Cape Town 9, 10, 11 September 2012

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Cape Town 9, 10, 11 September 2012

We had 3 more nights in Cape Town, staying at the Adderly Hotel on Adderly Street which was not far from the Waterfront. The rooms were extremely well appointed, with beautiful fittings, large comfortable bed, large bathroom and kitchen facilities.







9 September – took the hop-on-hop-off bus option to see the general sites of the City, including around their beautiful beaches. That night we went to the Alfred & Victoria Waterfront (known as the A&V Waterfront) for dinner, and caught up with our tour group again. It was good to catch up again as we were all not as tired as our last night on tour, so we reminisced over another beautiful meal. The Victoria & Alfred Waterfront, built on top of part of the docks of the Port of Cape Town, is the city's most visited tourist attraction. It is also one of the city's most popular shopping venues, with several hundred shops and the Two Oceans Aquarium. Part of the charm of the V&A, as it is locally known, is that the Port continues to operate and visitors can watch ships enter and leave. The V&A also hosts the Nelson Mandela Gateway, through which ferries depart for Robben Island.

On the Hop-on-Hop-off Bus trip, we also saw why Cape Town is noted for its architectural heritage, with the highest density of Cape Dutch style buildings in the world. Cape Dutch style, which combines the architectural traditions of the Netherlands, Germany, France and Indonesia, is most visible in Constantia, the old government buildings in the Central Business District, and along Long Street where there are many restaurants, including Mama Africa restaurant.







A bit more about Cape Town. It is the second-most populous city in South Africa, and the provincial capital and city of the Western Cape. As the seat of the National Parliament, it is also the legislative capital of the country. It forms part of the City of Cape Town metropolitan municipality. The city is famous for its harbour as well as its natural setting in the Cape floral kingdom, including such well-known landmarks as Table Mountain and Cape Point, both of which we visited.







Located on the shore of Table Bay, Cape Town was originally developed by the Dutch East India Company as a victualling (supply) station for Dutch ships sailing to Eastern Africa, India, and the Far East. Jan van Riebeeck’s arrival on 6 April 1652 established the first permanent European settlement in South Africa. Cape Town quickly outgrew its original purpose as the first European outpost at the Castle of Good Hope, becoming the economic and cultural hub of the Cape Colony.







Today it is one of the most multicultural cities in the world, reflecting its role as a major destination for immigrants and expatriates to South Africa. As of 2007 the city had an estimated population of 3.5 million.







The discovery of diamonds in Griqualand West in 1867, and the Witwatersrand Gold Rush in 1886, prompted a flood of immigrants to South Africa. Conflicts between the Boer republics in the interior and the British colonial government resulted in the Second Boer War of 1899–1902, which Britain won. In 1910, Britain established the Union of South Africa, which unified the Cape Colony with the two defeated Boer Republics and the British colony of Natal. Cape Town became the legislative capital of the Union, and later of the Republic of South Africa.







Cape Town was home to many leaders of the anti-apartheid movement. On Robben Island, a former penitentiary island 10-kilometres from the city, many famous political prisoners were held for years. In one of the most famous moments marking the end of apartheid, Nelson Mandela made his first public speech in decades on 11 February 1990 from the balcony of Cape Town City Hall hours after being released. His speech heralded the beginning of a new era for the country, and the first democratic elections were held four years later, on 27 April 1994.





Located in a CI Biodiversity hotspot as well as the unique Cape Floristic Region, the city of Cape Town has one of the highest levels of biodiversity of any equivalent area in the world.







After one of our breakfasts in Cape Town, we visited Green Market Square, which was just around the corner from our hotel. It was originally a Farmers' Market dating back to 1710, Green Market is today one of the city's best flea markets. There's a range of local arts, craft and curios on offer and the vendors expect to bargain for their wares. We bought as few African memorabilia there.





An often quoted fact is that there are more indigenous plant species just on Table Mountain than there are in the whole of the British Isles. As I mentioned before, the wild flowers were out when we were there so that was pretty special and beautiful.







We were pleased we had a good look around Cape Town and its surrounds. We were now ready to hit the garden Route.

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