From the top of Table Mountain, Cape Town sprawls all around, interrupted by mountains and halted by the sea. It’s an amazing place to sit and ponder this most wonderful of South African cities – from there you can truly understand the importance of the natural environment beside the social and economic developments of recent years. Accessible by Cable-car, or via variously taxing walking trails, Table Mountain casts an intimidating but benevolent shadow over the city.
Suspended from the bottom of Africa and dividing the Atlantic from the Indian Ocean, Cape Town has long been South Africa’s cosmopolitan capital of culture and adventure, standing out as having a truly global perspective.
In the vibrant city centre, with it’s parks, boutiques and commercial districts, gives way to the sprawl of suburbia further inland and, shifting further down the cape, a string of beautiful fishing harbours and villages; leading, ultimately, to the spectacular Cape Point. The Cape of Good Hope Nature Reserve is home to an astonishing menagerie of flora and fauna, with troops of baboons patrolling the cliffs, seals frolicking in the surf, and even penguins waddling about the beaches. A trip out to Seal Island will provide a close-up view of the seals, and the possibility of sighting a monstrous Great White shark in their favourite hunting area.
South Africa’s difficult history is well documented and remembered in many ways throughout Cape Town, including the preservation of the Robben Island penitentiary, where Nelson Mandela was held for 18 years. The cosmopolitan populous encourages a welcoming and particularly tourist-friendly atmosphere, and there are plenty of home-away-from-home comforts for the world-weary traveller. There is also a large amount of catering for the backpacking/adventure tourism group, with a dizzying list of water-sports, trekking, white-water rafting and safari-ing all available within the vicinity.
The blooming wine industry has also become a large tourist attraction locally, with guided tours of the vineyards in Stellenbosch and Franshhoek offering a chance to sip and taste the local produce in a truly astonishing landscape.
Accommodation in Cape Town ranges from inner-city hotels to high-class villas and private homes with stunning ocean views. The sheer range of activities, views and atmospheres conjured by Cape Town and the surrounding countryside is enough to warrant an extended trip. It is one of the most beautiful and optimistic cities in the world, and it fulfils a truly modern vision of the natural and the technological, the old and the new.
When travelling on a budget, take a look at HostelBookers.com for a substantial directory of hostels. If you’re going all out adventure, or even if you’re not, then it’s important to get travel insurance, for which Go Travel come as highly recommended.
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