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Cape Towns most prominent landmark, Table Mountain is a flat topped mountain providing breathtaking views of Cape Town. The panorama stretches from Table Bay to False Bay and around the mountain to the Hout Bay Valley and Kommetjie. On a clear day one has a magnificent view across the Cape Flats to the Hottentots Holland Mountains.
The mountain is sculpted from sandstone and it rises 1086 metres above the bay. Its flat summit measures nearly 3km from end to end. The mountain is home to approximately 1470 species of plants. Many of these are endemic, i.e. appearing nowhere else on earth. Included is the rare Silver Tree and the wild orchid Disa Uniflora.
Visitors can either take the Cableway to the summit or climb one of the 350 recognised paths. The Cableway was opened in 1929 and today conveys some 600,000 visitors to the summit annually. It provides safe access and the trip takes about six minutes. For those feeling more energetic the 350 recognised paths provide routes of varying degrees of difficulty and it is advisable to the Mountain Club of South Africa (021 - 4653412) before embarking on a hike or climb.
Once at the top there is a restaurant and a souvenir shop, from which letters bearing the Table Mountain postmark can be sent. Short walks may be taken from the cable-station, and the flora that may be seen in the different seasons, makes it an essential trip for nature lovers.
Kloof Nek is linked to the 669 metre Lion's Head which in turn is connected by a lion's body to a rump known as Signal Hill. Along the road are superb views over the city and Atlantic Seaboard. The spiral pathway up Lion's Head passes through silver trees and spring flowers and provides a breathtaking panoramic view. Along the way visit the old Mosque. Signal Hill was once used as a semaphore post for communication with ships at sea, and it is from here that the noon gun is fired each day. |
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One of Cape Town's biggest tourist attractions, the Waterfront evokes images of the early activities of the harbour. Much of its charm lies in the fact that this busy commercial harbour is set in the midst of a huge entertainment venue with pubs, restaurants, specialty shops, craft markets, theatres and movies.
Situated between Robben Island and Table Mountain in the heart of Cape Town's working harbour, the Victoria & Alfred Waterfront has become South Africa's most visited destination. Set against a backdrop of magnificent sea and mountain views, exciting shopping and entertainment venues are intermingled with imaginative office locations, world-class hotels and luxury apartments in the residential marina. We invite you to discover the experience... live, work, shop and play at the V&A Waterfront.
Seal-watching is an amusing diversion. Visitors to the Two Oceans Aquarium will enjoy a fascinating underwater world. The Maritime Museum focuses on the history of shipping from prehistoric times to the present day. Boat trips around the harbour and along the coast are always popular. Helicopter flips provide a broader perspective. The Information Centre provides maps and information on special events planned for the day. |
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Robben Island, Cape Town: For nearly 400 years, Robben Island, 12 kilometres from Cape Town, was a place of banishment, exile, isolation and imprisonment. It was here at Robben Island that rulers sent those regarded as political troublemakers, social outcasts and the unwanted of society.
During the apartheid years Robben Island became internationally known for its institutional brutality. The duty of those who ran Robben Island and the Robben Island prison was to isolate opponents of apartheid and to crush their morale. Some freedom fighters spent more than a quarter of a century in prison on Robben Island for their beliefs. Those imprisoned on the Island succeeded on a psychological and political level in turning a prison 'hell-hole' into a symbol of freedom and personal liberation. Robben Island came to symbolise, not only for South Africa and the African continent, but also for the entire world, the triumph of the human spirit over enormous hardship and adversity.
People lived on Robben Island many thousands of years ago, when the sea channel between the Island and the Cape mainland was not covered with water. Since the Dutch settled at the Cape in the mid-1600s, Robben Island has been used primarily as a prison. Indigenous African leaders, Muslim leaders from the East Indies, Dutch and British settler soldiers and civilians, women, and anti-apartheid activists, including South Africa's first democratic President, Nelson Rohihlahla Mandela and the founding leader of the Pan Africanist Congress, Robert Mangaliso Sobukwe, were all imprisoned on Robben Island.
