You don’t always need to travel thousands of miles from home to get to a great holiday destinations sometimes the best spots are just around the corner – you just need to know where to look 😉. This week I decided to make the most of a friend’s wedding in Cape Town which is just a two hour flight from home and extend my stay for two weeks to get to fit in some adventures. These activities are a must for anyone seeking an adrenaline rush or some breath-taking views and they just happen to be wheelchair accessible too!
Cape town is pretty much built on a huge hill so one can imagine that most places have steps around them and while there are a lot of places that have put ramps/elevators in this doesn’t mean that everywhere is accessible. I generally phone ahead and inquire about wheelchair accessibility but have learnt that the average person actually has NO idea what is accessible vs what is not. A major problem I discovered is that when you ask if a place is accessible unless you specifically ask about the restrooms people will generally exclude it. There are multiple places I have been that have said they are accessible but are definitely not. So to avoid you having to be stuck in this situation here are my suggestions of epic accessible activities for you to do.
THE CAPE WHEEL:
The Cape Wheel is located on the V&A waterfront, surrounded by restaurants and shops this is a great stop for the everyone. The Cape Wheel is wheelchair accessible for manual wheelchairs (there are two small individual steps to get into the cable car which make it inaccessible for electric wheelchairs). There is the option to sit on either your wheelchair or on the seats provided in the cable car, I opted to sit on a seat provided and left my wheelchair with the staff at the bottom. The wheel goes around for about 15/20 minutes and runs throughout the day and into the evening. I chose to go at about 6:30pm to catch the sunset and it was beautiful! Although the car wobbles a small bit which can initially be scary after one loop you forget all about that and just focus on the amazing scenery.
FLY CAPE TOWN PARAGLYDING:
At first the thought of just leaping off the edge of a mountain is pretty scary I will admit but when you arrive the staff are so welcoming and informative you calm right down! The staff from Fly Cape Town Paraglying were so accommodating and made sure I had the best experience. I transferred into the harness which they clipped up and then back into my chair to roll closer to our take off spot. Here is where I transferred onto the floor so I could be attached to the pilot. Once we were safely attached two people on each side of me easily lifted me while running down the mountain. There is no backing out now and why would you want to – the view is absolutely amazing. We flew around for about 15 minutes and even did some cool tricks (this is optional if you’re looking for a more relaxed flight haha). We had a very smooth landing and there were two more staff members at the bottom to catch me and very delicately put me down. I left my chair at the top as it was a very short distance to the car which takes your back up the mountain to your original starting point. So the staff gladly scooped me up and carried me to the car. This was an amazing experience and such an adrenaline rush!
WEST COAST NATIONAL PARK):
When someone tells you about the flowers in the Western Cape there are not enough words to describe just how many or how absolutely stunning they are! There are just puffs of different colours for as far as the eye can see. These flowers are in season from August to late September and I went to view them at West Coast National Park. Make sure you get there early as there is generally a queue of cars waiting to enter from early hours of the morning and if you are wanting to spend the day in the park you won’t want to spend your day in the queue. When you do plan your visit be sure to pick a beautiful sunny day to make sure the flowers are in bloom, you don’t want to miss out due to bad weather. There are wheelchair accessible restrooms in the park but only at Bird Hides and the restaurant. On the side of the park where the flowers are there are restrooms, although they are not designed for wheelchairs and there is a pretty bumpy path to get to them (I did however manage so although not ideal it is still possible).
SIGNAL HILL SUNSETS:
I couldn’t think of a more beautiful place to sit and watch the sun go down. This is currently my favourite spot in Cape Town to sit after a busy day and just unwind while watching a panoramic view of the sunset. There is a cover on the ground for people to sit on as well as some concrete tables and chairs. I, however prefer testing how far down the hill I can roll before scaring the life out of whoever I’m with lol and then sitting on the floor with a pizza and blanket. There are wheelchair accessible restrooms next to the car park as well as one disabled parking bay. It does get very busy and often you will find none disabled people using the only disabled parking bay but it is still worth finding any spot to park and heading over to the seating area.
TABLE MOUNTAIN CABLE CAR:
I have been to Cape Town a few times but have never managed to make my way up Table Mountain. The weather has either been against me or there has been maintenance on the cable car but not this time! This time I was determined to head up there so on my final day in Cape Town I woke up to a beautiful day and decided Cape Town didn’t completely hate me! So up Table Mountain I went. On arrival we drove to a boom gate and asked where there accessible parking bays were, after showing the staff a disabled parking tag they directed us to their disabled parking bays. From there a staff member greeted us and escorted me and my friend to the front of the ticket queue so we could purchase our tickets without the long line. We were then taken to an elevator and headed up to the cable car entrance where once again we were push to the front of the queue and were next in line to hop in the cable car. What a magical ride! The view is just spectacular and the floor in the cable car rotates! So you get to see every angle of the view. From here we hopped off and made our way around the top of Table Mountain. The ground is pretty uneven and bumpy in most areas but it is still manageable and there is a step free path all the way around the top. (There are maps available we just forgot to grab one so we decided to wing it). Being my last day we didn’t have time to stop at the restaurants but they were accessible as well as had accessible bathrooms. When we were done exploring we headed back down to the cable car and right along to the front of the queue where we were on the next car down. It is unbelievable how fast the car moves! I am so glad I waited for the perfect day to go up Table Mountain it was definitely worth the view.
