Cape Town, Cape of Good Hope, Cape Peninsula, Garden Route, Western Cape, South Africa
Cape town and its people played host to the first Cape to Rio yacht race in 1971.
It was an historic gathering.
Cape Town has a long tradition of hospitality.
This hospitality goes hand in hand with a strong and deep bond with the sea.
Its history includes seafaring men from the early explorers such as
Bartholomew Dias, Vasco da Gama and Jan van Riebeeck and the Dutch East
India Company.
Today a modern city stands where these early explorers once stood.
Table Mountain’s magnificence and beauty, Signal Hill and
Lions Head to the West, and Devils Peak to the East.
Table Mountain, one of the world’s great creations, can be seen
from a great distance by those approaching from the sea….
Those visiting or seeking shelter from a sometimes angry sea.
The Cape of Good Hope or Cape Storms depending on the mood
of the oceans. For this is where the cold Atlantic meets the Warm Indian Ocean.
Cape Town nestles between the bay and the group of imposing mountains and a
broad valley.
Table mountains rises 1000 metres to a flat and straight line plateau.
During the summer months and the prevailing south-easterly winds carries moisture
laiden air which condenses along the plateau to cover Table mountain with its
famous “table-cloth.”
The name Cape Town originated from the term ‘Cape of Good Hope’ when Bartholomew Diaz and other seafarers looked forward to the sight of Table Mountain, like an safe haven that promised hospitality and prosperity.
The presence of Table Mountain in all its splendour still invokes this kind of emotion.
Steeped in a rich history and is a cultural melting pot with its diverse and vibrant
character…
Derived from Khoisan, Indonesian, French, Dutch, British and German settlers.
The cosmopolitan nature of the city means that one never tires of the multitude
of experiences it has to offer.
From pristine coastlines and a magnificent countryside offering a unique
flora kingdom – to the many shopping malls, restaurants….
Cape Town appeals to the nature-lover and the nightcrawler!
Take a cable car up Table Mountain, or watch the unsurpassed beauty
of a sunset from Signal Hill.
Visit Canal Walk at Century City for a unique shopping experience, or be
captivated and enthralled at Ratanga Junction, the City’s larger-than-life theme park.
The Cape Peninsula – on the Southwestern tip of the African continent – is
unquestionably one of the most beautiful places in the world.
Like a crooked finger the Cape Of Good Hope is magnificent in it’s isolation
on the edge of the African continent.
It pierces an ocean that stretches 5000 kilometres southward.
The finger beckons you…drop anchor…come and visit the fairest cape
and welcomes you to South Africa.
A cape referred to by Sir Francis Drake as the fairest Cape in the whole
circumference of the earth.
You will find the world’s most spectacular floral kingdom spread across
the mountains and valleys in an endless pattern of breathtaking colours.
This is a tranquil corner of Africa.
The Cape Peninsula ….a land of plenty!
In summer when the southeasterly buffets the eastern side of Table Mountain
and the twelve apostles many coves and beaches on the western side are
wind-free and tranquil.
Conversely when the northwesterly gales hit the Cape in winter the waters
of False Bay on the protected eastern side are calm.
Attracting beach-lovers to it’s shoreline.
Table mountain is home to more than 2500 species of plants.
These plants create a colourful and beautiful garden on the doorstep
of Cape Town…the Mother City of South Africa.
Nowhere else in the world does an area of such amazing and spectacular beauty
and such rich biodiversity exist almost entirely within one metropolitan
area – cosmopolitan Cape Town.
The following article appeared in ParkNEWS dated November 2004.
“The Table Mountain National Park is South Africa’s newest World Heritage Site.
In June 2004 the Cape floristic Region (CFR) was declared to be of universal significance to all humanity, and was inscribed as a Natural World Heritage Site.”
The site is made up of eight separate areas that are considered to be representative
samples of the entire Region.
The CFR World Heritage consists of:
Table mountain National Park and Kirstenbosch
- Cedarberg Wilderness area
- Groot Winterhoek Wilderness area
- Boland Mountain Complex
- De hoop Nature Reserve
- Boosmansbos Wilderness Area
- Swartberg Complex
- Baviaanskloof Protected Area
- Robben Island…
- the greater St Lucia Wetland Park…
- Sterkfontein – cradle of humankind…
- Mapungubwe cultural landscape…
- uKhahlamba Drakensberg Park.
A highlight of any visit to the Cape must be without a doubt a drive
around the Peninsula.The drive must surely be one of the most breathtaking experiences in the world.
It is mostly a coastal drive – with the ocean at times far, far below.
Awesome!
The CFR is the smallest and richest of the six floral kingdoms that occur on earth.
It is also the only kingdom confined to one continent and is home to an amazing
8200 plant species – of which 80% are fynbos.
Many of the plants that occur here are endemic – that means they occur nowhere else
on earth.
