When I was in primary school we went on a school tour to Cape Town and one of the places we visited was the ghost hill in Somerset West. I remember how the teacher parked the school bus on the hill, switched it off and let go of the hand brake, making the bus free wheel... UP the hill. I've always wanted to return and on a recent trip to Somerset West I made some enquiries and headed up to…
Looking up at the Wheel of Excellence in the V&A Waterfront in Cape Town
One of the newest attractions in Cape Town is the 40 meter high Wheel of Excellence at the Victoria and Alfred Waterfront. The big wheel has 30 fully-enclosed cabins and the 15 minute ride literally gives one a bird eye view of the Waterfront and surrounding Mother City. When the Kidz heard that we were going on a big wheel there was a lot of apprehension, specially from Drama Princess who is always a bit weary of the unknown, but once we…
I'm a museum kinda guy. There is always something new to discover even if you have been to it so many times before. My favorite museum to go to is the South African Museum in Cape Town. Its the oldest museum in sub-Saharan Africa and was established in 1825 by Lord Charles Somerset. It is both a research and educational institution and offers collections of natural history and anthropological objects that document all forms of life - living and extinct - from…
As I have mentioned in my previous post, several Cape Town's most significant historical buildings can be found along the Company Gardens as one walks down Government Avenue.At the bottom entrance to the Gardens are Church Square and the Slave Lodge. The Slave Lodge was built in 1679 by the Dutch East India Company and housed thousands of slaves during the time when slavery meant big business for the Cape Colony. In 1810, after the British had taken over, the building became the Supreme Court and in 1914…
The greenbelt that is the Company Gardens, stretching through urban downtown Cape Town, attracts both locals and visitors in their droves. People go there to admire the historic buildings, sight see, play in the park, feed the squirrels, read a book, sit in the shade and relax or just to get from the one end to the other. The Company Gardens were established in 1652 and takes its name from the Dutch East India Company who first started the garden to supply…
As you would know I am always on the lookout for something interesting to photograph, doesn't matter if its natural or historical. As far as historical attractions go you tend to find some kind of war memorial in just about every town and city around South Africa and Cape Town was no different. In actual fact I found two right next to each other. At the top of the Company Gardens just below the South African Museum is the Cape Town…
You may not find it on all the tourism guides being printed about Cape Town, but one of the popular things to do for visitors to the Mother City is to go and feed the squirrels living the the Company Gardens. Most of the vendors around the area sell bags of peanuts and you can easily spot the difference between visitors and locals by those carrying a bag of nuts. The squirrels have become so accustomed to people that even though…
The very first wine estate in the Cape I got to visit years ago was appropriately also the oldest wine estate in the Cape. Groot Constantia was established in 1685 by Simon van der Stel who was the then Governor of the Cape of Good Hope. The farm was used to grow fruit and vegetables, farm cattle and produce wine. The original farm was broken up into three parts (Groot Constantia; Klein Constantia and Bergvliet) in 1712 after Van der Stel's death. Today…
Somebody asked me if anything has happened because they don't see any new blog posts other than on PEDP. But don't worry, I haven't been abducted by an alien race from another planet. I've been away at Tourism Indaba in Durban for the last week or so and didn't have time to do any forward posts for this blog. As blogging is a hobby for me I have to fit it in where I have time available and time has been a…