Cape Town, South Africa.

After a 14-hour flight from Newark, New Jersey (and two other domestic flights to get to New Jersey), we finally arrived at Cape Town. Our guide, Dries, mentioned that if we approached the airport from the continent’s south end and were seated on the right side of the plane, we’d get a commanding view of the city and Table Mountain. As it turned out, that’s what happened.

Cape Town, no doubt, gets its name from its proximity to the Cape of Good Hope. It is a blend of modern urban life and breathtaking landscapes. Our home for two days of exploration was The Quayside Hotel at Simon’s Town, a little over an hour’s drive from the Cape Town Airport.

Table Mountain is undoubtedly the city’s most iconic landmark. This mountain towers dramatically above the town and features a national park and panoramic views of the surrounding area. While approaching the city, I captured several cell pics of the mountain and the surrounding cities. On upcoming Travel Tuesdays, I’ll share some of the sights of our Cape Town experience.

On our downwind approach to the airport, we flew over Table Bay, identified in the pictures by Cape Town Harbor, the dock structures cutting into the bay. Though Table Mountain is named because of its flat top, the flat-top view isn’t visible from the western side. The large flat area in front and left of the mountain is Signal Hill, which rises to a rock outcropping called Lion’s Head. The Cape of Good Hope, off the right of the two photos, is about 90 minutes from the heart of Cape Town, so we stayed in Simon’s Town, much closer to the places we wanted to visit.

The round building is an arena now named DHL Stadium. This stadium was initially built to host matches during the 2010 FIFA World Cup. Its distinctive design, sweeping curves, and unique roof structure have made it a landmark in the city. The arena now hosts a variety of events throughout the year.

About the photos: My Samsung S23U cell phone captured these photos. I selected the wide-angle lens for the top image and the mid-range telephoto lens for the second. I processed them in Adobe Lightroom Classic with a side trip to Luminar Neo to use some of its AI tools to enhance the images and remove a blue color cast created by the filter in the aircraft window. Pixel peepers will find a better view with a black surround; you can click on either image to view them on my Flickr site.

I encourage fellow bloggers to create their own Cellpic Sunday posts. I never have a specific topic for this feature, and the only rules are that the photo must be captured with a cell phone, iPad, or another mobile device… If you have an image from a drone or even a dashcam, that’s also acceptable. The second rule is to link your challenge response to this post or leave a comment here with a link to your post in the comment. Oh, also, you don’t have to post it on a Sunday.

John Steiner