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Western Cape

Salient Features
Western Cape	Gauteng
Mpumalanga	Sun City

The Western Cape is one of South Africa’s premier tourist attractions, and for good reason. From the famous icon of Table Mountain to vast winelands and exquisite beaches to world-class restaurants and cosmopolitan entertainment haunts. For its exquisite scenic beauty - the province is renowned for being the favourite playground of fashion and film crews the world over. The Cape also boasts a myriad of cultures and tourist treasures that are just waiting to be discovered. So what are you waiting for……

Major towns:

Cape Town

Cape Town
Before the Dutch East India Company (VOC) established a 17th-century victualling station on Table Bay's pristine shore, the Cape Flats were hunted for hippopotami and other large game by the Khoi-Khoi and the San (Bushmen). With colonisation, the Cape of Good Hope established a lasting tradition of hospitality leading weary explorers and sailors to rename it The Tavern of the Seas.

The sight of majestic Table Mountain and the people who live beneath it are as welcoming today as they were all those years ago, the looming crags a striking landmark providing a magnificent backdrop to the vibrant, friendly Mother City. Modern Cape Town, with its extended seafront, underground malls and soaring skyscrapers holds itself dear to its origins. Explore the many fascinating museums and historical buildings reflecting the cultures shaping the city and the province it serves.

The city boasts a vast range of shopping styles and opportunities, from the haggling between stallholders and shoppers at the Grand Parades and Greenmarket Squares fleamarkets, to smooth, hassle-free self-service at countless sophisticated and stylish malls.

Stellenbosch
Stellenbosch, the oldest town in South Africa after Cape Town, is undoubtedly the most scenic and historically-preserved town in Southern Africa. Oak-lined streets next to water furrows compliment the many fine examples of elegant Cape Dutch, Victorian and Georgian architecture - all part of this unique "Town of Oaks" Stellenbosch is the center of the country's wine industry, and is also home to the world-renowned 'Maties' University.

Stellenbosch

Many national and international industries have their headquarters here. Events and activities take place throughout the year- from music, street, wine and art festivals to international sporting events. But more importantly it is a tranquil, friendly town and a prime tourist and conference destination! Visit the estates, book a picnic basket, taste the wines then take a few special bottles home with you when you go. You can even do the winelands on horseback, or book a wine tour and let someone else do the driving....

Ostrich

Oudtshoorn
Come share the excitement - an experience of a lifetime! There is so much for you to see and do, fun and entertainment galore, where a warm welcome awaits you. The Cango Ostrich - and Butterfly Farm is a family concern and is situated in the beautiful Cango Valley, halfway between Oudtshoorn and the world famous Cango Caves. They have been in the farming industry for a lifetime and tourism since 1989..

Oudtshoorn Ostrich Show farm is situated 3 km from the centre of Oudtshoorn, on the road to the world famous Cango Caves, next to the Cango Wildlife Ranch. Their location makes it easy for tourists, as they are on the main tourist route. They also have a wide variety of farm animals on the premises, and the goat tower is a popular site. The 45-minute tour starts every half-hour under the guidance of trained multilingual guides. Our tours include the opportunity to sit on, or the more daring may even ride an ostrich. The hatching of chicks can be witnessed in the breeding season and may also be held by tourists. An ostrich race takes place with each tour. The tours are on one level for your convenience, and no long distance walking or riding is needed.

The world famous Safari Ostrich Show Farm is a well established landmark which has been operating as a tourist attraction for more than 40 years. Visitors are escorted around the farm by expert multilingual guides providing the ultimate "ostrich experience" with thousands of ostriches to view from incubation stage to full grown adults making Safari a photographers' paradise. A unique feature of the Safari experience is a visit to the Ostrich Palace "Welgeluk" which was built at the height of the feather boom in 1910. The homestead is a National Monument and a superb example of the architecture that was used at the time.

MAJOR TOURISM HIGHLIGHTS

Thanks to its scenic beauty and many attractions, tourism is a major and growing force in the Western Cape, which hosts over 50% of the country’s international visitors. The sector is expanding with the incorporation of emerging business, much of it from the previously disadvantaged community.

Cape Fortress
The oldest surviving building in South Africa, and well preserved too, is the Castle of Good Hope, the pentagonal fortress built by personnel of the Dutch East India Company back in the 1660s-70s. Today it houses the regional headquarters of the South African Defence Force in the Western Cape and a military museum.

