South Africa’s
second largest city is Cape Town and it is
also the legislative capital of the country.
The city is also referred to as the “Mother
City” of South Africa. It is the most
popular city of South Africa together with
Johannesburg. Finding lodging in
Cape Town is not difficult as there are
always a number of
cheap hotels and
package holiday offers
available online for anyone who is wishing
to vacation there.
History and Culture
Little is known about the first human beings
that occupied South Africa and the Cape Town
prior to the 15th century European explorers
first visiting the region. Other than a few
remnants from prior civilizations, nothing
was mentioned regarding the area until it
was visited in 1486 by Bartolomeu Dias the
Portuguese explorer. After Vasco de Gama’s
exploration of the area, the Europeans left
the area alone until 1652.
South Africa would go through British and
Dutch rule for more than 400 years until
racial segregation or “apartheid” became the
societal rule from 1948 until February of
1990 when Nelson Mandela announced the end
of this era in South African history. The
first national elections would be held four
years later. Since then, tourism has been
steadily growing despite some societal
issues such as public health threats
(AIDS/HIV and tuberculosis) and drug-related
crime.
Things to see and do
in Cape Town
Cape Town and the surrounding areas have a
lot to offer the international traveller. As
was mentioned above, you can easily find all
kinds of package holiday offers online and
numerous cheap hotels in the city. We’ve
listed a few of the things to see and do in
the city whenever you are vacationing in the
area.
-
Bo-Kaap – the hilltop Muslim community
is the scene for many film shoots as the
buildings are all colourfully painted.
-
Kirstenbosch Botanical Gardens – the
diverse Cape flora is all on display
here and this is considered one of the
most stunning botanical gardens in the
world.
-
Cable Car to the top of Table Mountain –
the cable car and the paths up to the
top of the mountain are wheelchair
accessible.
-
Two Oceans Aquarium – South Africa’s
largest aquarium housing more than 300
different marine species.
-
Robben Island – during the island’s
turbulent history it was an asylum, a
leper colony, and a prison that was
Nelson Mandela’s home before apartheid
ended. It now houses a museum and is
located roughly 11 km from the harbour.
Popular exciting areas of Cape Town
Cape Town offers the tourist a number of
different entertainment venues occurring
throughout the year which offer locals and
visitors lots of excitement and fun. Here a
few suggestions:
-
Cape Town Helicopter Tours – see the
surrounding wine country from the air.
-
Cape Whitewater Club – kayaking tours on
the rivers in and around the city.
-
Cape Zebra Tours – exciting one and two
day safaris out to the animal preserve.
-
Whale watching between Cape Point and
Simon’s Town – here you can see whales
that are less than 100 meters from shore.
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