South Africa: Cape Town

[bjorn]

No other city seems to capture Africa's wild, natural, beauty like Cape Town does. Table Mountain dominates the scene, rising from the ocean and towering over the cityscape. Indigenous flowers and trees bloom in the Kirtenbosch Botanic Gardens. Rolling green hills surround the City Bowl, and you can smell the brine of the ocean in the air. From most points in the city, you can see a slice of the natural landscape, be it mountains or sea.

The magnificence of the surrounding environment, and the cultural and artistic heritage of the Capetonians make Cape Town distinctively African, but the city also has an almost European atmosphere. Historic buildings, excellent restaurants and a lively nightlife contribute to the cosmopolitan feel. Cape Town is many travelers' favorite African destination.

When to go:
Cape Town is a year-round destination, though the best time to visit is either Fall or Spring. Fall weather is pleasant and the wine regions are particularly pretty then. Spring is the best time for wild flowers. Summer can be hot in Cape Town, though other part of the country are even hotter. Winter is mild almost everywhere in South Africa.

What to Do:
History/Ruins:
The Castle of Good Hope was built between 1666 and 1679 and is one of the oldest European structures in southern Africa.

Museums:
Cape Town's museums tend to be historic and centered on the cultural experiences of local people. The Bo-Kaap Museum, District Six Museum, Jewish Museum, and Holocaust Museum reflect Cape Town's varied heritages. Other museums include the Maritime Museum, South African Airforce Museum, and the Rugby Museum.

Shopping:
Cape Town's Waterfront is the country's most popular shopping venue. Packed with restaurants, bars, music venues, shops and a new aquarium, it is more of a social center than a shopping area. For crafts, second-hand books, antiques and food there are plenty of stores in the city center and the suburban shopping areas.

Beach:
Bloubergstrand (Blue Mountain Beach) is situated across Table Bay from Cape Town. Big Bay is a popular location for surfing, windsurfing and swimming. The beach has lifeguards. Little Bay is more suitable for sunbathers and families.

Food/Culinary Info:
South African cuisine is heavily influenced by the British. Steak or boerwors sausage and chips are the norm. Braaiing (barbecuing) is a national institution.

Natural Wonders:
When it's clear, the views from the top of Table Mountain are amazing. You can take the cable car to the summit, or hike up from a trail near the base of the mountain. There are also some excellent walks on the flat top of the mountain, especially in spring when the plants are flowering. Rock Dassies, rodent-like creatures related to the elephant, are the mountain's unique inhabitants.

Rhodes Memorial lies on the side of Table Mountain, and is a great place to view wild animals such as zebras and wildebeests.

Cultural Comments:
Township tours give you a chance to visit the African areas of Langa, Khayelitsha, and Guguletu, primarily for a chance to see the present-day effects of apartheid and deteriorating inner city situation. This is one "attraction" to see on a tour- both for your personal safety, and for the informative commentary most guides provide.

Festivals/Events:
Every Sunday in the summer, free jazz and world music concerts liven up the lush, fragrant setting of Kirstenbosch Botanical Garden.

Nightlife/Bars:
Cape Town has a lot of neat places to dine, listen to music, or just hang out. Unfortunately, clubs still tend to be either for whites or black and there isn't much intermingling. Most hostels can direct you to popular places to go, and often organize group outings to black inner city clubs. Local jazz is particularly popular. Pick up a copy of the Jazz Route Guide from a tourist information kiosk for more information.

Cafe Quotient:
Cape Town has a thriving cafe scene. Many cafes also have excellent bakeries attached.

Gay & Lesbian:
South Africa, particularly Cape Town, is one of the more gay friendly places in Africa. Three gay men who fear death sentences in their homophobic homelands were granted political asylum by President Mbeki. Cape Town has plenty of clubs, cafes, discos and pubs catering to gay folks. If you happen to see an event sponsored by Mother City Queer Projects, go. They have the most amazing theme parties. If you've got a radio, turn the dial to 89.5 FM for "In the Pink," a gay radio station that broadcasts every Thursday from 8.30pm on Bush Radio.

Cost:
The South African rand is the unit of currency. Traveling on the cheap, you could scrape by on US$25 a day in South Africa. If you wanted a bit more luxury, US$50-$60 a day could get you a private room at a hostel or inn, restaurant meals and bus or rail transportation.

Getting Around:
Cape Town's city center is compact enough to get around on foot. For further a field you'll need public transport, which is better than most places in Southern Africa. Around the central suburbs there's a reasonable bus network and a regular train service cuts through the southern suburbs to Muizenberg and from there down the False Bay seaboard to Simon's Town. Transport along the Atlantic coast is poor, with the exception of the inner-city suburbs as far as Sea Point, which are served by frequent buses, and Hout Bay, which is directly linked to the city centre by bus. Cape Town taxis range from metered, minibus or Rikkis (small, open-sided, three-wheel vehicles).

Safety:
Cape Town has a reputation for being the most open-minded and relaxed city in South Africa and perhaps the safest city in Africa for visitors, but you should still be very careful of your own personal safety. Taking public transport after dark isn't recommended. Make every effort to take metered taxis at night, and if you're forced to use public transport take sensible precautions, such as traveling in a group (especially women) and avoiding third-class carriages on trains.

Language:
English speaking visitors should have no problem communicating as English, as well as Afrikaans, seSotho, isiXhosa and isiZulu are the most commonly spoken languages in South Africa. Other official languages are isiNdebele, saLebowa, siSwati, Xitsonga, Setswana and Tshivenda.

Party/Social Scene:
For the best indigenous jazz sounds, sign up for a tour of the Cape Flats clubs, where Cape jazz legends such as Abdullah Ibrahim (aka Dollar Brand) perform.

Other Info:
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