SOUTH AFRICA - CAPE TOWN: THE CITY THAT HAS IT ALL
by Eldrid Retief



My driver Mohammed Ganief flung out his arms in an expansive gesture, embracing all of Cape Town and said quietly, his voice filled with wonder: "Isn't that magnificent ..... the Mother City."

We were standing on top of South Africa's iconic Table Mountain looking down on one of the world's most glamorous cities and one of its most popular holiday destinations. Its physical beauty is second to none. It's why they also call it "The Fairest Cape" and "Jewel of the South".

In just three days, from my base at Cape Town’s historic The Vineyard Hotel along the landscaped banks of the Liesbeeck River with its majestic views of Table Mountain, I was able to visit six of South Africa's seven most sought-after tourist attractions .... and even the seventh, South Africa's famed game parks, are within easy driving distance.

• I had taken a 5-minute cablecar ride to the top of Table Mountain for those spectacular views of the city centre, of the Cape peninsula, the coastline and the ocean. (You could walk up – there are some 350 recognized paths to the summit, some undemanding and suitable for children, others tough.) The top is occasionally covered with cloud called the "tablecloth" but I was there on a clear day and you could see forever. I trudged along numerous walking and hiking paths, amazed not only by the views but by some of the 1,470 plant species – including over 250 different species of daisies!

But I confess I did not catch sight of the rare Table Mountain Ghost Frog that is found nowhere else in the world. The baboons or porcupines were nowhere to be seen, probably sunning themselves in some quiet spot, but there were plenty of Rock Dassies. They look like plump rabbits without ears; incredibly, their closest living relative is the elephant!

• I had sampled crayfish, mussels and oysters at one of the many restaurants at the centuries-old Victoria and Alfred Waterfront, a working harbour which also happens to be South Africa’s most visited destination. With a backdrop of sea and mountain views, the restored wharfs and wharehouses of the Victoria and Alfred Waterfront (popularly known as V&A) pulsates with hundreds of designer label stores, boutiques and services, along with a spread of restaurants, pubs and taverns, coffee shops and fast-food outlets. The V&A is alive with buskers, street entertainers and festivals and lively music. There are two cinema complexes with 18 movie houses, arts and craft markets and the Two Oceans Aquarium, housing 300 marine species. There are historic buildings (38 designated national monuments) and you can even use V&A for the ferry to Robben Island, boat trips and harbour cruises, and helicopter and seaplane flips over Cape Town.

• I had stood on Cape Point, a landmark jutting into the open sea at the end of the Cape Peninsula, paying homage to a Portuguese navigator, Bartolomeu Dias. He rounded the Cape in 1488 during a dreadful storm and named it the Cape of Storms. On a second voyage, the weather was much kinder to him and he renamed it the Cape of Good Hope. A few years later, Dias died while trying to round the Cape. There is a monument in the form of a navigational beacon in the Park in his honour. You can walk to the top but I took the easy way there ..... on the funicular railway. Crisscrossed by spectacular walks and trails, you can keep an eye on the passing whales and the penguin colonies; there are tidal pools, over a thousand species of indigenous plants and a variety of mammals, like baboons and Cape Zebra.

• I had enjoyed a picnic on the lawns of Kirstenbosch National Botanical Gardens on the eastern slopes of Table Mountain, taking in the sounds of a summer sunset concert. One of the Seven Magnificent Botanical Gardens of the world, Kirstenbosch, famed for its proteas, showcases only indigenous South African plants .... more than 8,500 indigenous species. Kirstenbosch is now a part of the Cape Floral Region World Heritage Site.

The flowers and lawns are intertwined with streams and ponds and miles of hiking trails, an astonishing variety of birds flitting about. The trails took me past Kirstenbosch's many unusual features: a cycad bush in a cage, the last of its kind left in the world (it has no mate for propagation and needs protection from souvenir hunters); impressive stone sculptures; a Braille Trail and a scented garden. I stood for a few moments admiring a pepper-bark tree, a famous medicinal tree, planted in 1996 by then-President Nelson Mandela. The plaque reads: "Just as this tree has brought healing to the people of South Africa, so too has Nelson Mandela brought healing to our nation."

• I had taken a pilgrimage to Robben Island and stood in front of the prison bars that once held Nelson Mandela. Just a half-hour ferry-ride away, Robben Island is one of the most significant and symbolically charged pieces of land in South Africa. It is now a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Robben Island guards the entrance to Table Bay about 11 kilometres from Cape Town and for nearly 400 years it was a place of banishment, exile, isolation and imprisonment. The name hails from the Dutch word for seals, “robbe”. During the apartheid years Robben Island came to symbolize, not only for South Africa and the African continent, but also for the entire world, the triumph of the human spirit over enormous hardship and adversity.

Now it is a living museum. But don't expect only grey images of barbed wire and cold cell bars. The island includes historical buildings, breathtaking views of Table Mountain, exotic wildlife and a penguin colony.

• And I had sat on their stoep (verandah) with my friends Ted and Sheelagh Jordan, sipping one of their famous Chardonnays and looking out over the vineyards of Jordan Winery on the outskirts of Stellenbosch, less than an hour's drive from Cape Town. Each of the wine producing regions in the Cape Winelands has routes to help you discover the wine of the region. (The Jordan Winery is on the Stellenbosch Wine Routes.)

The Cape Winelands is not just about wines and picturesque vineyards; it is also about quaint villages with traditional white-gabled Cape Dutch architecture against a stunning backdrop of mountains, about world-class wellness centres and spas, museums and galleries, theatres and festivals.

Cape Town, steeped in history, has an embarrassment of riches for visitors. Sun-drenched beaches, wonderful hotels and authentic Cape Town cuisine which is an expression of its cultural mix: Dutch, English and Mediterranean traditions merged with African ingredients and flavours, as well as Eastern spices.

There are museums galore including a fascinating Slave Museum, housed in the actual building where slaves were kept; the newly restored District Six Museum and the spectacular Gold of Africa Museum, dedicated to the history of African gold, and the eerily beautiful Whale Well at the National Museum.

Like mothers everywhere, the Mother City really has it all.



SCRIBBLES ETCETERAS



For more information on South Africa visit www.southafrica.net


The Vineyard Hotel & Spa – With over 200 years of history within its walls, this four-star deluxe 173 roomed hotel, is situated in six acres of attractive landscaped parkland, in the lush leafy suburb of Newlands on the banks of the Liesbeeck River, and is just 15 minutes away from the City Centre and the V & A Waterfront. It has three outstanding restaurants and a state-of-the-art Health & Fitness Centre. Originally built by Lady Anne Barnard in 1799, the Vineyard Hotel has spectacular views of the forested slopes of Table Mountain.

For more information, visit The Vineyard’s website at www.vineyard.co.za or email hotel@vineyard.co.za

Photo courtesy Rupert Jefferies
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