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CAPE TOWN

Set on the waterfront, surrounded by spectacular mountains, Cape Town is one of the world's prettiest cities also the oldest city in South Africa, it's often referred to as "The Mother City". It's located between the Table Mountain, Devil's Peak and Lions Head or Signal Hill. Cape Town is international known as "The Tavern of the Seas". The port is South Africa's second largest, and the fifth busiest in Africa.

Think of San Francisco and the Mediterranean rolled up into one and you summed up Cape Town - a place with great arts and culture, nearby wine country with gorgeous old architecture and prize-winning product, sunny, active beaches, and a city center full of charm and history.   Hmmm guess you can tell I love Cape Town..

The attractions here are endless, from  walks around the historic downtown quarters and the nature reserve, dining and drinks at the waterfront, art galleries, Cape wine tours to drives up the scenic west coast or along the Indian Ocean-side Garden Route. The Garden Route is in one word spectacular.

Cape Town was founded by Jan van Riebeck on 6th April in 1652. It was an intermediate station for the merchant ships of the Dutch East India Company heading for "the East". Since that time this little settlement has grown up to one of the most important centers of Africa. The metropolis ranges over the whole peninsula from Bloubergstrand in the north and Kraaifontein in the east to "Cape of Good Hope", the "Most Southwesterly Point" of Africa in the south. It covers over 200,000 Hectare and at the moment almost more than 3 million people live in it. 

Table Mountain

The world famous sign of Cape Town is the Table Mountain whose summit is 1086m its attendant summits, Devil's Peak and Lions head (669m)  above sea level. It is a national monument and nature reserve of South Africa. During good weather conditions visitors can use the cable way to move from the Table Mountain Road round about 700 meters nearly vertical upwards to the summit.

Devil's Peak, to the left of the mountain when looking up from the city, gets its name from the legend of Van Hunks, the pirate, who met the Devil there for a smoking contest. As the two great smokers puffed their pipes, they formed the white tablecloth of cloud that is a regular feature of the mountain when the Cape southeaster blows.  Often when the cloud cloth hang over the mountain you will hear the locals refering to "Van Hunks and the devil smoking again"

Lion's Head, at the other end of the mountain, might have been named because there were lions roaming there, but was more likely given its name simply because it looks rather like a lion, with the curved back and rump ending at Signal Hill, above Green Point.

At the top of the mountain there is a souvenir shop, a post office where visitors can buy postcards and have them franked with a special Table Mountain postmark, and a rustic stone restaurant which serves light meals and refreshments. The summit is also a popular spot for picnics which are invariably interrupted by the fat, little rock rabbits - or dassies - some of which have become so tame that they will allow tourists to tickle them. Several overnight cabins are available  on the top of the mountain. 

One of the most pleasant and beautiful experiences I ever had was having breakfast on top of the mountain surrounded by clouds.

The Cable Car

The cable way is a two-car service that has been in operation for more than 60 years without a single accident.

This is in part due to the interesting three-cable system by which it operates.The main cable carries the weight of the car, a thinner one pulls the cars along, and a third cable is there purely as a back-up; in fact, this cable has never been used. The two cars counter-balance each other, one making the upward journey while the other travels back down. Trust me on this one - if you dont like heights this is not the way to go.

Directly in front of the mountain is Table Bay with the notorious Robben Island in its center. This little island has a sorry history of use as a jail for political prisoners, the most famous of whom was Nelson Mandela. Robben Island is populated by prison officials and their families, and although there are few prisoners there now, a high security ferry still completes the voyage to and from the mainland every few hours.

I have taken the voyage to Robben Island a few times however at that stage you were not allowed to step on to the island (it might have changed now) but the most amazing part to me was always the huge amount of sea lions (called a Rob in Afrikaans hence the name Robben Island) 

This page was last updated on Sunday, November 15, 1998.