One of the most naturally beautiful, historical and culturally fascinating cities in the world! Home to 'Bergies'( most probably the descendants of the first people of the Cape), Africans from every part of Africa, people of the Bo-Kaap (Malaysia, Java, India), 'Cape Coloured' people, Dutch, English, French, and more recently just about everyone else – is truly cosmopolitan, but at the same time has fascinatingly contrasting 'regions'.
CAPE TOWN
Much of Cape Town's fascination lies in its intimate character. Surrounded by mountain and sea, the many attractions of the city centre are often in close proximity to each other.
Even the famed Table Mountain is easily accessible - only a short taxi ride or a walk will bring you to the cable station taking visitors to the mountain top. Unquestionably one of the world's most famous landmarks, Table Mountain is visible at times as far as 200 kilometres out to sea. Over the centuries, the mountain made anchorage of Table Bay easy to find and, like a gigantic inn sign, attracted seafarers to 'the Tavern of the Seas' with the offer of shelter, pure drinking water and produce from the gardens, farms and pastures nestling at its feet.
Take a cable car trip to the famous table top (1 086 metres high - over 3 000feet) and see incredible views of the city, mountain and the coast from Clifton all the way to Kommetjie. About 2-3 hours.
If you arrive at the top by 10am or midday you can join the free guided walk. Admittance is weather & especially wind dependent.
Hike up Table Mountain! A relaxed 4 - 5 hrs covers the total trip of which 2 - 3 hrs is spent walking up an unrelenting, but not difficult rocky 'stair case' called Platteklip gorge. There is also an adventure route up Indian Venster for those who are accustomed to scrambling. See the mountain fynbos vegetation and 'dassies' (rock hyrax) on top, as well as incredible views. Catch the cable car down. Hiking guides can be arranged for guests of all abilities.
The V&A Waterfront: The revitalization of the old Victoria Basin and Alfred Dock has transformed a run-down and largely disused area of Cape Town's waterfront into a thriving hub of shops, hotels, restaurants, cinemas, theatres, markets and marinas. From here you can arrange boat trips and visits to Robben Island – on the hour. Advance booking is necessary & it is also weather dependant.
A charming friend and neighbour of mine, artist Lionel Davis who spent 1967 – 1971 there as a political prisoner can guide you around the jail which is more pleasant than the slightly over-crowded tour that is standard. Lionel was prisoner #366-64 – in the same block as that most well-known Robben Island prisoner - #466-64 - Nelson Mandela! Ask us about the cost of a personal Robben Island prison tour.
Visit the Bo-Kaap – the vibrant Moslem area on the slopes of signal hill and Lion's Head. The inhabitants of Bo-Kaap are proud of their rich cultural heritage. They were mostly descendants of slaves who were imported by the Dutch back in the 1700's. Mosques, delicious Cape Malay spicy food at the Noon Day Gun restaurant and perhaps a walking or cooking tour with a local tour guide and ex-Apartheid activist?
The District Six Museum is excellent – a living museum for the people of district Six and artwork/meeting place/coffee shop in one ... a healing centre for the people of this section of Cape Town City who were displaced by Apartheid.
Built in 1666, The Castle down the road is also well worth a visit – get there at 11am for a simple 'changing of the guards' and the tours are great fun. See the balcony where Mandela first addressed the people after his release from prison (above the large parking lot across the road from the castle).
The Iziko Museum ( say "hi" to Ida in the Museum shop) and the bushman art gallery across the road as well as the National Art Gallery & Jewish Museum are nearby too.
From the Iziko museum, you can take a walk through the 'Company Gardens' started by the Dutch East India Company when the Cape was a 'business venture' (one-stop refuel shop in the 1600s) and past the Houses of Parliament to the Slave House museum. St Georges Cathedral is opposite the Slave House – this is where Bishop Desmond Tutu preached. Further up towards the mountain you can stop for ‘high tea’ at The Mount Nelson Hotel. Since 1899, the gracious Mount Nelson Hotel has always been at the forefront of Cape Town hospitality and is still the most famous of South Africa's hotels. The hotel has also received a Winner's Dinners Award for Best Tea in the World in 2001 from Michael Winner.
Walking tours of the city with an expert historian who has written the guide book of the City, are fascinating. Or a ride in the 'Topless' double decker Cape Town Tourism bus – with stops at various interesting spots around the city.
Pan African Market & Green Market Square are excellent for African curios at reasonable prices (off Long Street and Short Market streets).
Africa Nova in town (near Green Market Square) Or Kirikana in Hout Bay, and Kalk Bay Modern and others in Kalk Bay offer better quality South African and southern African arts & crafts.
GREATER CAPE TOWN
Come on a half day visit to MASIPHUMELELE TOWNSHIP NEAR NOORDHOEK, which is one of the smallest townships and welcomes people who would like to share how 'the other half' of South Africa lives.
A township tour with a difference! Do a 2 – 3 hour walk/cycle around this lively and friendly township accompanied by a local resident and a registered tour guide.
The advantage of walking is that you can interact with the locals easily and naturally. You will get to personally meet and walk (or cycle on recycled bikes!) around with friends of mine who live there. You will be taught the Xhosa greetings as it is customary to greet everyone you pass!
