Having spent 12 months living and working in South Africa between 2008-2009, I managed to get out and about a few times. During the year I took the train journey of just over an hour from Cape Town to Simons Town. The journey itself is beautiful in most parts, especially around the Kalk Bay and Fish Hoek areas, where the train hugs the coastline and you pass some lovely beaches and scenes. It's safe enough to travel along on this route, even alone, but don't flash your valuables. It's also an incredibly cheap way to travel (even in "first class"). It's the last station of the route, so you can't really miss your stop. There's not a lot at the station ...  Read the complete review

A short drive from Cape Town, Simon's Town offers a unique location to view african penguins. Raised wooden walkways take you from the car park to the visitor's centre. On the way you will see penguins everywhere, hidden in holes in the sand, on the walkway itself, just going about their daily business. At the visitor's centre there is an excellent display about the penguins, and a video about the life of a city penguin, which was great. You then descend down to the main penguin beach where literally hundreds of penguins frolic in the waves. The view from the walkways is fantastic, and we took many black and white photos which were very effective. You ...  Read the complete review