Marianna Hunt

How to escape the cold without jet lag

At this time of year, South Africa offers everything – from sunshine and sightseeing to shopping and safari

  • From Spectator Life
Twelve Apostles mountain and Camps Bay [iStock]

My mum yelped. The kayak bucked back and forth as we both mouthed: ‘Dolphins!’ The pair zigzagged around us while we tried to paddle after them. Afterwards, we were paddling back towards land for a busy afternoon of exploring coffee shops and wine bars when a penguin bobbed its head up from the water. In moments like these it’s hard to believe you’re in a city – but there was Cape Town spread out on the shore ahead of us.

The taxi driver who met us at the airport had summed it up: ‘In Cape Town, you can do everything.’ There’s nature in spades (from antelope to whales), incredible food, culture, world-class wine and, according to our kayak guide, ‘some of the best hiking and biking trails in the world’.

Average temperatures this month are a balmy 22°C and the time difference is just two hours

This is not just true of Cape Town, either, but of South Africa in general.

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