Cape Town, South Africa
 Voted
Favourite Foreign City by the UK Telegraph in 2004, Cape Town is one of
the places you just have to visit before you die. It's an awesome city.
All the vibe you want - great parties, great shopping and loads of galleries
and other cultural attractions can't detract from the fact that what makes
Cape Town special is the fact that it is set in one of the most beautiful
places on earth. Even Sir Francis Drake, who'd pretty much seen it all,
called Cape Point the 'fairest cape in all the circumference of the world'.
It's a needle-sharp promontory, which - contrary to marketing hype - does
not divide the Indian Ocean from the Atlantic. But Capetonians claim it
does and you can often see a line of foam heading straight out from the
point - possibly all the way to Antarctica - which certainly divides the
False Bay Coastline on the east from the Atlantic
Seaboard on the west.
And the Peninsula Mountain
Chain forms a high-lying spine all the way from Cape Point to Table Mountain
above the city. Most of this high lying ground is part of the Table Mountain
National Park, which also includes Boulders Beach and its penguins, and
Kirstenbosch
Botanical Gardens that showcases South Africa's fabulous floral heritage
as well as hosting some great concerts among the flowers. Table Mountain
is the soul of Cape Town - its emotional heart and touchstone. Many Capetonians
escape to the slopes of the mountain on weekends and after work as a regular
- well, it's almost a pilgrimage. There are literally hundreds of walks
on the mountain. Cape Town is the epicentre of the Cape Floral Region,
which is a world heritage site. Another great thing about the Peninsula
and its mountains is that Cape Town has virtually two different climates
in one city. When the wind is blowing on one side, the beaches should be
warm and sheltered on the other - and even when it's raining on one side,
you may get bright sunshine on the other.
 It's
all a kind of yin yang thing - opposites balancing - the dark and light
side of the mountain and all that esoteric stuff. And speaking of which
- Cape Town is not just a beautiful city with fantastic beaches, a national
park, an awesome mountain and beautiful flowers. No - it's also a great
city. It's a place where residents and visitors alike work hard and play
even harder.
Cape Town accommodation is
plentiful and there’s something to suit every budget but it is highly advisable
to book ahead, especially over the Christmas season (December to mid-February)
and during the Argus Cycle Tour (usually mid-March). The greatest density
of Cape Town hotels, boutique hotels, Bed and Breakfasts, guest houses
and self catering apartments and holiday villas are situated in the City
Bowl area and immediate South Atlantic Seaboard belt, all within a 10 minute
drive from Cape Town City Centre and the V&A
Waterfront. Highly desirable suburbs like Tamboerskloof and Oranjezicht
spill down the slopes of Table Mountain towards Gardens, Cape Town
City Centre, De Waterkant and the exclusive Waterfront. From the Waterfront
the dazzling Atlantic coastline curves south, fringed by the seaside suburbs
of Green Point, Sea Point, Bantry Bay the ultra glamorous suburbs of Clifton
and Camps Bay.
 Unless
you tie on a blindfold and lock yourself in your hotel room, there is absolutely
no way you can get bored in Cape Town. There are so many things to do.
If you're into shopping, the V&A
Waterfront is just one of many shopoholic's dream venues but it
stands out as it has so much more - boat trips, the embarkation point for
the Robben Island ferry, the Two Oceans Aquarium, loads of interesting
historical buildings and some of the city's best hotels with possibly the
best views in the world. Cape town offers a whole range of exciting adventure
activities, great birding, awesome whale watching, historical buildings,
and dozens of museums outlining the city's fascinating history and its
many cultures.
An easy day trip from Cape
Town, the Winelands offer great scenery, white-washed gabled farmhouses
nestling in bright green vineyards, lovely little restaurants, great coffee
shops and - of course - wine tasting sales and cellar tours. When the sun
goes down you can choose between hundreds of great restaurants and a huge
range of funky pubs, vibey clubs and a wide selection of movies, theatre
and live music. Cape Town is also home to one of the most outrageous parties
in the world. The Mother City Queer Project is a themed costume party in
December that is fast becoming one of the most popular gatherings - certainly
in South Africa - and possibly the world. And shortly thereafter, the traditional
Kaapse Klopse minstrel dancers take over parts of the city streets in a
tradition that stretches back hundreds of years to the era when slavery
was legal in Cape Town. Don't forget to pack your dancing shoes.
Other areas close to Cape
Town you may like to explore include the dramatic West
Coast, which offers great birding along the shores of Langebaan
Lagoon, Namaqualand, which has even more spectacular spring flowers,
and the Overberg, famous for land-based whale watching. It also features
lovely flowers in spring. Cape Town is not the best game viewing destination
in South Africa, but there is some small game at Cape
Point and there are a few game farms a short distance from the
city, but they're not really up to the standard of the game reserves further
north and east.
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