters got here down and we spent a little bit of time there and fell in love with it. However I hadn’t been again since 2018, as a result of I had an enormous motorbike crash within the Drakensberg Mountains and actually messed myself up. I ended up in Bloemfontein for fairly numerous weeks within the hospital. However I’ve at all times cherished Cape City and the Backyard Route.

There’s just a few totally different locations. I like to remain in Camps Bay, and there’s a stunning lodge there referred to as the Camps Bay Retreat. It’s type of old-fashioned. It has a wonderful massive backyard and then you definately cross over the street and also you’re proper on the seaside. It’s a wonderful place to remain, but it surely’s fairly colonial. It’s slightly drained, however I favor it to the glitz and glamour of recent inns. I fairly just like the old-school look.

There are such a lot of good eating places close by, and that’s partly why I actually prefer it right here. After I’ve visited earlier than there was a spot referred to as the Check Kitchen, which was actually good. It was one of many high 50 eating places on the planet, and actually fairly scrumptious. Lately, they’ve a spin-off referred to as The Check Kitchen Fledgelings, which operates in the identical area. You may go there and have a six-course tasting menu with tasting wines and so they have two sister eating places as effectively, Salon and The Pot Luck Membership. As a European, I additionally bear in mind it being actually reasonably priced. I believe the identical type of meal within the UK and London would value an enormous quantity.

I might keep in Camps Bay. Then it’s straight as much as Desk Mountain, and in case you had slightly little bit of time within the afternoon earlier than leaping on the airplane once more, I might go to one of many vineyards in Stellenbosch. There’s a plethora of vineyards you may go and go to, the place all of the Huguenots, who left France with their grapevines, got here to South Africa. There’s one particularly — in case you like a pink — referred to as Meerlust Vineyard. It does a Meerlust Merlot which is basically well-known. The winery has been there since 1756. The proprietor has one of many greatest collections of artwork deco furnishings and artwork in South Africa. It’s lovely.

Go and see the penguins in the summertime in Boulders Seaside. You may go there and lie on the seaside and these little penguins simply come up out of the water and wobble previous you. You at all times count on penguins to be within the snow, whereas these ones stay among the many boulders on this lovely paradise seaside. I’m additionally an enormous fan of paragliding, so you may go up on to Desk Mountain, which is certainly one of a handful of locations on the planet that has its personal distinctive vegetation. And in case you’re courageous sufficient you may soar off in a paraglider. I believe the necessary factor if you’ll go to Cape City is, even in case you’ve simply are available from the airport and also you see that there’s no clouds on Desk Mountain, go straight there, and go up as rapidly as you may. Most of the time, there’s a cloud on Desk Mountain, or a tablecloth, as they name it.

There’s a extremely enjoyable place close to Camps Bay. It’s referred to as The Bungalow, and it’s the best sundowner place as a result of it overlooks the ocean and you’ll see the solar simply drop into the ocean. There’s additionally a complete bunch of eating places alongside there, and you’ll simply select certainly one of them and possibly go up onto the primary flooring overlooking the seaside and have that effectively deserved cocktail whereas the solar goes down. It captures every part that you really want from Cape City: the gorgeous sandy seaside with the ocean and the solar dropping down behind the ocean. It’s fairly spectacular. I imply, the one adverse about Cape City is that the water is freezing chilly. It comes straight off the South Pole, so it’s important to head up in the direction of Durban to get to the hotter Indian ocean.

It’s a troublesome one, isn’t it? I’d convey a six pack of the Meerlust Merlots again with you. You may drink it on the airplane on the best way house.

Lengthy Method House is streaming now on Apple TV+