3 Best Sights in Hout Bay, South Africa

Rock slides and unstable cliff faces mean this fantastically scenic drive can often be closed for maintenance, as it was for the greater part of 2008–2009. Work began on the drive in 1910, when it was considered an impossibility. Charl Marais, a mining surveyor, wasn't deterred by the task and set about surveying a route by sending a worker ahead of him to chop out footholds and create rudimentary platforms for his theodolite. There are stories of him hanging on to the side of the cliff by ropes and nearly losing his life on a number of occasions. With the help of 700 convicts, a road was chipped and blasted out of the rock. Chapman's Peak Drive officially opened in 1922 with views rivaling those of California's Pacific Route 1 to Big Sur. When open, you can access the drive from both Noordhoek and Hout Bay. The toll-gate installed on the drive has been the source of huge local controversy—but you as a tourist won't notice a thing (apart from the fee). Also, this is part of the route for the Cape Argus, the world's largest timed bicycle race—with about 35,000 entries every year from around the globe.

Cradled in a lovely bay of the same name and guarded by a 1,000-foot peak known as the Sentinel, Hout Bay is the center of Cape Town's crayfishing industry (legal and otherwise) and operates several fish-processing plants. It also has knockout views of the mountains, gentle surf, and easy access to the restaurants and bars of Mariner's Wharf. The fact that this is a working harbor, added to the raw sewage of the Inzamo Yethu informal settlement a short walk upstream, means this is, unfortunately, a polluted beach, however beautiful it looks. You are advised not to swim here. Amenities: food and drink; parking. Best for: solitude; walking.

Here you can walk through a sanctuary housing more than 400 species of indigenous and exotic birds, including eagles, vultures, penguins, and flamingos. With neither bars nor nets separating you from most of the birds, you can get some pretty good photographs; however, the big raptors are (wisely) kept behind fences. Kids will love the "monkey jungle," where a few dozen highly inquisitive squirrel monkeys roam freely, often lighting on your shoulders or back. There's also a small jungle gym for kids to play on at the end of the park.