South-Africa / Cape Town

2 Weeks, my Oli and I spent in South Africa at the end of December. It was a family reunion with my sister and brother in law and my adorable two nieces as well as an interesting insight to Africas most popular tourist destination.

view onto Cape town city from the bottom of Table mountain

Cape Town (Afrikaans: Kaapstad) is the second-most populous city in South Africa, and the largest in land area, forming part of the City of Cape Town metropolitan municipality.

My first thoughts of going to Africa where, that I wanted to see it considering our future plans, to work there at some point. But what we saw and experienced was actually no poverty, no littered streets. It felt very cosmopolitan and nearly european.

mmmhh, where is the way to the pub?

Located on the shore of Table Bay, Cape Town was originally developed by the Dutch East India Company as a victualling (supply) station for Dutch ships sailing to Eastern Africa, India, and the Far East. Jan van Riebeeck's arrival on 6 April 1652 established the first permanent European settlement in South Africa. Cape Town quickly outgrew its original purpose as the first European outpost at the Castle of Good Hope, becoming the economic and cultural hub of the Cape Colony. Until the Witwatersrand Gold Rush and the development of Johannesburg, Cape Town was the largest city in South Africa.

We've stayed with Antje and John and the girls in John's grandmothers house which was absolutely beautiful and so relaxing.

This is in the stunning garden.

... and this too!

That was ideal. It was based a little outside Cape Town City Centre, in Constantia, a suburban area. We had nearly all meals in that garden when the weather allowed it.

and now a cup of Roibush tee...

and everybody is asking, where are your socks, Oli?

Hallo Oma und Opa!

We had mostly warm sunny weather, but compared to Cambodian weather, it was changing every day. It was a nice change actually, although I still very much prefer the warmth.

Capetown is the provincial capital and primate city of the Western Cape, as well as the legislative capital of South Africa.
Today it is one of the most multicultural cities in the world, reflecting its role as a major destination for immigrants and expatriates to South Africa. As of 2007 the city had an estimated population of 3.5 million.

at the "Cape to Cuba" Restaurant in Kalk Bay

The city is famous for its harbour as well as its natural setting in the Cape floral kingdom, including such well-known landmarks as Table Mountain and Cape Point. It is hailed as one of the most beautiful cities in the world as officially recognised by Forbes. National Geographic has also listed Cape Town as one of the most iconic cities on the planet and "Places of a Lifetime".

sorry, forgot the name of this beach, but it was stunning!

And we've seen it all.

with the Table Mountain in the background

we're going to the beach!

the cold of the water was cutting into my feet

picknick with the sunset

real surfers!

unfortunately, also this moment didn't last forever

I think we must have visited all of Cape Town's beaches, which are popular with local residents. Due to the city's unique geography, it is possible to visit several different beaches in the same day, each with a different setting and atmosphere. Though the Cape's water ranges from cold to mild, the difference between the two sides of the city is dramatic. But still, the water on both sides was freezing!

sorry, name forgotten, but it was beautiful!

that sun was hot!

yes, definetely a dolphin man!

Both coasts are equally popular, although the beaches in affluent Clifton and elsewhere on the Atlantic Coast are better developed with restaurants and cafés, with a particularly vibrant strip of restaurants and bars accessible to the beach at Camps Bay.

We were very active, no problem when you are with John, and they showed us the most amazing places.

I can't decide who's cuter...

After a lovely morning spending time walking and talking, they saluted us off from the waterfront to take the boat to Robben Island, which is 10-kilometeres from the city. Here, future President of South Africa and Nobel Laureate Nelson Mandela and future South African President Kgalema Motlanthe, alongside many other political prisoners, spent decades imprisoned during the apartheid era. Including current South African President Jacob Zuma who was imprisoned there for ten years.

Nelson Mandela's cell

In one of the most famous moments marking the end of apartheid, Nelson Mandela made his first public speech in decades on 11 February 1990 from the balcony of Cape Town City Hall hours after being released. His speech heralded the beginning of a new era for the country, and the first democratic election was held four years later, on 27 April 1994.

Oh we had lots of fun with the kids!

baking Olis favourite chocolate cake..

pulling the "sleigh" down the hill and pretend that their is snow..

Of course South-Africa is also very famous for their wines!There are hundreds of different wines, all produced in different locations of the winelands. We visited two of them. One was Constantia and the other one was in Stellenbosch.

The day in Stellenbosch was very special,because one of Johns friend took us all and drove us around. First of all we went to a bird rescue centre where we also saw cheetahs.

Then we had a marvellous picknick at a river nearby one of the wine yards.

John and the kids cool down in the nearby river.

