Everything went off without a hitch. The cloudiness enveloped Table Mountain from teh start of the day, and I was worried when there was a light drizzle on teh drive out to Constantia Nek (where the hike starts), but by the time we reached the sun was poking out between clouds, and it actually ended up being fairly lovely weather for the hike - a cool breeze and enough cloud cover to avoid the sun-drenched pain at times yesterday with the Pipe Track.
Prior to this I had a quick "toastie" grilled cheese with mince and caremalized onions at Bootleggers, got a couple meat pies from Woolworths, and then went on my way. The Contour Path hike is so different in terrain to the Pipe Track it is crazy that this is the base of what is effectively the same mountain (table mountain) but on a completely opposite side. The views start with the towering Table Mountain backside on the left - today with clouds covering the top - and a changing series of beautiful lush green views on the right. It starts with well manicured wine and farm rows on hills. Then it becames the East part of the city, super green with houses poking in and out. And finally becomes an aeriel view of Kirstenbosch Gardens, both a closed to public preservation and research area, and then the park itself.
The lasting upside of the hike is it ends in Kirstenbosch, basically giving you free entry to the Botanical Gardens as a present for the 90 minute hike preceding it. Granted, you enter at kind of a random part of the gardens, super far away from the entry, so it does make it suboptimal if you were using it to see the park proper, but brings you to the section of rows of open space and protea and roobois flowers - teh msot South African of flora.
From Kistenbosch, I flipped over to the Waterfront, with teh skies darkening by the second - taking respite indoors at the Two Oceans Aquarium. On a busy Saturday, there was about a 15 minute line to get in, seemingly a bunch of locals and kids and couples, all enjoying the fish. I hadn't gone to Two Oceans since probably my 2020 trip, and while probably not much has changed, it seemed fresh. It's a tight 45 minute walk through various exhibits, the centerpieces being two large tanks, one with a classic glass tunnel to walk through with rays and tuna and a bunch of other fish, and the other one being two levels with tuns of fish and sharks. There's also a really nice penguin area with classic South African penguins and Macaroni Penguins.
The other exhibits were great as well, the one that seemed new or at least I didn't really remember from 2020, was a dark hall with various columns with types of jellyfish. It was really cool to see them floating around and lit up across all the darkness. Overall the aquarium is a really nice experience, especially when the skies fully open up outside and you could walk around the fish inside.
I took a quick jaunt through the Watershed on the way to Cause Effect, getting a bit wet as I stupidly left my jacket with a hood in the AirBNB, for some reason thinking I had escaped any rain. Luckily the rain did subside in time for me to walk back to the AirBNB fairly unscathed and get a quick rest up before Belly of the Beast, which has been a tradition now for all trips since 2018.
Belly of the Beast is on the "other side of town" in a sense - an area that is getting gentrified but isn't really a normal tourist stop. The gentrification is working, in that there are more bars and restaurants popping up in teh streets around Belly of the Beast than there used to be. Anyway, for Belly of the Beast, as always it served its seven course tasting menu featuring new takes on their classic formula: oyster and mussels to start, bread with two insane "dips" (in this case their version of babaganoush, and antelope tataki), tuna sashima, chili & beer fried hake, a great lamb main, a cheese course and then a dessert. What I love about the place is that their dishes are just so composed and, frankly, tasty. It isn't the craziest preparation, and in their open kitchen you can see the team plating all of it. It is just a super dependable spot, that has also kept its price of around $50 constant over the past four years.
Belly of the Beast only has one sitting at 6:45, and even though the meal takes about two hours, it gave me ample time to hit up a trio of night spots - first Cause Effect, then House of Machines and Modular. The last two were great as always, though I will say that Modular was surprisingly less crowded tonight compared to yesterday. Cause Effect was pretty full but luckily had one stool at the bar. Various people came in and out, a lot knowing the scene well. I got some of their classics, a gin-based cocktail served in a terrarium, a cocktail served in a plastic replica of Table Mountain. Most of their drinks change year over year, but those few classics remain. Similar to my views on Cape Town in general - some classics change, some spots come and go (RIP The Dubliner, as mentioned yesterday) but net net ir remains as good a spot as any conceivable.
