Cape Town – Muizenberg to Simonstown

 

Images from this part of the southern suburbs of Cape Town. The places you see below are all on the way to Cape Point if you take the eastern route to the point from the city centre, or from any of the southern suburbs like Rondebosch, Mowbray, Rosebank, Pinelands and the like. Please keep in mind that these images were made during our 2012 visit, so things may have changed since then.

 

 

From the eastern part of Muizenberg beach one has this view across False Bay towards Cape Hangklip on the horizon.

 

Eager customers waiting for the beaching of the snoek boats with their catches of fresh snoek  (Thyrsites Atun), a delicacy much loved by the people of the Western Cape.

 

 

Two Greater Black-backed gulls wait patiently, too!

Looking towards Cape Point. The point itself is on the far left of the headland.

Muizenberg beach, with the town itself nestled up against the mountainside on the right.

Looking towards Simonstown.

Towards the southeastern end of town we find the old houses built on the hillside and overlooking False Bay. The building with the clock tower is the railway station.

Looking in the direction of St James, just around the point.

The western end of the beach.

Most of Muizenberg’s older buildings have been retained and now house new businesses.

Quirky colour scheme on the Roxy Building.

Muizenberg also has its colourful bathing houses, but those at St James are thought to be even better looking.

A trawler heads heads, probably just having left Kalk Bay harbour.

An eclectic assortment of goods for sale at the Kalk Bay Trading Post.

The seemingly plain facebrick facade hides a real treasure trove, but it’s almost lunch time, so we head on by…

Fresh snoek in Kalk Bay harbour.

The harbour itself is quite empty, with most of the fishing fleet out at sea for the day.

St James in the distance, with Fish Hoek just peeping out from behind the mountain. The Simonstown is on the far left.

A modest entrance to an emporium of bakery delights in Kalk Bay.

Looking up the steep, short Colyn Road in Kalk Bay.

And so we arrived in Simonstown. This is a small section of the yacht marina. Off shot to the right lies the naval base which played such a strategic role to protect the sea route past the Cape during two world wars and the Cold War.

Lunch stop! Freshly fried snoek for me, and fresh chips (what some call fries) for me. Oh, the simple delights of being in such a wonderful place!

 

 

 

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Cape Point, Cape Town, South Africa

The south-westernmost tip of the continent of Africa is known as Cape Point. The first European to sight (and round) the point was the Portuguese explorer Bartholomeu Dias, who rounded Cape Point in January 1488. His little flotilla of two ships were hit by storms when they were close to the Point and he named the place Cabo Tormentoso (Cape of Storms). Cape Point and False Bay beyond it on the eastern side of the peninsula are notorious for the autumn northwesterly gales and the ferocious south-easterlies in summer. João II, king of Portugal (1455-1495), later renamed the cape Cabo de Boa Esperança (Cape of Good Hope), because rounding the Cape ultimately served to open the only sea route to the East and its riches at the time.

The next Portuguese explorer to round the Cape was Vasco da Gama, who sailed past Cape point in a gale on November 22nd, 1497. He was the first Portuguese to reach India by sea. Today he is remembered at Cape Point by having the tallest peak named after him.

Today the cross-shaped padrão (a limestone marker used by the Portuguese explorers to mark their landing sites) one can see near the point is  in fact a replica. The original, the Padrão de São Filipe, is thought to have been erected closer to the Point on the headland known as Cape Maclear, just north-west of the point itself.

Cape Point remains one of the most significant headlands in the history of the world, and it is widely regarded as one of the most beautiful points in the world. The English sea captain and explorer Sir Francis Drake, who rounded the Cape on the 18th of July 1580, called it “a most stately thing and the fairest cape we saw in the whole circumference of the earth”. To this day the Cape Peninsula and Cape Town are commonly referred to as “the Fairest Cape”.

Our visit to Cape Point in 2012 was on a bright, sunny and almost windless day.

The marker that greets one at the start of the track leading up to the old lighthouse.

The view along the eastern side of the peninsula towards Cape Point. The highest peak visible is Vasco da Gama Peak.

Looking north along the western side of the peninsula (looking back towards Cape Town, in other words).

Looking down on Smitswinkels Bay from the whale-watching viewpoint on the eastern side of the peninsula. The mountains on the horizon are on the far side of False Bay.

The view south from the same vantage point.

The coast is rocky and rather inhospitable, but beautiful, too.

Looking out across False Bay towards the Hottentots-Holland and Steenbras Mountains and Cape Hangklip on the eastern shore of the bay.

The old lighthouse was constructed in 1859 and is sited on the highest point of the ridge between Vasco da Gama Peak and the Point itself.

Cape Maclear, just north-west of the Point. It is here that Dias is thought to have planted his Padrão de São Filipe in 1488.

Dias Beach and Cape Maclear.

Looking north from the old lighthouse. Vasco da Gama Peak is the nearest to the camera.

