Cape Town the Place To Be

Cape Town the oldest city in South Africa started from humble beginnings way back in 1652 when the Dutch arrived to start a refreshment station to supply the ships of the Dutch East India that were sailing around the Cape to the Indonesian spice islands.


When other nations following the same sea route to India found out about the presence of the Dutch at the Cape they began calling in Table Bay to get fresh food and water.


In those days a sea trip from Europe to Cape Town in a small sailing ship took up to four months and without somewhere to obtain fresh food and water you can imagine the conditions that the sailors on board the ships faced.

With the refreshment station struggling to keep up with demands for food the Dutch East India company soon ran into trouble as they could not fulfil the demand growing the food themselves.

The local Khoisan people, the Hottentots and Strandlopers who lived in the Cape area when the Dutch arrived would not work for the Dutch so they had no alternative than to import people to work in their gardens.


The 140 people who arrived with Jan van Riebeeck were soon supplemented with slaves who were captured from passing slave ships by the Dutch and then put to work in the gardens to grow food. More and more slaves arrived from Indonesia and Africa bringing their cultures with them.


Eventually the Dutch East India Company was forced to give some of their workers free farms and in return they received a portion of their crops in lieu of payment.

With the Dutch spreading out over the Cape and establishing the farming towns of Paarl, Stellenbosch and Franschhoek the local Khoisans were forced further and further east until they crossed the Hottentots Holland mountains into the interior of the Western Cape.

Life continued peacefully at the Cape until 1795 when the British arrived for the first time and attacked and defeated the Dutch at the battle of Muizenberg and took over the running of the Cape.


In 1802 they were forced to return the Cape to the Dutch but in 1806 again returned to Cape Town when the Dutch and the French had a disagreement and the Cape was in danger of falling into French hands.

From 1806 onwards the Cape was ruled by the British.

As you can see there were many cultures involved in forming the cosmopolitan place we Capetonians call home.


Today Cape Town is a bustling metropolis with a rainbow nation living peacefully within its boundaries.


Table Mountain with its sand stone crags and two sister peaks, Devils Peak and Lion's Head stands 1086 metres tall and looks down onto the city like a mother with her arms outstretched holding her children crowded into her lap.

540 million years ago Table Mountain was 15 kilometres under the sea but due to the pressure from volcanic activity was pushed upwards by lava rushing to the surface. Although there is very little volcanic activity in Cape Town the mountain is still held up by volcanic pressure.


Today, no matter from which direction you arrive, be it by car ship or plane, the first thing you notice is the mountain. It is such an important asset to the Cape . Not only can it be seen from afar but it is also the home of 1470 different species of plant, more than you will find in the whole of the UK .

The mountain finds itself at the centre of the Cape Floral Kingdom which is the smallest floral kingdom in the world but has the highest number of species numbering around 8600 of which 75% are indigenous to South Africa.

Many of the plants found on the mountain have been planted in the Kirstenbosch Gardens for protection and posterity. Thousands of visitors visit the gardens annually to see the wild flower displays.

Yes we have the mountains and the seas around our coastlines but what can people do when they visit us here.


Let me list the things to do.




Beaches:


Muizenberg Beach







We have some of the most beautiful beaches that compare with anything the world out there has to offer. Most of them are pristine and offer safe swimming, tanning and enjoyment.










Oceans: Two of them : The Atlantic and the Indian Oceans
The seas around our coastline provide ample opportunities for fishing, including big game fishing, diving, surfing and the latest craze, shark cage diving. A number of wrecks along the Peninsula coastline provide opportunities for wreck diving as well.


Wildlife:


Eland the largest antelope in the world






Table mountain forms part of the Table Mountain National park and on it you can find many different species of wildlife ranging from birds to lizards, to antelope and small cats such as lynx.









The Big 5 animals are just an hour a two away and can easily be visited in a day.


The seas abound with wildlife, such as the whales visiting us from May to November, large pods of dolphins, great white sharks, Cape fur seals and sea birds. The African penguin, Cape oyster catchers and Cormorants to name but a few can all be seen on day tours in and around the Cape Peninsula.


Extreme Sports:
Other than the normal sports such as tennis, cricket, rugby and soccer we have the extreme sports such as skydiving, shark cage diving, bungee jumping, mountain climbing and even long distance swimming, all of which can be done within an hour or two of Cape Town.


Dining:
We have hundreds of excellent restaurants scattered around the Cape Peninsula where one can enjoy anything from sushi to Cape malay curries to game and much much more. Five of South Africa's top 100 restaurants can be found in the Franschhoek area and can be enjoyed on tours of the Cape winelands.


Our fine wine farms also provide us with excellent wine tasting facilities, opportunities to buy wines direct from the cellars and in some cases excellent restaurants as well where the farms best wines are on the wine list.


Entertainment.
For people who like a bit more culture Cape Town has a number of excellent theatres and even an opera house. For shopaholics you have come to the right place. Century City the largest shopping complex in Africa boasts 400 shops under one roof where one can shop till you drop. It's not the only shopping complex in Cape Town.








Cape Fur Seal at Hout Bay Harbour










As one of our minstrels says when he welcomes people to Hout Bay harbour " Cape Town is the place to be"

As far as I'm concerned " Cape Town is the place to visit"
It is a cheap destination for people with Sterling Dollars and Euros in their pockets. A dollar goes a long way here, buys you a room in a five star hotel, something that you might not be able to afford at home.


Cape Town is building for the Fifa World Cup in 2010 and after that prices will sky rocket as the world will have found a brand new place to have their summer holidays.

Why not beat the rush and visit us now.


For more information and articles about our great city and its surrounds visit

Cape Town tour information


You will even find a number of tours there that will take your breath away.


We Capetonians look forward to your visit and to showing you around. See you in Cape Town soon.