31 Things to Know Before Visiting Cape Town South Africa

Here are 31 things to know before you visit Cape Town South Africa.
Cape Town South Africa had long been a bucket-list destination for me, and I save up my pennies and finally booked that Cape Town trip!
I went with my BFF Kat and an all female travel group. Together we explored Cape Town, Bo-Kaap, Kirstenbosch Botanical Garden, Camps Bay, Boulders Beach, Gondwana Private Game Reserve for a South African Safari Experience a short distance from Cape Town, and a trip to the Winelands. (We paid for this trip IN FULL. Nothing was sponsored in any way. Every single glass of wine was paid for by us.)
Loadshedding App: Load Shedding Notifier: play.google.com/store/apps/de...
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Our game reserve was Gondwana Game Reserve
To book a tour with me visit: themegandaily.com
Hope this helps you get your very best Cape Town travel experience!
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00:00-00:57 Intro
00:57-01:52 Mother City
01:52-02:47 Official Languages of South Africa
02:47-03:50 Cape Town Words to Know
03:50-04:38 How to Get Around Cape Town
04:38-05:10 Is Cape Town a Good City for Walking?
05:10-05:47 What Side of the Road Do They Drive On in Cape Town?
05:47-06:53 Is the Water Safe to Drink in Cape Town
06:53-08:12 The Cape Town Drought Years
08:12-09:48 Boulders Beach Penguins
09:48-11:31 Sharks in Cape Town
11:31-12:32 Cape of Good Hope
12:32-13:13 12 Apostles Mountain Range
13:13-14:05 Fynbos of the Cape Floral Region
14:05-14:47 Cape Town Wine and Vineyards and the Cape Winelands
14:47-15:22 Cape Town Gin
15:22-15:48 To You Tip in Cape Town
15:48-16:39 Cape Town Helicopter Tours
16:39-17:11 Tandem Bike Tour Cape Town
17:11-17:46 South African Rugby
17:46-18:37 Pick-Pocket Proof bags/Anti-Theft Bags
18:37-18:53 Reversed Seasons in Cape Town
18:53-19:50 Cape Town Winds
19:50-20:41 Apartheid
20:41-21:41 Bo-Kaap
21:41-23:04 Loadshedding in Cape Town
23:04-23:58 Cape Town Restaurants (La Colombe)
23:58-24:40 Cape Town Farmers Markets
24:40-25:15 Mount Nelson Cape Town
25:15-27:04 Cape Town Shopping
27:04-27:33 Local Shops in Cape Town/ The Water Shed at the V&A Waterfront
27:33-27:51 Exchange Rate between South Africa and USD
27:51-29:26 Safari Experience near Cape Town (Gondwana Private Game Reserve at Mossel Bay)
29:26-29:49 Friendly Locals
29:49-30:26 Conclusion

[@karinjacka7422]

Amazing how tourists see Cape Town as opposed to people who live here…but we love you tourists…thank you for promoting our beautiful city

[@ChuiEliott]

I am an American who has spent quite a bit of time in South Africa. Your video is excellent and has many good tips for new travelers. I enjoyed watching it. Thank you.

[@colleensainsbury9022]

Only Western Cape had a Mediterranean climate. Not the rest of South Africa. Also, it was the quinine in the tonic water that protected against mosquito malaria .Love your enthusiastic report on our beloved country. Please also visit the rest of South Africa. Completely different, just as magical.

[@Louisefenner]

Public transport in Cape Town is pretty safe. MiCity buses and the Southern line trains are fine.

[@theroaminggiraffedibrown2705]

I have lived on Cape Town all my life. This is one of the most factually correct and informative videos I have seen. Great job. I hope you will be returning to Cape Town as there is sooooo much more to experience here. If you live the sunshine without the wind, visit in February.

[@nic0072]

We don't have beef jerky in SA, we don't eat that crap. We have biltong, BIG difference.

[@harkeb]

Thanks for your beautiful review!

[@stoicman31]

I like this woman already. She likes the Springboks!

[@JYNMgetlucky7]

So informative! Thank you ❤

[@CharlotteLong-nh4pt]

Just to inform tourists that loadshedding does NOT turn the entire Cape town off at once, its pockets of different suburbs that run on different houred schedules, so your neighboring suburb will still be on while you are off.

[@KlaasteFamily-gl5tm]

and definitely not 12 hours at a time

[@cmytraveljourney]

Thank you so much for these inside tips! Also nice to find out some facts that I didn't know before. You also tell it in a very fun and spontaneous way, keep on going!

[@Sarah-M710]

Welcome to South Africa 🇿🇦, our beautiful country ❤️

[@nomsantuli6023]

Great video can't wait to come home

[@JermaineGertse]

This is An amazing video of my city Cape Town. Enjoy all its beauty and friendliness. Hope your stay here was simply spectacular.