Africa’s Most Southerly Point
A stop at Cape Point gives the visitor the opportunity to boast of having been at the most south-westerly point of Africa, where the cold Benguela and the warm Agulhus currents (west and east respectively) meet. Some 26 shipwrecks have been recorded at Cape Point, some of them presenting good diving spots. A funicular takes visitors on scenic trips to an old lighthouse and the spot is a bird watcher’s paradise.

District Six Museum
Commemorates the forced removal of 50 000 people to the Cape Flats and the obliteration of the once vibrant District Six. Its community spirit is recreated in exhibitions, guided walks and the collection of artefacts.

Robben Island
For nearly 400 years, Robben Island, 12 kilometres from Cape Town, was a place of banishment, exile, isolation and imprisonment. It was here that rulers sent those they regarded as political troublemakers, social outcasts and the unwanted of society. During the apartheid years Robben Island became internationally known for its institutional brutality.

Robbens Island

The duty of those who ran the Island and its prison was to isolate opponents of apartheid and to crush their morale. Some freedom fighters spent more than a quarter of a century in prison for their beliefs. Those imprisoned on the Island succeeded on a psychological and political level in turning a prison 'hell-hole' into a symbol of freedom and personal liberation. Robben Island came to symbolise, 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.

The boat trip between Cape Town and Robben Island provides opportunity to see a wide spectrum of seabirds and marine mammals including Cape Fur seals, Southern Right whales and Dusky and Heaviside Dolphins.Once on the Island, you will be able to see some of the 23 species of mammals, including small herds of bontebok, springbok, steenbok, European fallow deer and eland. Ostriches, lizards, geckoes, snakes and tortoises can also be found. The Island is actually the summit of an ancient, now submerged mountain, linked by an undersea saddle to the Blouberg

Two Oceans Aquarium

Two Oceans Aquarium.
With more than 4 000 creatures, representing some 300 species, a once-in-a-lifetime experience of the South African coasts underwater world awaits you. There are over 3000 live animals and 300 different species of fishes, reptiles, birds, plants, invertebrates and mammals that live in and near South Africa's oceans.

The way of life of all these different species is showcased in more than 50 huge glass tanks, the biggest one being 4 metres high and contains 2 million litres of saltwater. The visitors walk through the acryllic tunnel to observe sharks, rays and other predatory fishes at close range. A lasting impression is the daily feeding of the predators by divers at 3:30 pm. The Aquarium is open daily from 9:30 to 6 pm.

Victoria & Alfred Waterfront :
Built in 1860, and still a working harbour, the Victoria and Alfred has been developed into one of South Africa’s biggest tourist attractions. Prince Alfred, Queen Victorias second son, tipped the rock signalling construction of the breakwater. Original buildings have been renovated and new ones built, all in Victorian style.

Victoria & Alfred Waterfront

There are museums, boat trips (including the historic Penny Ferry), helicopter flips, walking tours, restaurants catering to every taste, pubs, a brewery, two shopping centres, hotels, theatres, cinemas (including the five-storey, large-screen Imax Cinema), an outdoor amphitheatre, craft markets, live music and a rich variety of outdoor entertainments. The unusual is well represented in the elecommunications Exploratorium, a gemstone Scratch Patch, indoor golf and the Two Oceans Aquarium. An information centre, good security and ample parking contribute to the Waterfronts popularity and your pleasure.

Kirstenbosch Botanical Garden

Kirstenbosch Botanical Garden
Kirstenbosch Botanical Garden stretches along the eastern slopes of Table Mountain. It was founded in 1913 by the botanist Henry Pearson. Because of its different altitude, this area is suitable as a biotope for a great variety of the plants of Southern Africa.

A web of hiking trails provides wonderful scenic walks through the indigenous Fynbos vegetation. The best time to visit is during the early spring months August and September, when the flowers are blooming. Kirstenbosch Botanical Garden is open daily from 8:00am to 18:00pm. The Visitors Centre offers a modern restaurant and a cafeteria. There is also an excellent book and curio shop!Very popular are the Sunset Summer Concerts in Kirstenbosch, which are usually held on Sundays at 17:30. The music is usually "light Classical".

