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Destination: CAPE TOWN, South Africa Safe harbour in Cape Town Travellers are drawn to South Africa for the scenery By DONALD L. TELFER -- Special to Sun Media
CAPE TOWN, South Africa -- The first mate approached the new South African flag and gently unravelled the multi-coloured ensign in the shadow of the museum warship SAS Sommerset. Rolling leisurely in the protected harbour, the vessel took on stores for her next voyage into the turbulent South Atlantic as a southeaster sent waves of grey clouds billowing over Table Mountain. "There won't be much sailing today," Bob Jones said, watching the activity from the comfort of a waterfront restaurant. "The Cape rollers are pretty nasty." For hundreds of years, Cape Town was the halfway port in trade between Europe and the Far East. The importance of this route decreased when the Suez Canal opened and ships took the shorter route. Today, Cape Town is still a busy port city, but the harbour sees more pedestrians than ships. Visitors are attracted to the Victoria & Alfred Waterfront complex, an enormous development that began in 1990 and now includes over a hundred restaurants, shops and theatres. The ongoing development is spread over the historic docklands where Queen Victoria's son, Prince Alfred, tipped the first load of stone to start construction on the breakwater in 1860. Over the next century, Cape Town prospered as the gateway to South Africa until air travel emerged and Johannesburg, the larger commercial centre, took over as South Africa's transportation hub. The waterfront became the centre for the fishing industry and smaller-scale ship repair. The Victoria & Alfred Waterfront Company was formed, and the first part of the development opened in 1990. A visitor could spend hours exploring the lively entertainment area with its shops, boutiques, kiosks and restaurants. The Atlantic yields a lavish harvest of crayfish, mussels and oysters, which are baked, barbecued and fried in an assortment of cozy Chinese, Greek and Italian eateries. But there is more to Cape Town than just the harbour, although it is a major attraction. Visitors also come to South Africa to enjoy the scenery, and Cape Town has some of the finest views around. With majestic Table Mountain as a backdrop, the vast city of about 2.5 million has developed around, beside and up one of the most recognizable landmarks in the world. The 3,600-foot-high mountain can be accessed either by cable car -- when southeasters aren't blowing -- or by foot. Would-be climbers are cautioned, though, that people are injured or even killed every year on the deceptively easy paths. A good way to acquaint yourself with the region is a tour south of the city in the direction of an area called Cape Cod. En route is Clifton Beach, where luxurious apartments and homes are perched on cliffs overlooking the Atlantic. A secluded nude beach in the neighbourhood is mostly busy in the summer season, December through March. At Hout Bay, the 90-passenger Capetown takes people to see a colony of fur seals basking in the wind at Duiker Island. It can be a roller-coaster trip though, through waves sometimes up to 17 feet, but the views of the coast are spectacular. Continuing down the coast, views from Chapman's Peak are dramatic. The 10-km Chapman's Peak Drive was chiselled out of the mountain by convicts in the 1920s. At one point, the narrow, twisty highway makes a bend to the left and a beautiful, broad, white, sandy beach comes into view. The scene also caught the eye of the producers of Ryan's Daughter, who shot the final scene at this location. The bottom half of the peninsula is occupied by the Cape of Good Hope Nature Reserve where antelope, chacma baboons and other wildlife freely move about. At Cape Point, the spectacular Cape rollers crash up against the rugged rocky shore where giant waves are created by the confluence of the cold Atlantic and warm Indian Ocean waters. Returning north along the False Bay coast, you'll find the picture-postcard grape-growing valleys of Stellenbosch and Paarl. The KWV cellar complex at Paarl is home of one of the best wine produced in the country. KWV, a cooperative of some 4,900 wine growers, conducts tours of the facility, including the huge cathedral wine and brandy cellars. The Neethlingshof Estate near Stellenbosch, dating from the 1690s, is called "the home of championship wines." The first-class Lord Neethling Restaurant, housed in a lovely, snow-white Cape Dutch period building, serves a variety of seafood dishes along with some of the estate's fine vintages. Another must-see is the elegant Mount Nelson Hotel. Fit for royalty -- Prince Philip stayed here, John Lennon signed in as "John Smith" and Winston Churchill was another prominent guest -- the Mount Nelson is the gracious pink lady set on the lower slopes of Table Mountain. The hotel, opened in 1899 and now part of the silver-service Orient-Express hotel and train group, has a Rolls Royce Silver Cloud at the ready, 72 chefs and assistants, and three staffers to pamper every guest. As the sun set in a downpour, I watched the doorman gently lower the colourful South African flag from the flagstaff. What better signal to drop anchor after a busy day of wine tasting, sailing over Cape rollers and touring through one of the most beautiful regions of the world.
GETTING THERE: Johannesburg is a 12,850-km, 14-hour flight by South African Airways (1-800-722-9675) from New York. Because of head winds, the return flight requires a refuelling stop at Cape Verde and takes about 16 hours. Return fares start at $1304.
(First featured: February 23, 2000)
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