Cape Town
Cape Town and the Cape Peninsula is a mountain plateau flanked by two oceans, graced with long, un-crowded beaches and a unique vegetation.
Through the centuries, Cape Town has been called many names – the Cape of Good Hope by those who survived the journey to enter into the calmer water of False Bay; the Tavern of the Seas, when fresh produce was shipped in here to enable fleets to continue on their arduous journey to the East; the Cape of Storms, by the Portuguese soldiers who first navigated their way around the treacherous shores at Cape Point.
The Cape region is a fresh and fertile world apart is helped by the fact that Cape Town is physically cut off from the rest of the country by a barrier of mountains, in places some 2000 meters high. With then rich clay soils, the valleys they shelter are the nation’s storehouse – the center of its grape, wine, wheat and deciduous fruit industries.
The peninsula is South Africa’s oldest European-settled region, and man-made attractions include some of the best shops, hotels and restaurants on the continent. Cape Town’s British built Georgian buildings, cobbled streets and ancient oaks may look familiar to Europeans, but the vast townships stretching across the plains east of the city could only be in Africa. To this day, the Cape Peninsula’s combination of sea, spreading valleys and purple-headed mountains is still breathtakingly beautiful.
Top Sites and Attractions
– Museums and Galleries, Table Mountain, Best Beaches, Western Cape’s Coast of Whales
Features
– Nightlife and Entertainment, Foods and Dining