Cape Town – Sometimes one simply needs to hit pause – on work, on driving, on cooking and on the remote.
So it was with great pleasure that I handed over the driving reins and boarded the City Sightseeing’s Night Tour bus at the Waterfront one Friday evening along with my mother, a Swiss exchange student and two eight-year-old BFFs.
At 6pm we were off.
One must of course sit upstairs on a double decker bus – and we did.
We all quietly took in the views and listened to interesting tidbits as told by the smooth-voiced man on our earphones. There were many “Really! I didn’t know that!” and “How interesting!” from my mom and I, the native Capetonians, while the Swiss student was happy that she could listen to the commentary in her second language, German. (The commentary is available in 16 languages on the Night Tour)
The eight-year-olds preferred to dance in their seats to Johnny Clegg and other local music that played in between.
The bus takes a slow cruise along the gorgeous Atlantic Seaboard past Mouille Point, Sea Point, Clifton and Camps Bay. And while the traffic along that stretch can be torturous on a summer’s evening, high up in the bus, you can ignore the hooting and drama playing out below.
After about an hour the Red Bus started climbing Signal Hill, our destination for the evening.
One can of course pack one’s own picnic supper, but I had again chosen the easy (lazy?) route and ordered a picnic hamper from City Sightseeing. A man in a van was waiting on top of the hill to hand over our bags of food. Right on time!
The picnics are all freshly made at the City Sightseeing Long Street Tour office which has a full-time chef and kitchen geared especially. It was a perfect three-course picnic: crackers, cheese, strawberries, yummy chicken and salads and a delicious cake dessert. There was so much food that we opted for a table instead of spreading out our picnic blanket.
Enough about the food. Let’s talk about the view.
There’s nothing like watching the sun set into the sea to remind one that life is beautiful.
Of course eight-year-olds don’t subscribe to the notion of sitting still for a sunset, but there’s plenty of space to run around and lots of photo opportunities.
Once the sun is down you can also take a walk to the SunStar, the 24m-high World Design Capital project, which is best seen at night.
One word of advice for a Signal Hill sunset picnic: dress warmly.
As the bus moved off again, on a route through the city centre, everyone on board was more lively and chatty. We all oohed and aahed in unison at seeing the city lit up at night.
One of our newfound bus friends claimed that Cape Town was said to be among the top cities to see at night, along with Paris and Sydney. While I could not verify this information online, I can personally vouch for the fact that it is definitely a sight worth seeing.
* Night Tour Ticket: Adult: R100 (online discounted to R90) Child: R50.
* Snack packs are for one person and cost R70. Deluxe picnic hamper serves two people and costs R220. Vegetarian options are available.
** This Valentine’s Day City Sightseeing’s Night Tour will become the Love Bus, with a Valentine’s Day deal running from February 13 to 15. For R350 two people can enjoy the night tour and a picnic for two. Visit www.citysightseeing.co.za or call 021 511 6000.
* Riana Howa and her party were guests of City Sightseeing.