What is the southernmost point of South Africa? Well, it's not the Cape of Good Hope or Cape Town, as you may think. It is actually a point a few hundred kilometers east of the Cape of Good Hope. The photo to the left shows Cape Town in the background (with Table Mountain towering over it), as seen from Robben Island.
Anyway, we spent a few days in Cape Town (or Kap Stadt, as it is called in Afrikaans), just north of Cape Point. It was a fantastic few days, spent in and around a historical city which has spectacular beaches, friendly people, all kinds of nightlife and a laid-back feeling.
We stayed in the SeaPoint area. It was nice to go running along the coast and see so many other people outdoors running, surfing, biking etc. Cape Towners are definitely into keeping fit! Cape Town also is a city full of history, with areas such as District 6 which used to be a vibrant community until it was relocated completely once apartheid came into law. District 6 had a mix of non-whites - they used to have a carnival every February which stopped happening after the forced relocation.
We spent some time within Cape Town itself. The city is built along the coastline and around Table Mountain. There are many good areas of town for food & nightlife, including the waterfront (very touristy), Kloof street and Long street. One of our nights there, we went to Mama Africa - there was a great band playing. We also went to a jazz bar on Long Street which was somewhat subdued (not surprising, since we went there on a Tuesday night!).
We visited the Iziko museum which has a fantastic collection of 
tribal rock paintings and a great history of the multiple tribes of southern Africa and their evolution, including the impact of Shaka, who led the Zulus to domination over a large swathe of southern Africa and relocated or destroyed many of the other tribes of the region. Sadly, the museum also documents the dying out of many of the tribes (including their languages and culture) through contact with Dutch and British colonists.
Here's a snippet of a video that was playing at the museum showing some folk dancing with people in a trance:
Our drivers gave us some fantastic background on the history of the area, including:
- how apartheid tore the heart out of the city (District 6, Bo-Kaap (Cape Malay Muslim area);
- how the coastline is becoming extremely expensive as expats buy up all the houses along the cliffs and beaches of Cape Town;
- how the annual carnival used to wind its way down from District 6 and bring the city to life;
- how the mix of Dutch influence and British influence on top of many thousands of years of tribal culture has led Cape Town to what it is today;
- how the Huguenots escaped from France and came to settle in South Africa, many of them in this region being given wine estates to build and run;
- how the whites-only University of Cape Town became de-segregated;
- and much much more....
On our first morning in Cape Town, we drove down to Cape Point. Along the way, we stopped at Boulders Beach near Simon's Town to see the penguins. Crowds of people were there which made the viewing somewhat difficult. But the penguins stole the show - they're so funny waddling around so seriously!
We clambered up the hill at Cape Point. The place has spectacular views of the Indian Ocean and the Atlantic Ocean. Apparently, the two oceans meet here or, at the very least, 200 kilometers to the east. As you can see from the signs in the photograph to the left, Antartica is a meagre 6000 kilometers away, Paris is 9000 kms away and New York is 12500 kms away.
The water on one side of the cape is a bit warmer and attracts more great white sharks. In fact, while we were in Cape Town, a 72 year old woman got attacked and eaten by a great white shark. She had been on her 7am daily swim and had disappeared. All they found was her swimming cap. Needless to say, we did not venture onto any beach in Cape Town! On the way back from Cape Point, we saw some sperm whales right off of the coast - this was quite fortunate since mid-November is past the whale watching season.
Next day, we ventured out to Table Mountain. Table Mountain is the defining geographical feature of Cape Town - smack dab in the middle and 1000 metres high, it towers over the city and provides a great vantage point to view the whole city and coastline. People were absailing off the top. We also saw a Rock Dassie on the top - this is a rodent-like animal whose closest relative is the elephant! It has a collapsible skeleton which allows it to squeeze through narrow holes.
An hour or so away from Cape Town is South Africa's main wine-producing region. The villages of Franshoek and Stellenbosch produce several varieties of grapes and wines, including Syrah, Pinot Noir, Chardonnay etc. In addition, unique to this area is the Pinotage blend which combines Pinot Noir and Cinsault - Pinotage is to South Africa what Zinfandel is to California - its own unique variety of wine. We may sound very California-centric, but Franzschoek definitely felt like Napa and Sonoma with its sleepy roads, valleys, manicured gardens, wine-tasting areas and weather. The big difference is that Napa does not have vineyards with cheetah enclosures! The Spier winery had excellent chardonnay and cheetahs... warning: do not mix the drinking of wine with the petting of cheetahs! We also went to Mont Rochelle winery and got an impromptu lesson in the history and future of South African wine. It was hard not being able to buy a lot of wine--we'd have to throw out some of the contents of the backpack to make room! We ended the afternoon with lunch at iCi at Le Quartier Francais, which is considered one of the top restaurants in the country.
After spending 3 days in Cape Town, we were ready to head back to Pretoria and then onto India!
-Dev
Dev, you definitely had one of the post card visits to the Cape. I am pleased you had such a good visit and I hope the rest of the trip to SA was enjoyable as well. Bon Voyage!
GMD
Posted by: Greg Durst | Friday, December 10, 2004 at 12:17 AM