• Cafe Review – Yours Truly (Kloof Street), Cape Town

    8 February 2016 - By 

    This past week saw me exploring two of my city’s more charming eat-out places and I have to say, visiting Yours Truly on a sizzling hot Friday with a close friend was the perfect way to kick-start my first weekend back in the glorious Mother City. And to simultaneously conclude a very busy, but fun-filled and productive ‘birthday week’ in laid-back fashion. For months now, I have passed the Yours Truly Café on my way up Kloof Street and have, I confess, rather enviously eyed that almost subtropical food haven and its seemingly contented, chatty diners from the pavement. So,…

  • Back Down to the ‘Bowl’: Platteklip Gorge Hike – Part 2

    19 November 2015 - By 

    Continuing  from  where  I  left  off  in  the  first  installment  of  my  Platteklip  Gorge  Hike  (to read  Part  1,  please  see my site),  I  was  unexpectedly  refreshed  and  content  once  I  finally  reached the  top of the  Table. As  soon  as  I  emerged  into  the  open  (if  you’ve  hiked  the  Gorge  or  India  Venster  trails),  I found  visitors  zigzagging  along  the  mountain’s  vast  expanses,  enjoying  some  of  the  more immediate  of  Table  Mountain  National  Park’s  (TMNP)  many  walks.  These  include: Agama-,  Klipspringer-  and  Dassie-Walk,  which  apparently  take  between  15-45  minutes to  cover. (Speaking  of  India Venster,  I  found  out  where …

  • To The Top of Table: Platteklip Gorge Hike Review – Part 1

    5 November 2015 - By 

    On October 24th, despite having succumb to an irksome bout of flu that’s been doing the rounds, I was determined to hike to the top of Table Mountain via the Platteklip Gorge Hike. My older brother recommended it to me after I gushed to him about my Lion’s Head hike and, as advised, I waited for a hot Saturday (roughly 26-28 degrees) when I knew there would be quite a few hikers out, thus making it safer to hike on my lonesome. What with the my second-year studies drawing to a close and the hot spell persisting, I knew it…

  • Market Review: Sunday Fun at Pre-Spring Groote Post Country Market

    4 September 2015 - By 

    Having kindly been invited – along with my parents – to attend the ‘Groote Post Country Market’ some two weeks ago, I had been looking forward to a fun, family-orientated market. I was really excited for the  Groote Post’s pre-spring market* – held on what looked like a truly beautiful, yet homely Cape farm, nestled in the midst of the Darling Hills – and to be heading to the charming West Coast countryside. *(Except in the winter, the market is held on the last Sunday of each month). So it was that we arose bright and early on Sunday morning,…

  • Travel and Beach Review: Gorgeous Clifton – Cape Town’s Unique Beach Quartet

    4 August 2015 - By 

    Cape Town beach-goers are blessed with a wealth of glorious beaches to choose from, starting with the picture-perfect Blouberg to the glamourous Camps Bay, but my favourite by far is the quartet of granite boulder-strewn Clifton beaches, with their frothy, nippy waves that kiss the sandy, pristine shoreline, as yachts frame the seemingly endless horizon and rest serenely upon the breathtakingly beautiful turquoise waters. Though the four beaches – respectively known as: Clifton 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 4th – share similar surroundings, they each attract their own group(s) of beach-goers and accompanying range of outdoor activities. Visitors from the Mother…

  • Restaurant Review: Old Cape Cafe, Gordon’s Bay

    22 June 2015 - By 

    A recent trip to Gordon’s Bay with my parents (and a wonderfully scenic mountain drive afterwards along the R44 between GB and Rooiels… To see my travel review on this, please visit my main site’s homepage: http://tamlynamberwanderlust.com) on a reasonably warm winter’s afternoon helped to unearth the quaint and undoubtedly charming treasure trove that is the Old Cape Cafe. Beach Road, which runs adjacent to the lovely, clean Main Beach, is reminiscent of Sea Point Promenade with its cluster of sea-facing restaurants and cafes that catch one’s eye and tempt the appetite. Although there were quite a few options for…

  • Chasing the Sun: A Wintry Afternoon Drive Along the Cape Coastline

    16 June 2015 - By 

    After a long and frenetic first semester of second-year studies, I was all but chafing at the bit to leave the hustle and bustle of the Mother City behind for a month’s ‘down time’ back home. These days, any road trip that takes me back home is a cause for joyous celebration and something I look forward to with much eagerness as skyscrapers are replaced by neat, rural farmlands and sleepy towns, and the masses of city folk by dusty Merino sheep. However, my spirits were even more buoyed than usual by my parents’ proposal to take a slightly longer…

  • Restaurant Review: The Classy Balducci Restaurant, V & A Waterfront, Cape Town

    9 June 2015 - By 

    UPDATE: Sadly, as of December 2020, Balducci has closed its doors after 24 wonderful years of service. However, you can still support their sister restaurant, Gibsons. Last month I had the immense pleasure of visiting what must surely be one of Cape Town’s finest restaurant offerings: Balducci. Tucked away near the lower level entrance/exit point of the V & A Waterfront’s Victoria Wharf in Shop 6162, Balducci’s philosophy, as stated in their own words, is a simple one: “to provide a memorable experience by redefining the essence of good home cooked food and continually upping the standards with its slick…

  • Travel and Beach Review: Bloubergstrand Beach, Cape Town

    25 May 2015 - By 

      Found along the M14 road between Big Bay Beach and Table View Beach is the breathtakingly situated Blouberg Beach, otherwise known as ‘Bloubergstrand‘. ‘Blouberg’ is an Afrikaans word that, directly translated, means ‘blue mountain’. This is a most apt name for the Northern Suburb area where this beach can be found, as from here, the famous and well-loved Table Mountain does indeed look beautifully blue. The beach, with its spectacular backdrop and surrounding ocean views – which, due to its often windy conditions, makes it extremely popular for kite- and windsurfers alike – has the most beautiful, clean stretch…

  • Travel Review – An Unforgettable Trip to Cape Point, Cape of Good Hope Nature Reserve

    11 May 2015 - By 

    In October of last year I had one of the most invigorating and almost life-changing travel experiences – not abroad as you might expect but rather +/- 60 km south-west of my beloved home city of Cape Town – when I visited Cape Point. Earlier, our trio of travellers visited naval Simon’s Town & its unique Boulders Beach. As late afternoon approached, we curled around the breathtaking False Bay coastline before eagerly passing through the access gate of the Cape of Good Hope/Cape Point Nature Reserve. (Note: There is an entry fee of R55 for Children (ages 2-11) and R110…