Cape Town
Leave the UK on a wet and windy November evening, have a few drinks and dinner on the British Airways or South African Airways flight, hopefully catch a few hours sleep then when you wake up it is early morning in Cape Town. The sun is shining and the low whisper of cloud which locals call the “table cloth” of Table Mountain is already starting to evaporate in the balmy spring temperatures.
A quick trip through Cape Town’s ultra-modern airport, no queues at the immigration desks and 45 minutes later we are drawing up at the front entrance of one of the new hotels which have sprung at in the rejuvenated Waterfront area in recent years.
The front desk staff at the Table Bay hotel are friendly, if a touch chaotic, as we arrive to check in. They seem taken by surprise that anyone should arrive so early, even though this flight from the UK lands every day of the week at the same time – we can hardly be the first visitors to pitch up at this hour.
There is time to admire the view across the harbour just outside the hotel’s terrace, as we wait patiently for the receptionists to produce our room keys. It’s a proper working harbour with proper fishing boats and others, which I later discover, are used to dredge up the sand offshore in search of gold dust, or perhaps diamonds, which may have been washed out to sea over the years.
Table Mountain
Half an hour to shower and change and we are off to explore. Up Table Mountain. Some keen fitness fanatics are already setting off for the summit on foot. We choose the cable car, the floor of which rotates as you ascend, giving some impressive panoramic views. The best are at the top, though, where you can see the whole of Cape Town spread out beneath you.
If you face north you can imagine, if not actually see, the Atlantic Ocean to your left and the Indian Ocean to your right, the former much colder than the latter – small wonder that the seas in these parts are treated with the utmost respect by sailors. At certain times of year the waves do not come much fiercer than those around the Cape of Good Hope.
Cape Town has changed out of all recognition since my first visit to the city years ago when it was still being strangled by apartheid. The bleak days of separate hotels, transport, even public lavatories, for black and white people are but a distant memory now.
Victoria and Alfred Waterfront
You soon pick up the new mood of optimism down at the Waterfront area, where people of all races sit in the sunshine on the terraces outside the thriving bars and restaurants, shop in the designer boutiques and enjoy the open-air entertainment which seems to be a permanent feature.
Downtown Cape Town
Even the centre of Cape Town’s downtown area, a virtual no-go area in other South African cities, seemed calm and peaceful when we visited a local bar for an early-evening drink before dinner in a trendy restaurant formed out of a former warehouse, which would not be out of place in parts of any UK city.
Certainly there are still poor areas around the city, people do still live in basic “Townships” where the accommodation is little more than a wooden hut with a corrugated iron roof, though the government is improving these all the time. You can see examples on the trip into town from the airport.
The government and tourist office are so proud of some of the Townships that many are now on the well-beaten tourist trail.
Camps Bay
Slightly out of the centre of town in the smart seaside resort area of Camps Bay, where upmarket fish restaurants line one side of the road as sunbathers take advantage of the shade of palm tress and the beach on the other, you could easily imagine you are in the South of France, until you look at the sea, that it. These Atlantic rollers are far bigger than anything you normally find in the Mediterranean in summer and the water is far colder, too. For warm-water swimming you have to take a trip to the Indian Ocean coast half an hour or so away.
There are few signs here of the violence and crime which dogs some other South African cities, though it has to be said security can be tight. Walk into some bars in the Waterfront area and you are likely to be lightly frisked by guards with metal detectors before you are waved through. They all seem very friendly, though.
Robben Island
You can visit Robben Island, too, the prison about a 45-minute trip away by fast ferry in which Nelson Mandela was incarcerated for all those years. Many tours are conducted by former inmates able to give a real insight into the way life was under the former oppressive regime. You can even examine Mandela’s cell, still sparsely furnished as though he had just gone out for a walk.
Winelands
Slightly further afield the wine areas make for an excellent day trip. We drive south along the coast road as spectacular mountains rise away to the left and the ocean sparkles on our right as we peer into the distance trying to spot the whales and sharks which frequent this part of the coast at certain times of year.
Increasingly grand houses appear on both sides of the road, some lavish weekend retreats for some of the wealthier residents of Cape Town, we are told, some permanent homes for those who prefer the beauty of those part of the countryside to the rush of the city.
Down to the right we spot the old fishing village of Hermanus but our destination is higher up the hill, the impressive Hamilton Russell Vineyards, one of South Africa’s best known wine producers, specialising in Pinot noir and Chardonnay. The climate, cooled in summer by sea breezes from the southern Atlantic, is as perfect for visitors as it clearly is for growing grapes.
Take a trip here and you can spend a very happy few hours tasting some of the wines and strolling around the acres of vineyards and you will almost certainly need very little persuading that it’s worth bringing a few bottles home with you. They produce some very good olive oil, too, also well worth a bit of space in your carry-on bag.
Things to do:
*Go shopping. Prices for most things, clothes included, are about a third cheaper than in the UK.
*Eat out at one of the Waterfront’s terrace restaurants. Good food and excellent local wines at a fraction of the cost back at home.
*Take a helicopter sightseeing trip around the area. Book through Civair helicopter tours at the Victoria and Alfred Waterfront, a five-minute walk from the Table Bay hotel, on +27 21 419 5182.
*Visit Robben Island, where Nelson Mandela was imprisoned. Boats leave from Mandela Gateway at the Waterfront.
*Take a day trip to the wine growing region, about two hours’ drive from Cape Town. Beautiful coastline and countryside and some very good wines to try – and buy.
How to get there
British Airways, South African Airways and Virgin Atlantic fly to Cape Town from Heathrow every day. If you go during our summer (South Africa’s winter) fares are cheaper.
Useful links
South African Tourism
The Table Bay Hotel
Added 2008/07/22 @ 00:25:40
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