Are you aware of the seven natural wonders of the world? No? Perfect, because I’m about to list them off:

• Victoria Falls in Zambia/Zimbabwe
• Mt. Everest in Nepal/China
• The Grand Canyon in Arizona
• The Great Barrier Reef off Australia
• The Northern Lights
• Paricutin Volcano in Mexico
• The Harbor of Rio de Janiero

Do you know what is missing from this list? I propose to include an eighth natural wonder of the world based on the fact that its just as spectacular as the landscape of Rio.

Cape Town. It’s beyond words.

Beyond words, indeed, but I’ll attempt anyway. Not only is this stunning coastal city hugging beautiful chilly waters of both the Atlantic and maybe a smidge of the Southern Ocean, but it’s topped by a plateau that throws the clouds over its summit like a table cloth as well as the twelve jutting crags that line the western face of the mountain range. To look up any street in the city and see in the crisp sky this massive formation just makes the heart melt. The best is when this view comes at you from your hostel WC. Talk about a loo with a view!

What is there to do in Cape Town, you ask? If you like to spend money, look at things, eat things, climb things, free fall, ride around, drink things, or dance around, you’ll enjoy yourself in Cape Town.

What cannot be overlooked, though, is the history that barely dates back more than a decade. In our lifetimes, there was complete havoc between racial and socioeconomic lines, travesties committed against people by people. And now this place waits for you at the bottom of Africa, tempting you with sports, wine and awesome views.

It doesn’t seem like the dust could have settled by now, and in many ways it hasn’t. Racism will continue to flourish probably for decades to come (sadly). So in the mix of traveling throughout this great city, it pays to visit the townships and orphanages that resulted from the human cruelty of apartheid. It’s not quite “dark tourism,” but it gives you an awareness that could easily be avoided (to your disadvantage) and could definitely enhance the trip.

Have you been keeping up with our World Traveler Intern journey? Yes or No.

If the answer is yes, you’ve aced today’s coolness test. It’s based on hundreds of factors developed by brilliant scientists in order to accurately determine someone’s personal awesomeness level. If you answered no, you can’t possibly have less internet access than we have, so there’s no excuse. Catch up now!…then come back and finish this blog :)

The reason I ask this hard-hitting question is that if your answer was yes, then you know we’ve been boarding tour bus after tour bus thus far with strangers-turned-friends around the world. You’d also know that Chris and I weren’t really tour people to begin with but have had experiences thus far that would need “best time ever,” “once in a lifetime,” and “hooray for life” phrases attached to them.

But with South Africa came a whole new experience…an unplanned one! Though we had our hostels and Baz Bus reservations all set, we had open-ended days in spectacular cities along the southernmost coast of Africa in need of filling. So when STA Travel’s marketing manager, Carly, joined us in Johannesburg for a lil’ South Africa getaway, we started rambling off all the things that had to get done.

• Great White Shark Cage Diving
• Hiking Table Mountain
• Stellenbosch Winelands
• Adventure Sports
• Long Street and the Waterfront

…and a healthy slew of others. With only one or two days in Cape Town to do it up right, we talked to fellow travelers (lots of the volunteers from i-to-i) and travel agents to find out the scoop, which was that adventure sports could wait until the Garden Route.

What’s unique to this area? The best ways to spend a few days in Cape Town? Hiking tall, flat mountains and savoring fine wines, of course. And so we did. We actually extended our time in Cape Town in order to allow for more enjoyment of this city that is idolized by her visitors and especially her residents.

What’s great about the Garden Route are the landscapes, the relaxed wintertime environment, and the heaps of activities available. I see Cape Town as one of those cities that makes everything in it better because it’s existing and happening in that city. Just like New York, Chicago, Florence, Paris, London, Bangkok, Hong Kong, Sydney…these places live. And when something happens there, regardless of how fun or cool it actually was, it’s immediately on a higher level, solely based on the real estate mantra of location³! Therefore, we had to see the nightlife, had to shop, had to go wine tasting, had to walk up big slopes, had to take tons of pictures and wander around…not because these are things we never get to do, but because they are occurring in this booming and blooming city.

And that’s how we decided on our itinerary for South Africa. Hike. Drink Wine. Shark Dive. Bungee. Sky Dive. Whale watch. View animals. And the trip was perfect…

I didn’t know where Table Mountain was (nor that it existed) until I pulled up to Cape Town Harbor and saw her silhouette.

That first sight of her was the kind that solidifies a mystical attachment and constant amazement that becomes evident in random dreams days and years later. I was glad to hear Carly’s enthusiasm for the hike this time around because it meant quenching an overdue thirst.

Chris at Table Mountain

Table Mountain is 1,000-some odd meters and only about a third of its original size. It used to stand along with its neighboring peaks as the only land while Cape Town was still underwater. People have found fossils and seashells on her slopes, but we weren’t so lucky…or observant. We decided not to go with a guide, whom would have filled us in on more than just this information we got from some driver.

The three of us began walking up the road towards the path turnoff and entertained ourselves while trotting higher in altitude. Virtually every step on the path was a rock stair step, making the climb easier for more age groups and killer on the glutes. And one of my favorite parts about scaling nature is the constantly improving views, so just about ever chance we took, we shot some footage of Cape Town, the looming tower of rock before us and ourselves in this picturesque scene.

Reaching the summit of Table Mountain isn’t the most difficult thing in the mountaineering world. It’s a moderate, three-hour climb for anyone who can ably scale a long staircase. There is a cable car that can bring you up to the summit in minutes, but as with anything you earn, the top is much more fulfilling if you intimately know every step it took to get there.

And since we were winded upon reaching the Table “top”, we treated ourselves to some beers…and candy…and more beers…and a little debauchery. It was a perfect way to spend a perfect weather day in Cape Town. Even before doing this, I would have recommended the activity to anyone traveling to Cape Town, but now that I’ve finally got some first-hand experience under my belt, I can scream it.

CLIMB THA TABLE!