Cape Town is undoubtedly one of the world's most beautiful cities. Its striking Table Mountain overlooks the city and False Bay. One of the country's World Heritage Sites, Robben Island, lies about 12 kilometres off the mainland.
Used for centuries as a place to house unwanted people - prisoners of war, criminals, leprosy sufferers, mentally ill patients, a military base, apartheid prisoners, among them Nelson Mandela and Walter Sisulu - for many the island's associations are of isolation and inhumane treatment. Paradoxically, it's also a place of sanctuary for around 132 bird species, some of which are endangered. The African penguin, once close to extinction, breeds prolifically on the island. Around 23 species of mammals, including many types of buck, ostrich, lizards, geckos, snakes and tortoises, also live on the island.
Cape Town itself has much to offer: 150km of beaches, hikes and walks, windsurfing, paragliding, cycling, great restaurants, unique flora, and the winelands.
Settled by the Dutch in 1652, the city is a reflection of the different cultures that established themselves below the mountain: European, Dutch and Malay. An active slave trade, with some 63 000 slaves imported from East Africa, Madagascar, India and Indonesia, has resulted in Cape Town having a unique flavour.
Cape Town has many significant old buildings: the Castle of Good Hope, the country's oldest building, as well as the Old Town House, Palm Tree Mosque, Long Street Baths, the South African Mission Meeting House Museum, St George's Cathedral, the South African Museum, Koopmans-De Wet House, De Tuynhuys, the South African National Gallery, the Great Synagogue, and the Houses of Parliament. The suburb of Bo-Kaap houses the Muslim community, in brightly coloured 19th century Dutch and Georgian terraces. It's a distinctive community, with its own Afrikaans dialect.
The District Six Museum tells of the lively coloured community that lived in the suburb, dismantled in the name of apartheid in the 1970s.
Other places of interest are the Victoria and Alfred Waterfront, the Gold of Africa Museum, and the Two Oceans Aquarium. The Kirstenbosch National Botanical Gardens in Newlands is the oldest and largest botanical garden in South Africa with over 22 000 indigenous plants. It attracts botanists and researchers from around the world.
The dramatic Table Mountain has been a beacon to ships for centuries. The Table Mountain National Park stretches from Signal Hill to Cape Point and includes the seas and coastline of the peninsula. There are 1 400 species of flora on the mountain, and fauna includes baboons, dassies or hyraxes, Himalayan tahrs and porcupines. The mountain is crisscrossed with hiking trails. It is one of the country's natural World Heritage Sites.
Constantia was Cape Town's oldest wine farm, started by Simon van der Stel in 1685. These days it consists of four wine estates: Groot Constantia, Klein Constantia, Steenberg and Buitenverwachting.
Muizenberg, St James, Kalk Bay, Fish Hoek and Simon's Town are quaint villages dotted along False Bay, south of the city.
Chapman's Peak Drive hugs the spectacular coastline until Cape Point and the Cape of Good Hope Nature Reserve, around 60km from the city centre. Some 2 256 species of fynbos are to be found in the reserve. Cape Point is not the most southerly point of Africa - Cape Agulhas, some 300km south of Cape Town, is where the Indian and the Atlantic oceans meet.
All information courtesy of MediaClubSouthAfrica.com