A wider view in the same direction, with Table Mountain and Devils Peak in the far distance.

There is a well-constructed and beautifully maintained walkway down to a vantage point just above the sea here.

Cape Point itself, looking south. I took a photo from the edge of the flat rock in the foreground back in 1970, but was a bit more cautious this time!

Looking north, the old lighthouse just visible on top of the ridge.

Another view of Cape Point.

Even on a calm day the surf is quite ferocious. The waves breaking here have travelled unimpeded from the coast of South America!

The Point and the new lighthouse, built in 1914.

The new lighthouse is the most powerful on the coast of South Africa.

Looking back at the old lighthouse.

A last long look over False Bay before we bid Cape Point adieu…

More Cape Town

 

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

 

 

Cape Town – The Fairest Cape or The Mother City

The oldest indications of human settlement at this, the southwestern-most tip of the African continent, date back to around 15-20 000 years ago. Prior to the arrival of the first Europeans, the area was inhabited by groups of nomadic Khoi peoples. The first recorded visit by a European is that of the Portuguese explorer Bartolomeu Dias, who arrived here in 1486 whilst endeavouring to reach the East Indies. The first major settlement by Europeans, however, dates to 1652, when on the 6th of April Jan van Riebeeck landed to start a refreshment post for Dutch ships passing the Cape en route to the Indies, as instructed by his superiors the Heere XVII, the Dutch council responsible for Dutch Colonies.

Today Cape Town is the second-largest city in South Africa after Johannesburg. Its metropolitan population of 3,8 million places it is the same category as Los Angeles and Yokohama. The Cape Peninsula (the city and it’s immediate surroundings, as well as Table Mountain and Cape Point) draws the bulk of both domestic and international tourists and is much loved for its mild Mediterranean climate, its spectacular scenery, its outstanding world-class wines, its cosmopolitan air and mouthwatering food. It’s a city for people who love to live to the full, who enjoy the very finest life can offer and who enjoy being close to Nature.

The city centre as seen from Signal Hill.

Looking east over the northern suburbs like Bellville and Durbanville towards the distant mountain range beyond which the interior starts. The hill on the left is Tygerberg Hill.

The entrance to the Castle of Good Hope. Built by the Dutch East India Company between 1666 and 1679, the Castle is the oldest existing building in South Africa. It replaced an older fort called the Fort de Goede Hoop which was constructed from clay and timber and built by Jan van Riebeeck upon his arrival at the Cape of Good Hope in 1652.

The old Town Hall, Cape Town, as seen from the Grand Parade. This large Edwardian building was built in 1905. It is located on the Grand Parade to the west of the Castle and is built from honey-coloured oolitic limestone imported from Bath in England.

Flower sellers on Adderley Street. The flower sellers have been operating from this position for at least a century and form an integral part of Cape Town’s attractions.

The imposing entrance to the Standard Bank Building.

The Standard Bank building on Adderley Street . Designed by Charles Freeman, the building was completed in 1881. In 1922 two more storeys were added.

The beautiful blend of old and new which is Cape Town.

On the corner of Bloem and Long Streets, looking along the latter. Long Street is lined with beautifully preserved old Victorian buildings and a hub for nightlife.

The V&A is abuzz 24/7, all year round.

Looking northeast and out into Table Bay.

Inside the Victoria Wharf shopping centre at the V&A Waterfront.
With over 450 retail outlets selling everything from fashion, home-ware and curios, to jewellery, leather goods and audio-visual equipment,  the Waterfront is also still a working harbour and the fishing boats can be seen working bringing in fresh fish or the large container ships being towed in by the tugboats.
The Waterfront is Cape Town’s premier entertainment venue and home to many outstanding restaurants.

The V&A Waterfront with Table Mountain and Lions Head in the background.

Fishing trawlers in the working docks of the Victoria and Albert Waterfront.

A glimpse of the colourful houses of the Bo-Kaap (Upper Cape). This area was previously known as the Malay Quarter, because this is where slaves from Malaya settled in the eighteenth century. The minaret of the mosque is indicative of the strong Muslim character of the people of the Bo-Kaap.

Looking down on part of the suburb of Sea Point.

Lions Head on the right, as seen from Signal Hill, with the westerly edge of Table Mountain (and the upper cableway station on top) on the right. Between them we see the mountain range known as the Twelve Apostles.

A wider view to the east, with the Durbanville Hills on the far right.

Another view of the CBD with the harbour on the left and the Royal Cape Yacht Club’s marina in the top left corner. Much of the land in this view has been reclaimed from the sea.

Devils Peak, and below it the suburbs of Oranjezicht, Gardens, Vredehoek, Zonnebloem and Tamboerskloof.

Looking back towards Table Mountain from the road to Signal Hill. Devils Peak is on the far left.

Thank you for taking the time to get a tiny look at a very small part of the wonderful place!