Enjoy an African adventure

Jan 26 2008 by Our Correspondent, Liverpool Daily Post

Alison Stokes is amazed by all that South Africa has to offer

IT’S a great place to live and bring up a family,” our guide Jamie insists. From where we’re standing – on the summit of Table Mountain – looking down on the waves crashing onto False Bay to our right and the wild Atlantic coastline to our left, it’s hard to argue with this one-man tourism champion for Cape Town.

We’ve spent the last two hours hiking up the face of Table Mountain, the 1,000m-plus mountain whose profile dominates South Africa’s most cosmopolitan city.

For visitors to Cape Town and residents too, a trip up Table Mountain is a must.

And there are a variety of ways to get to the top, the easiest being the rotating cable car or one of the many footpaths that gradually winds their ways around the mountain wilderness.

Unfortunately for me, Jamie’s heard I’m from Wales, and therefore used to hiking in the Brecon Beacons, so it’s a hard slog up the Platteklip Gorge for us.

Despite its steepness, the route is popular with all ages, from groups of truculent teenagers on overnight trips to the hardy and weathered septuagenarians, stopping regularly to catch their breath.

At the top, it’s like a circus. There are hundreds of tourists, most who’ve opted for the three-minute cable car ride, to the top and are impressed by anyone with the stamina to walk it.

We even stop to chat to an Irish bride, who’s watching as her new husband abseils down one of the mountain faces.

Jamie’s love for his home city is infectious.

AFTER all there are few cities which can offer the great outdoors and the cosmopolitan buzz of a vibrant city within a few square miles.

And with South Africa gearing up to host the football World Cup in 2010, the city is undergoing some major development including the construction of a new soccer stadium at Green Point.

Apart from Table Mountain, with its 1,400 species of flowers, baboons, dassies (large rodents) and countless birds, some of the world’s best surfing beaches are within a stone’s throw of the city.

Just days before our visit in September, 349 surfers rode the waves at Muizenberg in an attempt to beat the world record for the most surfers to ride a wave at the same time.

The following morning, with my legs still aching from the Table Mountain walking tour, I decided to spend time discovering the city with a hop-on, hop-off city bus tour.

The open-top bus picks up at the Victoria and Alfred Waterfront, the newly-developed and pretty touristy harbourside shopping and dining attraction, on its route around the city.

The tour gives you the chance to stop off and visit various museums and galleries.

But if you have time for only one, make it the District Six museum.

Housed in the Methodist Church, the museum is a reminder of South Africa’s former apartheid system.

Prior to 1966 the area was a vibrant black community with a thriving jazz scene until it was declared a white district and 60,000 people living there were evicted and moved out to the townships.

Even today the area is pretty much a wasteland with controversy surrounding any proposed developments.

But the displays inside the museum, where ex-residents have marked out the sites of their former homes and their comments are a powerful reminder of the former regime.

The following day it was time to take in the wildlife on a tour around the Cape of Good Hope.

Driving through the rugged wilderness of the Cape of Good Hope Nature Reserve, on our way to the point where the Indian and Atlantic Oceans meet, there’s a chance to spot wild zebra and ostriches before stopping off to watch the African penguin colony waddling about their daily business at Boulders Beach.

My final day I spent with a spot of retail therapy. Current exchange rates mean you get more for your pound and no visitor to South Africa can return home without one carved wooden statue.

There were also many other attractions we didn’t have time to do but are certainly worth mentioning.

You can take a boat trip to Robben Island, the prison island 13km off shore, where the ANC’s political prisoners Nelson Mandela and Walter Sisulu were locked away.

The boats leave regularly from the Victoria and Alfred Waterfront, but you’ll need to book at least a day ahead as they’re always popular.

You could also meet a cheetah at Spiers wine estate. One of the most commercial, and not necessarily the best wine producer in the region, it’s also home to a cheetah rescue and outreach centre.

Serious wine lovers would enjoy a trip to Stellenbosch, the centre of the vineyards, while foodies would love tasting an authentic Cape Malay curry in the Bo-Kaap district or dining out on King Clip at Camps Bay.

One of the best beaches in South Africa, Camps Bay is also the best place for great seafood restaurants.

Then there is the nation’s favourite sport.

Tourists can see the Rugby World Cup – or at least a replica of it – at the rugby museum on the ground floor of the Sport Science Institute at the Newlands Stadium.

The SA Rugby Museum is crammed full of exhibitions and insights into the country’s world-beating Springboks, and the Newlands Park is also home to a South African test cricket ground, too.

The trouble is, with so much on offer in Cape Town four days is never enough. I guess the winelands and whale-watching will have to wait.

KLM flies from Cardiff airport to Cape Town, connecting in Amsterdam, with prices starting from £625.

British Airways flies direct from Heathrow to Cape Town, flight time 12 hours. But the great thing is that as Cape Town is only two hours ahead of GMT, you don’t get jet lag.

Alison Stokes stayed at the Ambassador Hotel, Victoria Road, Bantry Bay, sandwiched between Green Point and Camps Bay. The hotel runs a regular shuttle service between its sister hotel at the Victoria and Alfred Waterfront, two miles away. She travelled with specialist South African tour company 2by2 Holidays. Prices start from £499 for an eight-day trip to Cape Town (excluding air fares), www.2by2 Holidays.co.uk, tel: 01582 766122.