Cape Town - Table Bay Hotel & Waterfront

We said goodbye in the dining-room to all our friends on the Silver Explorer. We had tea and coffee only, as we were going to have breakfast at the Table Bay Hotel. It was quite emotional to leave so many good friends. We said a special goodbye to Helen and Neil as we left our cabin for the last time.

Our bags were taken off the ship and we walked to where our taxi was waiting to take us the short distance to the Table Bay Hotel.

We checked in and went to our room, which had a lovely balcony overlooking the sea.

Luxury living at its best!

What a shame we wouldn't be spending a night in our bed!

We partly unpacked for the day at the hotel and then went down to have our breakfast, which was as good as we remembered it from all those years ago. I had eggs Benedict, which were great!

I noticed several guests wearing tee-shirts with rally-style badges, as on the HERO shirts we were given on each of the drives. I then recognised several faces from the Inca Trail! There were Peter Rushworth, John Baylis and Mark Appleton. They had just finished a Bart Rietbergen rally around Southern Africa. The route was very similar to our one in 2005. They called Bart over and we had a brief chat. It was quite surreal to be talking to them after so many years.

We finished our breakfast and went for a walk around the waterfront. By the hotel was this mega-yacht, Tatoosh. I googled it later that day and discovered it is owned by Paul Allen of Microsoft fame.

Tatoosh with its helicopter

A yacht stored on the side of the boat!

Tatoosh, the mega-yacht owned by Paul Allen

On the other side of the quay was the South African research ship, Agulhas II. It is the ship that goes once a year to Tristan da Cunha and takes tourists to visit the island. Maybe one day we will use the Agulhas II to go back to Tristan!

Agulhas II Research Ship

We walked along the harbour from the hotel, passing the Ferris wheel and the many shops and restaurants.

The Ferris Wheel

Signal Hill

The Terminal for Robben Island

Giant Lego Statue

We went into the aquarium, which was very impressive. There were giant tanks containing every conceivable type of fish. We saw an enormous Moray eel, manta rays and a huge tank of kelp, swaying hypnotically, with fish swimming through it. Several tanks held fish of just one breed and colour, which made them very attractive and calming to look at. There were many exhibits aimed at children and a display of mainly African penguins, plus a few rockhoppers.

Moray Eel

We spent about an hour in the aquarium and then walked back to the hotel, where we decided to have lunch in the room. We called room service and had grilled bay shrimps with stir-fried vegetables on the balcony. It was a great way to enjoy our brief stay at the Table Bay Hotel.

After lunch, we started to pack our bags and then we checked out of the Table Bay, taking the hotel car to the airport for our evening BA flight back to London.

We met several of our fellow Silversea passengers at the airport, as well as various crew members including Captain Adam, Hans Peter, Luke, Will and Fred. As we checked in, behind us was David Miliband.

We boarded the flight at 8pm, in World Traveller Plus - no upgrades!! The food was awful, so it was fortunate we had such a good lunch at the hotel.

After a twelve hour flight, we landed at Heathrow. We were able to say a final goodbye in the baggage claim area to Jean and Philip and Dick and Chris.

We went through customs to the arrivals hall where our driver, Michael, was waiting to take us home. Another great expedition cruising adventure is over and, once again, I think how lucky we both are to be able to experience these adventures!