A few more images from Cape Town’s central area taken during our visit in 2012. Of note is the Company Gardens, established shortly after Jan van Riebeeck’s arrival at the Cape in 1652. The gardens were laid out to provide fruit and vegetables for ships of the Dutch East India Company (hence the Company Gardens), since the reason for the early Dutch settlement here was to establish a refreshment post for the Company’s ships. Today the Gardens are more of a botanical garden.
On the corner of Orange and Hof Streets
The entrance to the iconic Mount Nelson Hotel on Orange Street
Looking down Government Lane from the Orange Street end
The Company Gardens has plenty of these cute little grey squirrels
Another grey squirrel
The National Art Gallery
The South African Museum and Planetarium
The rose garden in the Company Gardens
A glimpse of Table Mountain from a quiet nook of the Company Gardens
Even in the middle of the city there are charming little sights like this
Greenmarket Square nowadays is swamped with stalls selling tourist-trap knickknacks brought in from the rest of Africa
Cape Town has retained many of its charming Victorian buildings, which now stand side by side with much more modern buildings
Lovely detail on a street corner
A whimsical balcony