[@user-zd7dg3pr6k]

Beautiful place to explore🎉🎉

[@JUTISHRA1]

Love the video

[@Jhetx]

Great great great video!!!!!

[@sharonschneider1926]

Love your video

[@philad1439]

Nice videos the story line is so good

[@pratikkumar5824]

I was in Capetown over the weekend and it was my best experience of my love can’t wait to get back soon luckily I live near by 3 hours from my country

[@jenniferlorence1950]

The Best thing about this Video is the TRAVELON BAG; LOVE THEM.

[@luannehorne697]

Fellow New Yorker here-- great video- lots of tips (massage at the Nelson) for my upcoming trip in March!! Now-- to check out those warming gloves!!

[@lebo3793]

You did a good job

[@cheslinkiewiets3444]

load-shedding last for 2 hours max please be accrute and the tap water is safe to drink

[@TheMeganDaily]

Hello. We experienced longer than 2 hour load-shedding, it happened overnight for one night. And as I mentioned, we received mixed messages about the tap water and I couldn’t give a conclusive answer. Even the locals commenting here seem to give conflicting answers.

[@zzzzzzzz3944]

Don't even bother

[@Jhetx]

She is correct here on loadshedding and tap water wouldn’t be recommended for visitors but i do drink our tap water.

[@MichL_71]

That was probably not loadshedding, but rather a fault or blackout. This happens when they switch the power back on after loadshedding it can trip out a substation. Also ppl steal the power lines when it's loadshedding so they are missing when the power is switched back on. I'm sure drinking the water is fine. ​@@TheMeganDaily

[@IceBreaker-bp7fi]

The load shedding can last for 12 hours a day as she stated doesn’t mean its off for 12 hours straight

[@therunningwes]

As a Capetonian, I am so happy to hear that you had an awesome time in our city! In two weeks, my wife and I will be visiting your city, so imagine the exchange rate reversed 😭 There's a joke in South Africa that the reason CT is called the Mother City is because it takes 9 months for anything to happen 🤣 We have some of the best tap water in the world, but you're 100% correct on the mixed reactions. We only drink tap water, but our neighbours only drink purified water. There's so much info in your video, I don't want to comment on everything. I just wanted to add that we have 12 official languages. We are one of a handful of countries that recognise Sign Language as an official language 😊 I'm so glad you enjoyed your trip! Next time you come, let us know so we can give you a list of different places to visit!

[@TheMeganDaily]

Oh! That's awesome to know about sign language!

[@user-qb7md2hl5k]

@@TheMeganDaily I speak English, Afrikaans and Xhosa . but English is the primary language

[@jeffrandall6410]

And we don't do beef jerky, we do BILTONG..lol

[@aynrandfan7454]

gonna be there in a week...so exciting!!!

[@hendrikvanblerk1862]

One correction on the climate which is NB to understand if you plan to visit wider SA: CT and close-lying regions in the Western Cape have a Mediterranean climate. The rest of SA varies from temperate through to sub-tropical. By and large the Western Cape gets rain in winter, and the rest of SA in summer or throughout the year.

[@hlengiwefeliciamabuza7354]

I like you so much ,your vlog was amazing ma'am❤ As a south African I appreciate you

[@nic0072]

February, March, April are the best weather months in CT. Still nice and warm and not that windy.

[@Daveinbangormaine]

I’m looking forward to this Megan.

[@nic0072]

Absolutely no problem with tap water in Cape Town.

[@JermaineGertse]

Cape Winelands also produce the best Brandy in the world. Btw

[@moisesflores9109]

Wow this is one of the best videos about Cape Town travel I've seen, I love how you captured Cape Town's beautiful scenery on the background and all the takes, wonderful job

[@AGirlNamedVan]

Lol winds been crazy the entire December and still now through January usually the summer isn't as windy as we had it

[@StAlfonzo87]

26:21 I've been ordering from Amazon for a few years now. Just got some stuff recently for Christmas 2023.

[@christinepentz5982]

Lovely video clip. Cape Town itself is considered very expensive by locals. We, for instance, will never shop at the Water Shed, but we would gladly have a look at everything 😅. Winelands are cheaper and the "Northern suburbs" areas too. And Cape Town locals find the rest of South Africa much cheaper than the Western Cape, which is the province where Cape Town is located. Traveling up north could therefore also be very rewarding. Parkrunners, take note that there are loads of fabulous 5km parkruns in and around the city! 8h00 every Saturday morning - fabulous scenery & free of charge!

[@csa7189]

The sharkalaks🦈🦈🦈

[@francisivangarcia8175]

Hi there! Loved all the contents of this video, very informative! My friend & I are visiting South Africa from the US, were you able to use your local American mobile carrier or had to purchase one in SA?