Tablemountain
A trip up the famous Table Mountain is one of the tourist highlights Cape Town has to offer. It can only be done on days when the mountain is not covered with its "table cloth" or hidden in dense fog. On sunny days it provides a fabulous panoramic view of the city, the Atlantic Ocean and the mountain tops of the Cape Peninsula.

One can access the top of Table Mountain by either taking the cableway or hiking. The cableway is obviously more popular, so there are long queues at the ticket counter in high season. However, since the renovation in 1998 they have become substantially shorter. The cableway ride to the top only takes 2 minutes now, and every day about 2500 visitors are taken up to the 1087 m high peak. Climbing up Table Mountain takes a minimum of 4 hours and should only be attempted by physically very fit people. There are fatalities every year because people underestimate the difficulty of the hike and the unpredictable weather conditions. On top of Table Mountain one can go on wonderful hikes and afterwards relax in the restaurant or the cafeteria.On the mountain the wind is usually much stronger than in the city. Pick a quiet day to go up. The cableway doesn't operate when the winds are blowing strongly.

Signal Hill
Signal Hill separates the suburbs of Green Point and Sea Point from the City Bowl. One can access this extension of Lion's Head mountain from town via Kloof Nek road. Turn right at the traffic circle. From the access road you can already enjoy the most stunning view of the city, Table Bay and Table Mountain.

Signal Hill

You'll find a beautiful picnic spot on top. Breathtaking are the sunsets over the Atlantic and the lights of the night city. Signal Hill's main attraction is the battery with the Noon Gun positioned just below the mountain top. Here a cannon-shot is fired every day at 12 o'clock noon on the dot, to uphold an old Capetonian tradition. Then all people in the city look at their watches and smile.

An officer of the Lion's Battery hurries some minutes before 12 with a little powder bag to the Noon Gun and pushes the bag carefully into the cannon-barrel. Everybody steps back behind a white line for cover and the cannon gets automatically ignited by an electronic signal sent by the Cape Town Observatory in the suburb of Observatory. There are many more cannons in the battery for official visitors, and on special occasions, up to 21 shot salute can be fired.

The access to the Noon Gun doesn't go via Kloof Nek, but through the Bo Kaap (Military Street). Watch out for the sign-post on Buitengracht Street. The show is for free!

Houte Bay

Houte Bay
Hout Bay is one of the most beautiful and popular places on the Cape Peninsula and a highlight of any visit to Cape Town. The access road that runs from Camps Bay, offers a beautiful drive all along the sea. The town lies picturesquely in a wind-protected bay, surrounded in the west by the Karbonkel Mountain, the famous Mount Sentinel as the outpost in the sea and in the east, by the Constantia Mountains and Chapman's Peak.

The name "Hout Bay" (Wood Bay) was given by Jan van Riebeeck, who, after his landing in Table Bay in the year 1652, found dense forests providing the timber needed for the construction of ships and of the Castle. In 1681 the first farms - Ruyteplaas and Kronendal - were established in Hout Bay. The fishery on a commercial scale only developed a hundred years later. In 1904 a canning factory was opened, which in the following years gave Hout Bay's economy its boost. Hout Bay is the centre of the crayfish and snoek fishing industry, and its fishing harbour gives the little coastal town a lively atmosphere. And the scenic Chapman's Peak Drive, the harbour, the bird park and Seal Island are all part of it. That is why over the last years many new settlements, apartments and mansions have been built, many of them as holiday homes for people who initially came as tourists from Europe.

Chapmans Peak
Chapman's Peak Drive is one of the most spectacular coastal roads in South Africa. It starts at the picturesque fishing harbour of Hout Bay and then winds up to Chapman's Point, revealing breathtaking views of the sandy bays down below, until the road reaches sea level again at Noordhoek. Built between 1915 and 1922, this stretch was blasted into the partially vertical rock and is a masterpiece of road construction.

Chapman's Peak

There are numerous parking bays and picnic spots along the road and on the slopes. A hiking trail with beautiful views leads to the Chapman's Peak (3 to 4 hours time needed; take water along).

Simons Town- Penguin

Simons Town
Simon's Town is rich in historical significance. The settlement was founded in 1743 as a winter anchorage by the first governor of the Cape, Simon van der Stel and named after him. After the British had taken over the Cape in 1806, the town became a base of the Royal Navy. In 1957 it became a South African navy base.Simon's Town with its Victorian and Cape Dutch houses is a pretty little seaside town.

