The Vergelegen Wine Estate in Somerset West is less than an hour's drive from Cape Town yet back in the 1700's it took three days by ox wagon to get there. In 1700 Willem Adriaan van der Stel succeeded his father, Simon van der Stel, as governor of the Cape and it didn't take him long to claim himself a modest 30,000 hactre piece of land just like his father had done with Constantia. The farm was on the slopes…
One of the wine estates in the Western Cape I've always wanted to visit but never had the opportunity before was Vergelegen in Somerset West. Earlier in the year I was in the area and pinched off an hour of my time to pop in for a look a this historic estate established by Governor Willem Adriaan van der Stel in 1700. I'll do another post about the estate in general, but wanted to show off these two pictures of the old Cape Dutch…
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…