Forty-eight hours in Cape Town – so much to do, so little time. But as a tag-on to a safari, it's worthwhile even if you can only spare a couple of days.

Food, wine, culture and cabs are ridiculously cheap in this city thanks to the strong pound against the rand, so you’ll get more bang for your buck whether you're paying for entrance tickets, wine-tasting or fine dining.

I start with a visit to the majestic Table Mountain, a sandstone wonder of the world which looms large wherever you go in the city.

I join the queue to take the Cableway cable car on a five-minute ride to the top (adult return 225 rand/around £12.50).

A revolving floor within the car ensures all budding photographers have a 360 degree birds’ eye view.

After Table Mountain, I head for the lush vineyards of Constantia, around 20 minutes away, to probe my palate with a wine-tasting session at Bistro Sixteen82 at Steenberg Farm, which produces some of the finest wine in South Africa.

‘Bubbly’ – a chardonnay which can’t be called champagne because it's not made in the Champagne region of France – is paired with spoon-sized bites of Parma ham, figs and cheese, as the salty characters are said to bring out the best in the sparkling wine. Later, sauvignon blanc is matched with acidic flavours like goats’ cheese and tomato, to make the sauvignon taste sweeter. The red wine, which at Steenberg is predominantly merlot, is matched with fillet steak and pepper sauce.

To blow the cobwebs away after lunch, I head for Boulders Beach, home to colonies of African penguins nesting on the beach and waddling about on the rocks. You pay 60 rand (£3.30) to get in. After a full day, I’m ready to try some of South Africa’s finest fare. Cape Town offers a wealth of sophisticated dining based on local produce. I try springbok and ostrich while I’m here, as well as abundant seafood, from freshly caught tuna and angel fish to oysters, crayfish and scallops.

The next day, I venture to the spot I anticipate will be the highlight of my 48 hours – Robben Island.

It’s a half-hour boat ride to the island, a Unesco World Heritage Site, which had been used as a prison since the 17th century and also served as a leper colony and as a lunatic asylum. But its darkest time was from the early 1960s when it became a maximum security prison, housing the political enemies of the apartheid regime.

As we arrive at the dock, a huge poster displaying the words ‘Freedom Cannot Be Manacled’ fills the wall facing us, along with historical pictures of the prisoners, including Nelson Mandela, who spent 18 of his 27-year sentence imprisoned here.

Although the last political prisoners left in 1991 and it closed as a prison in 1996 around 200 people, including ex-political prisoners, still live on the island.

Former inmates conduct the tours around the prison and our guide Ntando, imprisoned for seven years for being a member of the ANC and furthering military aim, recalls how he was detained in a police station for six months where he was severely tortured, both mentally and physically, later to be transferred in iron shackles and handcuffs from Johannesburg to Robben Island.

Only the colony of African penguins seen waddling outside the prison perimeters brings light relief to this stark, cruel environment.

The whole tour (including ferry and guide) costs 250 rand (around £14).

Back on the mainland, I experience the other extreme, namely fashionable Clifton, one of the wealthiest areas of Cape Town with its millionaires’ cliff-side apartments and amazing views of Clifton Bay and the 12 Apostles rising above it.

Here, we stay at Cape View, whose ten bright, white and airy rooms make you feel like you’re in a top designer’s dream house.

The living area leads out on to a wide deck and the most breathtaking view of the glistening ocean and Clifton Bay.

It’s a perfect place to unwind, watch the sun set and appreciate the best that Cape Town has to offer.

Checking my watch, I’ve done my 48 hours but boy, do I wish I had more...

Getaway

Qatar Airways (0333 320 2454; qatarairways.com) fly daily from London Heathrow to Cape Town via Doha. Round-trip prices start from £747 economy.

Steenberg Farm (steenbergfarm. com) has rooms from 2,650 rand (approx £150) per room per night, b&b.

At Cape View Clifton guesthouse (capeviewclifton.co.za) rooms start from 2,700 rand (approx £152) per room per night, including breakfast.