This is an interesting and rewarding experience – meeting locals who are proud of their homes, even if they are shacks and are pleased when visitors take an interest. Visit a community-owned project, which also supports several families, feeds several kids at a day care, and supports local cultural practices. The AWOL/BEN cycle tour of Masiphumelele, started by my friend & colleague, Sally Petersen, won the Responsible Tourism Award 2006 at the World Trade Fair in London and is about to receive Fair Trade accreditation.
We see the community's amenities and 'spaza' shops, hair salons, shebeens (bar), etc – visit a creche (Day care centre), Sangomas ( traditional healers who drum and dance to 'make the ancestors happy' for a consultation fee), and then have tea with one of the women shack-dwellers.
If we have time we can visit a recycling centre and meet a business woman who recycles colourful bottle caps and broken boogey boards, etc., collected on the beach, into delightful candlesticks and ornaments.
Cost is approx R500 each including transport (minimum 4 people). This supports your guides, the Day Care centre kids, Sangomas and the lady who serves tea at her house. Cycle tour – add R85 for bike hire. This is a very popular & meaningful visit.
WILDLIFE/NATURE ORIENTATED TRIPS
Spend a morning/afternoon wandering among the magnificent plants at Kirstenbosch Gardens on the eastern slopes of Table Mountain. At present about 9 000 of the 21 000 southern African flowering plants are cultivated in the garden, which covers 560 hectares. You can also hike up Table Mountain from here, using Skeleton Gorge, Nursery Ravine or the contour path (3 Hrs). On Sunday evenings, in summer, there are superb outdoor picnic-style music concerts in the gardens.
Visit Groot Constantia Museum and Wine Estate to see the grand Cape Dutch home and wine estate of Simon van der Stel, governor during the Dutch colonial period. Have lunch and spend the the afternoon tasting some of the wines of Constantia.
Baboon tours are fascinating experiences. There are some 10 troops of baboons living in the Cape Peninsula. The project hires monitors who go out everyday and walk with the baboons, steering them away from houses and bakeries! Tourists can join the walk and get very close to the troops, learn the intricacies of baboon life from the monitors and baboons themselves. Safety is not a problem when animals are approached in the right way, and one young girl even had a baboon sit quietly and hold her hand!
You can also do a full day Cape Peninsula tour of the whole peninsula including the National Park at Cape Point with its Eland and Bontebok (antelope), zebra and ostriches. You will visit the penguin colony at Boulders beach and have the option of a boat trip to view rocky Seal Island with its thousands of Cape fur seals (sea lions).
For an extra day trip that would compliment, but not actually overlap with the Cape peninsula bus or private guided tour, you could travel to Simon's Town. The trip gives you a view of the eastern side of table mountain and the rest of the range as well as the Constantia winelands, and takes in the sleepy village of Muizenberg with its lovely long beach.
The road then follows the coast past several quaint seaside villages. Kalk Bay with its harbour and local fisher folk and many art galleries and quirky shops. Have lunch at Kalk Bay’s The Harbour House (very nice, upstairs) or Kalkies (cheap but good fish & chips) at the harbour and watch the resident seal that eats the off-cuts from the fish market. The Olympia Cafe (on the right as you walk towards the harbour) is a popular venue, opposite ‘Cape to Cuba’ (good for a drink – mojito or beer – but don't try the food!).
Simon's Town, with its elegant Victorian buildings, yacht and Naval harbour, and Jubilee Square with its statute of the legendary dog ‘Able Seaman Just Nuisance’, is definitely worth a visit.
Visit one or more of Cape Town's beautiful beaches, and walk or horse ride along the wild coastline.
My favourite beach at sunset is Llandudno beach (organise a taxi to take and fetch you). There are no restaurants or shops there, so take your own picnic. Clifton Fourth Beach is also great. Sundowner drinks at the Twelve Apostles hotel near Camps Bay is the best spot for a sophisticated sunset! They also have great gazebos for a post-travel massage at their Spa – but book early – it's very popular!!!
Join a fisher family on their boat or at their restaurant for lunch in Ocean View, Kommetjie.
Scuba diving including cage diving to view the 'great whites'. Divers must have scuba diving certification.
If you are into rock climbing, there are some classic multi-pitched trad climbs on Table Mountain as well as excellent sport routes in the Cape town vicinity. Climbers must have prior experience.
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ITINERARY SUGGESTIONS:
ART SAFARIS
• Cape
to Karoo Art Safari
• Mpumalanga
Art Trail
PHOTOGRAPHIC WILDLIFE SAFARIS WITH SOME SPORTY OPTIONS
• Cape
Peninsula Tour
• Western
Cape Tour
• Wine and Whale Tour
• Cape
to Kalahari Safari
• Kruger
to KwaZulu-Natal
• South
African Safari
• Activities
in the Cape Town Area
• Activities
in the Gauteng Area
Click here to email Vanessa to learn more about the following:
HARD CORE HIKING TRIPS
• Cederberg
Mountains
• Drakensberg
Mountains
• The
Whale Trail
• The
Otter Trail
MOUNTAIN BIKING TRIPS BY REQUEST