Cape Town 2, South Africa - Wander the Planet .net

CAPE TOWN (CONT.), SOUTH AFRICA

Long Street is the backpackers haven of Cape Town. You'll find hostels, tour companies, coffee houses, night clubs, bars, internet cafes, record shops, etc. We stayed at Long Street Backpackers hostel - which Lisa called "a 5 star f*cking hotel." Of course she was being sarcastic - as the hostel was similar to "rustic" (to put it nicely) hostels in any 3rd world city center. The couple that's shared our bathroom kept leaving their door open and we wondered why until we saw they didn't have a door. Ha ha ha! We definitely payed for location location location. The rooms to the front are much nicer but the street noise is really loud. The back rooms are quiet but pretty dingy. So take your pick! They do have nice hot showers though which is great!

We checked out the Detour Traveller's Shop (234 Long Street) across the street from Long Street Backpackers and met Shawn Petre, the owner. Shawn was a wacky character but very helpful! We asked him about a township tour and he told us about Sam's Cultural Tours - the only black-owned township tour in Cape Town. Excellent! We said sign us up - so he called Sam on the cell phone and signed us up for Wed. morning and made us reservations for the Robben Island tour in the afternoon.

Across the street from Long Street Backpackers is Mama Africa's - a large restaurant with a live band that serves game. We went for dinner one night and ordered the Wild Game appetizer which consisted of sliced Springbok (deer like), Crocodile, and Impala. The Springbok tasted like salty ham, the crocodile tasted like chicken, and the Impala didn't taste like anything I had before. I joked that they probably did just serve us ham and chicken and named it exotic animal meat for the tourists. For dinner I had the Springbok steak and Lisa had the Potjie (South African stew) with Springbok, Croc, and Impala. Both were tasty.

An even better bet for dinner is the The Africa Cafe - a couple of blocks above Long Street. You start off by getting your hands washed then it's time for the Communal Feast. Woolworths downtown

Then they bring you samples of each of the following dishes: Mango Chicken, Morrocan Lamb Stew, East African Mchicha Wa Nazi, Basmati Rice, Beans in Tomato Sauce, Mozambican Chilli Chicken Wings, Mozambican Chilli Dip, South African Vetkoek, Bhayela Grilled Vegetables, Malawi Mbatata Cheese and Sim Sim Balls, Xhosa Imifino Patties, Zambian Bean Pies, Ithanga Fritters, Ethiopian IAB, and West Coast Calamari. Whew! After tasting everything, you tell the waitress what you would like more of. We were actually full after eating all of the samples but I still ordered more! I got another order of the Mozambican Chilli Chicken Wings (they were hella hot!), Xhosa Imifino Patties (which were spinach and mealie patties), and Ithanga Fritters (pumpkin fritters with cinnamon and sugar). All of it was delicious! Then when we were about to burst, she brought dessert. A great meal for the value - just don't eat anything ALL day before you go!

Cape Town Tourism
City of Cape Town
Cape Town .net
Cape Town Travel
Cape Town Info
Best of Cape Town

The Africa Cafe
108 Shortmarket Street, Cape Town
Open at 7pm for dinner