Cape Town

Apologies for long blog but such a lot to cover.

Situated on the Atlantic shore of the Cape Peninsula and nestling at the foot of Table Mountain, Cape Town remains the 'Mother City' for South Africans.

The Portuguese rounded the Cape of Good Hope in 1488. Within five years their ships began to anchor in Table Bay to collect fresh water on their way to the Far East. A Dutch ship 'The Haarlem' foundered in the Bay in 1647 and the shipwrecked sailors began to grow vegetables and barter with the local Hottentots people for meat. They took back such glowing reports that the Dutch East India Company set up a permanent station in 1652. By 1795, the British had realised the strategic importance of the Cape and finally took control in 1814. The Afrikaners became increasingly dissatisfied with the British and by the time diamonds and gold were discovered around Kimberley in the 1870's a bitter feud had led to the Boer War.

The 20th century has witnessed many turbulent times in Cape Town. The stigma of Apartheid was finally laid to rest and Nelson Mandela became the country's first black president after spending 27 years in prison, much of that time on Robben Island.

Afrikaans is the most widely spoken language in Cape Town followed by Xhosa and English.

The National Park has 2,200 different kinds of plants which is more than found in New Zealand and the UK

An early start today as we have a long tour of the Cape. This was our itinerary:

Chapman's Peak.  A mountain on the western side of the Cape Peninsula opposite Hout Bay. The western flank of the mountain falls sharply for hundreds of metres into the Atlantic Ocean. The drive is on a spectacular road, known as Chapman's Peak Drive, which hugs the near-vertical face of the mountain from Hout Bay to Noordhoek. It was hacked out of the face of the mountain between 1915 and 1922, and at that time was regarded as a major feat of engineering. Chapman's Peak Drive was closed in the 1990s, after a rockfall caused a death and subsequent lawsuit. It subsequently reopened after being re-engineered to protect motorists from falling rocks. The road was again closed for a number of months in 2008 "as a result of risk areas identified on the mountain above the road", but has since been reopened indefinitely.

The Cape of Good Hope is a rocky headland on the Atlantic coast of the Cape Peninsula. It was thought that the Cape of Good Hope is the southern tip of Africa, based on the belief that the Cape was the dividing point between that the Atlantic and Indian Oceans. In fact, the southernmost point of Africa is the Cape of Agaulhas about 90 miles away. The currents of the two oceans meet at the point where the warm-water meets the cold water and turns back on itself at a point about 0.75 miles east of the Cape of Good Hope. The Cape of Good Hope Nature Reserve has a wealth of indigenous flora and fauna.

Cape Point is a promontory at the southeast corner of the Cape Peninsula which is a mountainous and scenic landform that runs north-south for about thirty kilometres. A funicular railway takeos you up to the peak for spectacular views.

We had lunch here at the Two Oceans Restaurant.

Boulders Beach is a sheltered beach made up of inlets between granite boulders, some over 540 million years old, from which the name originated. It is located near Simon's Town and has a colony of African penguins which settled there in 1982. From just two breeding pairs the penguin colony has grown to about 3,000 birds in recent years.

Groot Constantia is the oldest wine estate in South Africa and provincial heritage site in the suburb of Constantia. In 1969 the manor house became part of the South African Cultural History Museum, and in 1993 the estate passed into the ownership of the Groot Constantia Trust. We had a wine tasting here. Two whites and three reds. Our verdict (we were in agreement here)

Sauvignon Blanc/Semillon - nope!
Sauvignon Blanc - an easy drinking white
Pinotage - extremely tasty
Shiraz  - not keen
Gouverneurs Reserve - very palatable and the most expensive

We were going to purchase a few bottles but not sure if we would get them home safely!

Table Mountain
The main feature of Table Mountain is the level plateau approximately 2 miles from side to side, edged by impressive cliffs. The plateau, flanked by Devil's Peak to the east and by Lion's Head to the west, forms a dramatic backdrop to Cape Town.
It is 1,086 metres above sea level, and about 19 metres higher than the cable station at the western end of the plateau.
The flat top of the mountain is often covered by orographic clouds, formed when a south-easterly wind is directed up the mountain's slopes into colder air, where the moisture condenses to form the so-called "table cloth" of cloud. Legend attributes this phenomenon to a smoking contest between the Devil and a local pirate called Van Hunks.
We were very lucky to have such a clear day.

The Table Mountain Cableway takes passengers from the lower cable station on Tafelberg Road, about 302 m above sea level, to the plateau at the top of the mountain, at 1067 m.
Construction of the cableway was first started in 1926, and the cableway was officially opened in 1929. In 1997, the cableway was extensively upgraded, and new cars were introduced carrying 65 instead of 25 passengers. The new cars give a faster journey to the summit, and rotate through 360 degrees during the ascent or descent, giving a panoramic view over the city.

We had a fantastic day with so much to see and such beautiful weather. There were magnificent views of everything but my photography in bright sunshine leaves a lot to be desired! It was just a shame that we couldn't have spent more time at each place to really appreciate and capture the scenery.

We arrived back just after 6.30pm and the coach to take us for dinner was leaving at 7.15pm so it was all a bit of a rush to get ready.

Our World voyage gala dinner was held in the evening at The Market Hall, Grand West, a huge casino and entertainment complex. A local choir entertained us before dinner and we had a band to dance to afterwards. We were sitting with friends so had good company and a very enjoyable evening.