Riding the City Sightseeing Bus around Cape Town feels a bit like visiting the UN. Everyone around you is from another country, speaking in their native tongue, while an earpiece keeps you informed of everything going on.
In fact, the only country not represented on the bus seems to be South Africa. But that's probably because the buses cater to visitors trying to see as much of the city as they can during their stay.
Nearly all of the passengers I spoke to were in Cape Town on holiday for about a week, in time for the World Cup draw on Friday, and had been advised or had read in guidebooks that the Sightseeing Bus would be the best way to see the city.
There are two options, the Red City Tour or the Blue Mini Peninsula Tour.
Our choice was the former, a circuit of 17 "exciting stops" around Cape Town, according to the brochure. Riders can get off at whatever stop they wish and spend as long as they want there. Once they've had their fill of the Castle of Good Hope or the Gold Museum (yes, Cape Town has a Gold Museum), they hop on another red bus and go on to the next attraction.
The buses visit each stop every 20 minutes, although I had to agree with a fellow passenger who said the schedule was at best "irregular".
Many of the passengers opted to remain on the bus, preferring to see Cape Town from the comfort of their seats.
Riders who remain on board can tour Cape Town in a mere two hours and come away having seen some of the city's most interesting and significant sites, such as District Six.
The two hours are filled with educational commentary which provides history and anecdotes about all the landmarks we passed, not just the 17 listed stops. It was occasionally quite frank as well, at one point describing land restitution in District Six as "a bureaucratic nightmare" that has "stopped anything significant from happening".
A few of the stops on the route are less exciting.
I'm not sure what attraction the Cape Town International Convention Centre holds for tourists, and three of the 17 stops are actually hotels, which sometimes gave the impression I was riding on a hotel shuttle. Still, at only R120 a ticket it's not a bad way to get around Cape Town and the Camps Bay/Clifton area. And it can be nice to rest in the sun on top of the open-air bus while a friendly voice warns you to apply sunscreen, "as the African sun is very harsh".
It was less of an enjoyable experience when locals yelled at me, or when I felt people mentally tagging me as just another tourist seeing parts of the city without really experiencing it.
It took me about five hours to make a complete circuit. I tried to stop at places where at least a few other people were getting off, but this meant we skipped St George's Cathedral, the South African Museum and the Jewish Museum - all within the Wale, Queen Victoria and Plein streets area.
Greenmarket Square was a popular attraction, and stall owners told me they were usually glad to have tourists pour in, though they complained that they sometimes asked for too much of a discount.
The District Six Museum in Buitenkant Street also attracted a fair number of passengers, with one telling me she wanted to see "a bit of reality" as she got off the bus.
Of course Table Mountain was by far the most popular stop, with most of the bus opting to ride the cable car to the top and marvel at the views.
The tour ends with a drive by the beaches in Camps Bay and Clifton. Those staying in beachfront hotels or looking to relax on the beach climbed out.
If I only had one day to see Cape Town, taking the City Sightseeing Bus tour would at least give me a quick list of options and a convenient way to get around.
I enjoyed the tour enough and my only regret is not listening when that friendly voice warned me about the African sun. Instead of buying a shirt proclaiming "I went topless in Cape Town" from the ticket office gift shop, I'll keep my sunburn as a souvenir.