[@TheMeganDaily]

I have a plan through ATT that let me pay $10 a day and keep my exact same plan as in the US. There might be cheaper and easier ways, its beyond my area of expertise.

[@garywilliams8870]

@@TheMeganDaily That's good to know, thanks. I used the ATT $10/day plan last year in Europe, and will be coming to SA (including CT) next January. Enjoyed your video - great job.

[@ivanzondagh2268]

Cape Town is a friendly city with beautiful people

[@TheMeganDaily]

100% agreed!

[@funkwallah]

dit was nou lekker

[@AGirlNamedVan]

Cape town and south Africa in general is a dry country. So please conserve. But also do take your baths qnd your showers too😊

[@leonardstrom1181]

I really enjoyed this video and its enthusiasm. I am wondering if you had to take special vaccinations or other medical precautions. Also, any particular concerns for elderly travelers or solo travelers? Thanks.

[@TheMeganDaily]

I did not need any special vaccines. I traveled with an all female group and was very well taken care of the whole time. As a result though, I don't have a lot of tips for solo travelers apart from we were told to not walk on the street alone at night, and to uber to and from our destinations. Because we were with a gorup with transporation, we never walked on the streets at night, and I don't have any experience knowing if it was or was not dangerous.

[@mbongeninkosi3852]

Buying water is South Africa is a flex honestly. Now listen here there’s about 5 30Million if not more South African that drinks tap water this includes my entire extended family. My mom buys but it’s just the same coz we don’t wait around the Townships with water

[@AGirlNamedVan]

Yeah but bottled water isn't that expensive . And for some people they just don do tap water

[@jinxlethabo]

Nice View 😢😢😢

[@RyanPratten]

Clicks used to be a pharmacy. It was called Clicks because they used to develop film for you.

[@SuzanneCrawford-xy1eg]

I don't believe the above statement is accurate. Could you please provide links to your source information for the above?

[@RyanPratten]

@@SuzanneCrawford-xy1eg I grew up in Cape Town. I am my own source. If you think I'm lying, the onus is on you to prove it, not me.

[@keisha5542]

❤️

[@dhrtiwalter8670]

I’m going end of May beginning of June. She mentioned flip flops for at the beach. What other types of footwear do you recommend to bring?

[@MrJos597]

Cape Town gets a bit colder and wetter during June/July. I would recommend something closed with some grip (especially if you plan on hiking). This being said I wear flip-flops all year round 😅

[@dhrtiwalter8670]

@@MrJos597😂 thanks!

[@user-xo3xi3rh5h]

During Spring - Summer periods

[@blimages2]

Cape Town mother city

[@andrearathbone3500]

Which La Colombe did you go to?

[@user-br2eu5wq6r]

Tap water is perfectly FINE in South Africa! They want you to spend money and buy water LOL. That is why they said travelers should buy water. LOL. I was born in Cape Town and lived there for many years, before moving to the USA.

[@hugogerryts5409]

Hi Megan. Please get your facts straight. When we have load shedding stage 6 - worst we have been, it means you are without power for at most 4 hours. But then we will have power for the next 4 or 2 hours. So at worst in TOTAL you might not have power for 12 hours a day but not in one stretch. Your fridge will have enough power to keep food fine between load shedding schedules.

[@corra-73]

Loadshedding is usually 2 or 4 hours, not 12

[@karinjacka7422]

Tap water in CT is fine….don’t know about the rest of the country…

[@haseenah2923]

South Africa does not have a Mediterranean climate. Cape Town does. Cape Town is a city, and South Africa is a country!

[@MatthewsNkaletshane]

That's how Americans think of Africa as one country. They asked Trevor Noah whether he knows a person from Ghana as if it's part of South Africa 😂

[@nelenesmithSA]

One thing I have to correct you on is the fact that loadshedding has nothing to do with apartheid. In fact South Africa had the best electricity supply in Africa during apartheid..it has not been maintained since 1994 and all the units are in dissaray..thanks to our corrupt government that would rather take the money for themselves instead of spending it on critical infrastructure. Not sure who told you it was linked to apartheid but it's completely untrue. The rest I agree with

[@caylaalbertyn]

I agree, this is true

[@pusomogwera9260]

The best electricity you are talking about was only meant for whites. We are now supplying the whole country. Loadshedding is because our grid was not expanded when we added more people to the grid

[@carinaleroux9138]

Loadshedding has nothing to do with apartheid! But poor government! And apartheid is over since 1991/1994! And there was a reason for it…! And in countries other than South Africa, their is huge apartheid!

[@Eugene-th4ow]

I.stand in agreement with you

[@PattyOFurniture1]

100%. Although the apartheid infrastructure was designed to cater for a small minority of citizens based on racial grounds there is no excuse why in 2024 we are still making those exucsuses. And the fact that there are human/political elements responsible for loasshedding (corruption) that they are doing nothing about due to patronage nerworks makes the apartheid excuse very tired for me. I mean we have had loasshedding for 17 years now. If they wanted to do something about it, it would have been done by now.

