Africa - Mauritius or Cape Town?

We are going on a honeymoon in a couple of months. We will definitely be doing a long safari in Tanzania and Kenya. We thought we might be able to squeeze Cape Town and Mauritius in but that's a bit ambitious. Would anyone care to comment on that particular choice?

Can't comment on Mauritius but spent a week in May in Cape Town, which was a lot of fun. Cape Town is one of those beautiful temperate bay cities, right up there with Sydney and San Fran. There's a lot of things to do there, from Robben Island Tours to taking the cable car up Table Mountain (or climbing up it for those who have strong lungs and 4 hours to spare) to exploring Cape Point or sampling homegrown vino. I would also recommend the Planetarium if you find yourself there on a Tuesday evening. To explore the surrounding area (a must if you have time) you'll want to get a car, which can be pricey.

I didn't have any problems but crime can be a bit of an issue, although the city (unlike Johannesburg) is pretty safe during the day. With the $US exchange rate food was cheap and there are a lot of good restaurants. The local Cape Malay cuisine is deelish. My lady and I definitely enjoyed our time there.

Just my opinion: Mauritius would be a far better honeymoon destination than Cape Town.

I'm sure I'll be in the minority with this opinion, but I spent 5 days in Cape Town last December and found it over-rated. The beaches seemed to be more gravel than sand and the water was too cold to swim in (and that was in summer). The Tourism Board brochures refer to it as "The city with most the spectacular setting in the world". Whoever wrote that has obviously never been to Rio, Sydney, San Francisco or Hong Kong because in my opinion all of these are far more scenic (and interesting and exciting) than Cape Town. One of the main tourist destinations is the V & A Waterfront. Except for a few stores with African themes it was so "generic mall" that it might as well have been any upscale mall in the US and hardly seemed worth flying halfway around the world to see. The hotel prices seemed inflated to me and the food was reasonable, but not inexpensive. Once the workday was over, the downtown area was deserted and I did not feel safe walking around.

On the other hand, I found Mauritius very under-rated. The pace was very slow and relaxing. The water was a beautiful blue color and there were deserted beaches on the north shore that you could have all to yourself (we rented a car). The food was great (we had mainly French, Indian and seafood) and reasonably priced. The botanical gardens were spectacular. The market in Port Louis had an amazing selection of spices available. I'm sure there must be some crime there, but I never felt threatened anywhere on the island. I can't wait to go back for another visit.

Spend a day in Capetown then drive along the beautiful western cape coast to the Arabella Sheraton in Hermanus. Now this is a spot for a honeymoon! One of the best spas you will ever find. Whale watching, peaceful town nearby, great golf, fabulous food and wine, winery tours, etc.

We spent abou 4 days there to get over the jet lag and then went up to Kruger to hang out with the animals.

Depends on what you want ... Having been to both I would certainly choose Cape Town.. however if you are after beaches/tropical island type thing then go for Mauritius .. for anything else though South Africa wins out (it's cheaper too!)

FWIW, there is a replica of parts of Cape Town in Mauritius. :) I havent been to CPT, but Mauritius is truly beautiful and the weather from my perspective is perfect. Now if there were just more trees there.

If you're on safari in Tanzania or Kenya, why not stay in the area and spend a few days on Zanzibar (nice beaches and nice people) or maybe Lamu in Kenya.

Wide variety of lodgings from the very cheap to the very expensive (look up mnemba on google) and Stone Town on Zanzibar is a great place to spend a few days wandering round.

Stewie

I'm sure I'll be in the minority with this opinion, but I spent 5 days in Cape Town last December and found it over-rated. The beaches seemed to be more gravel than sand and the water was too cold to swim in (and that was in summer). The Tourism Board brochures refer to it as "The city with most the spectacular setting in the world". Whoever wrote that has obviously never been to Rio, Sydney, San Francisco or Hong Kong because in my opinion all of these are far more scenic (and interesting and exciting) than Cape Town. One of the main tourist destinations is the V & A Waterfront. Except for a few stores with African themes it was so "generic mall" that it might as well have been any upscale mall in the US and hardly seemed worth flying halfway around the world to see. The hotel prices seemed inflated to me and the food was reasonable, but not inexpensive. Once the workday was over, the downtown area was deserted and I did not feel safe walking around.

Although I find Cape Town a great place, it is just a little bit over-rated, so I have to agree with some of these comments. The V&A Waterfront certainly is nothing worth traveling for, except that it has the Robbin Island ferry terminal. And the beaches... pathetic in my opinion: small, cramped, course sand with FREEZING water, and more trendy with image-conscious socialites than actually being a good beach. But the city really is in a very spectacular setting. I must disagree that San Francisco or Sydney have more spetacular scenary, although Rio and Hong Kong tie Cape Town. The wine country is also very very beautiful, and you can load up on cheap, high-qaulity wines. A mistake many tourists make is to miss the "non-glitsy" stuff such as the townships, District 6 museum, and so on which really gives a nice perspective and insight into the city beyond just the ritz and hype. Although that may not be honeymoon material.

A better bet (after maybe spending a day or two in Cape Town) would be to drive alough the Garden Route east of Cape Town. It is beautiful and great for honeymoons (although I'm unmarried at 23). Very scenic with quaint, unpretentious towns along the way. Takes several days at least though to enjoy, however.

Mauritious is great if one likes to spend time on the beach, snorkeling, eating great seafood, and doing some very cheap shopping for brand names (bought an authentic Louis Vuitton bag for my mother that I could actually, sort of, afford). The weather is also fabulous. I have to agree with what EvilDoctorK says: depends what you want. If you just want to relax on the beach, Mauritius is a great bet (although the east coast of South Africa is nice in that regard also, as is Mozambique near Inhambane).

If you're on safari in Tanzania or Kenya, why not stay in the area and spend a few days on Zanzibar (nice beaches and nice people) or maybe Lamu in Kenya.

Wide variety of lodgings from the very cheap to the very expensive (look up mnemba on google) and Stone Town on Zanzibar is a great place to spend a few days wandering round.

Stewie

Have to disagree... went to Zanzibar once, and all I can remember is being harrassed and haggled by more hawkers, beggers and peddlers than anywhere on the continent. I swear they were all having a conference there or something. I'm used to it, having lived in Africa for some time, but it was over the top in Zanzibar. I could not walk outside without being swarmed and followed every minute. I felt very very very unsafe and uneasy, and generally had only a fair experience, and I was glad when I got back on the ferry.

I leave out hope though that I had a uniquely bad experience.

I second the idea of a Honeymoon in Kenya, particularly if you are on safari there. Parts of the Kenya Coast are beautiful and quiet. Peponi's hotel in Lamu and Hemingways in Watamu are in quiet, beautiful places and privately owned by Kenyans who will bend over backwards to organise your stay to your wishes. As far as safaris go, Ol Donyo Wuas in the Chulu Hills and Loisaba in Laikipia offer beautiful private safaris (not a minibus in sight) riding through the bush and seeing game from horseback is great, not to mention romantic.