We had to do a wine tasting to compare with the wine from Constantia.

at the end, we bought a bottle of delicious Delheim Rose wine

together with Etienne, Sally and Francois.

in the morning, we decorated our christmas tree

Bescherung war am naechsten Morgen

We had a fantastic day on the 24th of December, which is our german christmas. Firstly, we went to see the Cape Fur Seal colonies on Seal and Duiker Islands.

can you see the seal already?

all of them made a very happy impression

Then we picknicked for lunch

what a nice picknick spot this is!

and then went on to see Cape Point.

Cape Point is recognised as the dramatic headland at the end of the Cape Peninsula. We drove along Chapman's Peak Drive, a narrow road that links Noordhoek with Hout Bay, for the views of the Atlantic Ocean and nearby mountains. It was beautiful. We stopped at another beach,

before we finally reached the Cape of Good Hope.

ostriches along the coast

hey, there is a Baboon in the way!

There, we enjoyed the sunset in beautiful surrounding.

Someone was paricularly keen on the Pringels...

English Christmas Day we spent with Johns family at Betsy's Bay.

It was a lovely relaxed slightly tipsy day.

Boulders Beach near Simon's Town is known for its colony of African penguins. I think going there was one of my defenite highlights.

Finally, Antji and me had also some time together and we spent it wisely.

Then we split up for the last 3 days. Antji and John wanted it more rural for New Years Eve while me and Oli stayed and discovered more in Cape Town City.

The city has several notable cultural attractions.

The Victoria & Alfred Waterfront, built on top of part of the docks of the Port of Cape Town, is the city's most visited tourist attraction.

It is also one of the city's most popular shopping venues, with several hundred shops and the Two Oceans Aquarium.

Nobel Square in the Victoria & Alfred Waterfront features statues of South Africa's four Nobel Peace Prize winners - Albert Luthuli, Desmond Tutu, F. W. de Klerk and Nelson Mandela.

Since 1994, the city has struggled with problems such as HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis, a surge in violent drug-related crime and more recent xenophobic violence. At the same time, the economy has surged to unprecedented levels due to the boom in the tourism and the real estate industries.
In the 1948 national elections, the National Party won on a platform of apartheid (racial segregation) under the slogan of "swart gevaar". This led to the Group Areas Act, which classified all areas according to race. Formerly multi-racial suburbs of Cape Town were either purged of unlawful residents or demolished. The most infamous example of this in Cape Town was District Six. After it was declared a whites-only region in 1965, all housing there was demolished and over 60,000 residents were forcibly removed.
Many of these residents were relocated to the Cape Flats and Lavender Hill. Under apartheid, the Cape was considered a "Coloured labour preference area", to the exclusion of "Bantus", i.e. blacks. We visited the District Six museum, which was very interesting and very well done.

Cape Town is noted for its architectural heritage, with the highest density of Cape Dutch style buildings in the world. Cape Dutch style, which combines the architectural traditions of the Netherlands, Germany, France and Indonesia, is most visible in Constantia, the old government buildings in the Central Business District, and along Long Street.

Very unfortunately, the Green-Point Stadium was closed that day...

people from SA call this cloud "Table cloth", laying on the Table Mountain

We found an amazing Ethiopian Restaurant which was a great experience to eat there.

it looks strange but it tasted delicious!

we had a coffee ceremony with popcorn!

One day we even took the train into town which was exiting. Before that, we had breakfast at the lovely Olimpia Cafe at Kalk Bay.

This beach is very popular and found on many postcards. It's St. James Beach

This man claimed to have 25 kg of eggs on his head. And he had a telephone...

But I tryed to call home and it didn't work. Instead he wanted money for the picture we took of him.

I really wanted to see some Whales and do a bungee jump, but both were not possible at the time. Southern Right Whales and Humpback Whales are seen off the coast during the breeding season (August to November) and Bryde's Whales and Killer Whale can be seen any time of the year.

Heaviside's dolphins are endemic to the area and can be seen from the coast north of Cape Town; Dusky dolphins live along the same coast and can occasionally be seen from the ferry to Robben Island and I have seen them at least from the distance.

Oli and John climbed up Table Mountain and had a great view. We wanted to meet them on top but the Cable Car wasn't going because of strong winds. We tryed it another time but it was again too windy.

we had a nice picknick though at the bottom of table mountain

So I haven't made it up the Table Mountain, but I don't mind. I had a fantastic time and had amazing new experiences. And that was it. Happy New Year 2011!!!!!!

at the airport in Johannesburg

written by

katja-horsch on January 4, 2011 from Cape Town, South Africa

from the travel blog: South-Africa / Cape Town

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