Today, however, Robben Island also tells us about victory over Apartheid and other human rights abuses: 'the indestructibility of the spirit of resistance against colonialism, injustice and oppression'. Overcoming opposition from the prison authorities, prisoners on Robben Island after the 1960s were able to organise sporting events, political debates and educational programmes, and to assert their right to be treated as human beings, with dignity and equality. They were able to help the country establish the foundations of our modern democracy. The image we have of Robben Island today is as a place of oppression, as well as a place of triumph.
Robben Island has not only been used as a prison. It was a training and defence station in World War II (1939-1945) and a hospital for leprosy patients, and the mentally and chronically ill (1846-1931). In the 1840s, Robben Island was chosen for a hospital because it was both secure (isolating dangerous cases) and healthy (providing a good environment for cure). During this time, political and common-law prisoners were still kept on Robben Island. As there was no cure and little effective treatment available for leprosy, mental illness and other chronic illnesses in the 1800s, Robben Island was a kind of prison for the hospital patients too.
Since 1997 Robben Island has been a museum. The museum on the Island is a dynamic institution, which acts as a focal point of South African heritage. The Robben Island Museum runs educational programmes for schools, youths and adults, facilitates tourism development, conducts ongoing research related to Robben Island and fulfils an archiving function. |
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| The southern tip of the African continent is the meeting place of two mighty and bountiful oceans, the Indian and the Atlantic. The Two Oceans Aquarium on the V&A Waterfront, Cape Town is ideally positioned to showcase the incredible diversity of marine life found in these two oceans. The Aquarium is one of the top tourist attractions in Cape Town and over 3000 living sea animals, including sharks, fishes, seals, turtles and penguins can be seen in this spectacular underwater nature reserve. Cape Town's Aquarium offers adventure diving with sharks, spectacular function and conference venues and activities for kids. The Aquarium is also involved in fascinating ocean projects, including shark conservation and sunfish research, and offers exciting environmental education programmes. |
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Kirstenbosch Botanical Gardens |
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| Kirstenbosch National Botanical Garden is world renowned for the beauty and diversity of the Cape flora it displays and for the magnificence of its setting against the eastern slopes of Table Mountain. |
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Bartholomeu Dias, the Portuguese seafarer, was the first to sail around the Cape. This was in 1488. On his return voyage, which must have been particularly stormy, Dias stopped at the south-western tip of Africa, and named it Cabo Tormentoso, or Cape of Storms. King John of Portugal later gave it the name Cabo da Boa Esperança, or Cape of Good Hope. |
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The Mother City has some of the most beautiful beaches in the world and something to offer everyone. It is no surprise that South Africa was one of the first countries outside of Europe to earn blue flag status for some of her beaches - there are three on offer in and around Cape Town. |
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For the international Tourist, shopping in Cape Town is relatively inexpensive due to the favourable exchange rate and comparatively low production costs. For the Tourist, jewellery is particularly inexpensive and as many of South Africa's most talented goldsmiths and jewellery designers live in Cape Town, shopping for their sought after creations will delight those looking for serious bling. |
Table Mountain National Park |
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At the south-western tip of Africa, the Table Mountain National Park encompasses the incredibly scenic Peninsula mountain chain stretching from Signal Hill in the north to Cape Point in the south, a distance of approximately 60 km. |
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Various cruises on boats of all shapes and sizes can be picked up from the V&A Waterfront. |
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The largest bird park in Africa and one of the few large bird parks in the World. Over 3 000 birds (and small animals) of 400 different species are uniquely presented in more than 100 spacious landscaped walk through aviaries, allowing you the most intimate closeness with nature. |
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Spend a restful day at Boulders Beach. The water is warm (Indian Ocean), white sandy beach and penguins as beach mates! |
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