[@coatknight]

South Africa used to have one of the best electrical grids and water systems in the world but it hasn't really been expanded, upgraded and definitely not maintained well since the turn of the century. Loadshedding is a political marketing term for "controlled" blackouts. Politicians and ANC cadres are not affected though.

[@martindelarey2079]

Like

[@bmarod380]

When is the best time to visit South Africa?

[@georgyporgy7252]

Depends on what you wanna do.........winter or summer there's always something to do

[@tyali84]

Summer is the best time to visit South Africa. Winter is dull.

[@kindmkansi3640]

The best time to visit Cape Town is between September to April

[@romanussaal712]

The explanation why Cape Town is called the Mother City...it differ what Science discovered...

[@leomamofokeng5104]

You very wrong about the High Brand products, SA is always on track with every trend...The I-stores are apples stores, everything you need get it there....Honestly there is a lot of miss information on this vlog and I MEAN A LOT!!! but I can only blame the people who adviced you...

[@TheMeganDaily]

Interestingly enough, I had a few issues with my iPhone and there were definitely apple products they did NOT have and also things such as the screen covers recommended in US (Belkin) were NOT available in Cape Town. Instead, the iStore told us South Africa had developed their own cover, and put it on my phone and told me I couldn’t touch the screen for 24 hours or else the adhesive wouldn’t take. This was the store in the V&A shopping center…so again this is my EXPERIENCE…. Additionally, when it came to high end products, that came both from our guided AND the sales people in the stores at the V&A shopping center. Of COURSE there were things that were “on season” for Fall/WINTER in Europe, but it was spring/summer in Cape Town, so you were either buying the spring/summer 2023 Burberry from six months ago or the fall/winter 2023 Burberry that was current for the spring/summer in South Africa…since Burberry hadn’t released the spring/summer 2024. And the prices were higher than in Europe or the US, which was shocking since comparatively everything else was so much less expensive. We were told it was due to import tax. That being said - shopping LOCAL in South Africa was freaking amazing, trendy, unique, and fabulous.

[@nic0072]

@@TheMeganDaily They hike their prizes in the V&A area because of tourism. It's generally expensive there.

[@n9newayix113]

everything english until you get to the taxi rank my sister😄

[@lukemapepa9530]

Welcome to rainbow nation

[@lebo3793]

Yeah i dont trust the water to drink unless its boiled.

[@CharlotteLong-nh4pt]

I'm 54 lived in SA since birth, have only drank tap water all my life, Cape Town - South Africa has the distinction of being one of only 12 countries in the world where it is safe to drink our tap water. As at 2012, the good news is that the quality of South African tap water is ranked as third best overall.

[@mariscamaryannevisagie8736]

You paid that GRIN company to get is to like your videos but they aren't paying fam😅

[@TheMeganDaily]

What?

[@user-eo6ct5xd9p]

who else was sent the link to this video, and were told if you like it we will pay you, and were never paid?'

[@TheMeganDaily]

Were you sent the link? If so, I'd like to know who was sending it and offering payment, because it certainly was not me! Give me the name and I'll report it!

[@MatthewsNkaletshane]

Nonsense. I am from Johannesburg and have been to Cape Town. Water is safe to drink. There is no loadshedding that lasts for 12hrs.

[@Louisefenner]

Boulders is not anywhere near central Cape Town. You certainly can’t walk.

[@mtk86ntuli]

Anti South African propaganda!!! Loadsheding is only 2 hours and it does not happen every day, and its planned according to blocks not nationally, rubbish video

[@TheMeganDaily]

I'm sorry you feel this as anti-South African propaganda...I truly loved the country and want to encourage many to go. As I mentioned, I was a tourist, and I was sharing info based on what I experienced my tend days there and what our guides shared We DID experience a loadshedding that was longer than 2 hours. Dunno if that was rare...again, can only speak from my experience for a small 10 day window. I hope some of the other aspects of the video you find useful.

[@karlgerber2868]

Load shedding varies according to maintenance etc on power stations...so there are days that the total time spent without power can be 12 hours but this is not necessarily a continuous 12 hours. Some days it is only 2 hours without power..at the moment over the festive season we have had no power cuts. And I never looked at any of your vlog as anti South African. Great video in fact.@@TheMeganDaily

[@kriskris998]

Once one of the most beautiful countries in the world turn into a ghetto. RIP South Africa!

[@SuzanneCrawford-xy1eg]

Load shedding has not really got anything to do with apartheid.... how on earth do you link load shedding to apartheid??

[@lucyjuicy2657]

There's no issues with the water in cape Town