Now that a winter version of hit reality TV show, Love Island, is being shown on ITV, the drama has moved from Mallorca to Cape Town. The reason for the move is that the weather is good enough there for contestants to waltz around in swimwear all day long.
The new villa is a three-storey gated house in Eagles Nest' called The Cottage. The outdoor area is separated into three different floors, and the layout is designed to give more scope for private conversations and surprise twists.
The Cape Town villa is equipped with 80 cameras, and it took UK and local workers over two months to create it. A new dressing room has been added for the boys, which they didn't have in Mallorca, and a pull-out bed has been added in one of the lounges.
This has been dubbed the "Dog House," and it will be used by those who find themselves without a bed following a row with the person they're coupled-up with. Aside from that, the contestants will all sleep in the same bedroom, as usual.
The islanders' parents and family members usually pay a visit, and Cape Town is a brilliant destination at any time of year, with myriad activities on offer. Its star attraction is Table Mountain, which can be accessed by climbing or cable car and offers the ultimate viewpoint over the city. At the back of Table Mountain, Kirstenbosch is a remarkable botanical garden with large lawns, themed gardens and a forest.
There are plenty of wineries around that do tours and tastings around Cape Town, including those in Stellenbosch. Visitors love the old Muslim quarter of Bo-Kaap, with its photogenic pastel-painted colonial period homes and mosques that line the cobbled streets.
No trip to Cape Town would be complete without visiting Robben Island, a Unesco World Heritage site preserved as a memorial to those, including Nelson Mandela, who was incarcerated here. It is, quite simply, the polar opposite of the luxury in which the Love Islanders are currently incarcerated.
