We started the morning early and our first stop as per my mom’s request (iykyk) was Outeniqua Family Market in George. It was very busy and we found one stall selling halaal savouries. My mom bought some homemade strawberry jam and then we left. I’d give this a miss.

It was 9am and all I needed was coffee so we stopped at Vida Garden Route Mall. 10/10 cute coffee shop vibes and 11/10 for my usual coffee freezo.

After this, it was a long drive to Struisbaai. We stopped at the beach here which was pretty but very very windy. My sneakers were filled with sand in the two minutes that I stood on the beach.

Agulhas National Park was a fifteen minute (literally not Indian time) drive from Struisbaai. There’s no entry fee here (but there really should be, like hello South African tourism). It was beautiful, you drive along the beach where the waves are crashing against the rocks. You park off and walk until the Southernmost tip of Africa. There’s a boardwalk showing exactly where the Indian Ocean and the Atlantic Ocean meet.

مَرَجَ الْبَحْرَيْنِ يَلْتَقِيَانِ ﴿١٩﴾
He has made the two seas to flow so that they meet together.
بَيْنَهُمَا بَرْزَخٌ لَّا يَبْغِيَانِ ﴿٢٠﴾
Between them is a barrier which none of them can transgress.
فَبِأَيِّ آلَاء رَبِّكُمَا تُكَذِّبَانِ ﴿٢١﴾
So which of the favours of your Lord will you deny?

I was in awe standing at this point. The Qur’aan was revealed more than 1444 years ago in the desert of Arabia and here I was seeing the oceans meet in Africa and this is the miracle of the Qur’aan. All praises be to Allah – الحمد لله.

A map of Africa lies on the floor with a compass. The map is 18 metres from north to south. The raised profile is hand-sculpted in reinforced concrete and stained with metal powders to achieve the aged oxidised colours and textures that indicate the vegetation and topographic features. A path leads from the circle right down to the Southernmost tip of Africa.

Further down, we visited a shipwreck that lies a few meters from shore. It was eerie but definitely cool to see.

After reading salaah and eating some padkos, we were excited to get to Cape Town and three hours later, we saw the first view of the mountain. I don’t think anything beats that first view. 3 500 kilometres, 4 provinces and I’m finally here.

After checking in at Garden Court Nelson Mandela Boulevard, unpacking and freshening up, we were ready to watch the sunset at the V&A Waterfront.

The salaah facilities (near Polo) at the V&A are stunning and there was some serious hustle and bustle maghrib time.

It honestly felt like no time had passed between our last trip and now. Sans the Cape Wheel, the V&A felt the same. We had some Simply Asia for supper and went back to the hotel. I’m excited for this next week in Cape Town, I genuinely forgot how much I love this city.

Step count: 8 360 (not bad because we drove 650km today)