The restaurants and coffeeshops in the Main Road and also in the new Quayside Waterfront with a harbour view, are an inviting way to spend some time. A special attraction is the colony of Jackass Penguins at Boulders Beach. For some years now, under the administration of Cape Nature Conservation these cute birds are quite friendly with humans, but they don't want to be touched. On warm summer days people and penguins splash together in the clear and shallow waters of the bay, surrounded by big round boulders.Jackass Penguins are the only species of penguin that colonise on the African continent. Since penguin meat is apparently edible, they were mercilessly hunted. Later the overfishing of the sea and the loss of breeding spots resulted in near extinction of the species.

The South African Museum
The biggest and oldest museum is the South African Museum was founded in 1825 and in 1897, established in its present building in Queen Victoria Street. The exhibitions mainly deal with the natural history of South Africa, her biological and her cultural resources of the past and present. Particularly impressive is the anthropological section with its big realistic dioramas. The Planetarium lies in an adjacent building.

Company Garden
The Company's Garden was laid out by Cape Town's founding father Jan van Riebeeck on order of the Dutch-East India Trading Company to secure the provisioning of the colonists with vegetables. Today the Company's Garden is a large public park and botanical garden. Particularly in summer, when the heat is trapped in the streets of the city, a stroll through the lush gardens is really refreshing. At the bottom end of the park stands the Anglican St. Georges Cathedral and next to it, the South African Library. Company's Garden has a coffeeshop/restaurant in the shade of big exotic trees. Often on weekends, open-air concerts - jazz or African music are held here. . The sundial dates from 1787 and the Bell Tower from 1855.

Cango Caves
Cango Caves, one of the worlds great wonders, to experience the fusion of fantasy with natural beauty in the worlds finest stalactite caves. The breathtaking beauty of these fascinating limestone formations in natures own sculpted works of arts.The caves fall in the top ten most visited South African attractions.

The Caves are open every day of the year (except X-mas day).
Tours from 09H00 to 16H00, depending on which touring option you would prefer.

STANDARD TOUR: Every hour on the hour (09H00 - 16H00).
The most popular choice needing almost 60 minutes to complete and you are escorted through the first six chambers, a distance of 600m and quite a few stairs.

ADVENTURE TOUR: Every hour on the half-hour (09H30 - 15H30).
Only for the brave at heart. Taking close to 90 minutes you are shown through the entire tourist route of 1,2km and expected to crawl through a series of 4 tunnels ending in the incredible "Post Box". A maximum of 45 people are allowed for each Adventure tour so bookings are essential. Unfortunately children 5 and younger are not permitted on this option.

The Cango Cave is a warm cave (18ºC) so light clothing and comfortable shoes are advised.

The Garden Route
To many who have visited it, the Garden Route has a mysterious allure. A most unusual part of Africa, it is also the sunny corner of the Cape where evergreen forests, verdant fields, tranquil inland lakes, sparkling bays and pristine beaches languish in a sultry Mediterranean climate.

Cape Town (approaching from the west) or Port Elizabeth (from the east). Or they can fly in and hire a car on arrival - airports at George and Plettenberg Bay are served by regular flights from Cape Town, Johannesburg, Durban and Port Elizabeth. Tourists can access the Garden Route by car or coach from Cape Town or Port Elizabeth.

Port Elizabeth

Alternatively, trains run from the major centres to George. A great way of drinking in the scenic splendour of the Garden Route is to hop aboard the Outeniqua Choo-Tjoe steam train, on the three-hour journey between George and Knysna.

Knysna

Knysna
A natural paradise of lush indigenous forests, tranquil lakes and golden beaches adorns South Africas unspoilt southern coast. Nestling on the banks of a shimmering lagoon in the heart of this Garden Route is the picturesque town of Knysna.

Beaches, lakes, mountains and rivers provide endless opportunity for leisure and outdoor adventure. Within the town, craft shops, flea-markets and cosy cafes beckon with small-town charm and hospitality.

Knysna is synonymous with fine indigenous timbers, and famed for the craftsmanship of its furniture and timber products. The area is a veritable Garden of Eden: home to the only forest elephant in South Africa, the unique Knysna seahorse and the Pansy shell, the brilliantly coloured Knysna Loerie, a plethora of waterfowl and forest birds, dolphins and visiting whales.