Cape Town (CT) is positively the most naturally beautiful city in the world. It is right on the Coast and surrounds the majestic Table Mountain which, thankfully, unlike Montreal, does not have a road passing over it. This is the view from Robben Island (more on this later).

Like Vancouver and San Francisco, Cape Town has a wonderful natural & built up waterfront area. There are many shops, restaurants, walkways, boats and the ferry to Robben Island. This made for quite the view as the weather was changing.

These 6 flags representing South Africa’s history stand atop the Castle of Good Hope. It was constructed around 1670 as a military base and is one of the oldest European structures in SA.

The flags in order of rule over the years (right to left)are: Dutch, British, Dutch, British, Union of South Africa, Republic of South Africa.

At the Cape Town waterfront one can visit the land portion of the Robben Island Museum and then take a ferry to visit the actual prison and environs of Robben Island.

Robben Island is where former President Nelson Mandela was held for 18 of his 27 captive years. Next to the ticket booth, this is the vending machine explaining the triumph of human spirit and beginning one’s voyage into one of the most incredible stories of human history.

The guided tour of the actual prison was lead by an ex-political prisoner named Sparks. The conditions endured by both the political and criminal prisoners were abominable. They started in solitary confinement for 90 - 180 days and then placed in concrete unheated cells. The political prisoners worked in a quarry all day and used a bucket as their latrine. They spent the day in the bright sunshine, without sunglasses - this is why Nelson Mandela needed an eye operation after his release from prison.

During their breaks at the quarry, the political prisoners developed a ‘university’ educating the illiterate in their ranks & developing policies and strategies which eventually lead to their freedom and South Africa’s present day unity, integration and reconciliation.

Most amazing and heart-warming is that the guides, the ex-political prisoners, are without bitterness and keep the memory of the prison’s history alive out of the wish for reconciliation, not revenge. This theme was also carried through in our tour later in Jo’burg of the incredible Apartheid Museum; an amazing piece of history we were able to learn and share.

In stark contrast to Robben Island, on the main land of CT, is Camps Bay. This is one of the many beautiful beaches of CT and the one to ‘see and be seen’. It is where many films are made and the beautiful people live up on the hill. It is also the location of the world’s beach volleyball championships leading up to the Olympics.

‘Rikkis (pronounced Ricky’s) Taxi' is a backpacker’s institution in CT. There are eight of these refitted models each seating a squeezed in up to eight people. They are much cheaper than a private fare taxi and oh so much more exciting. You get to breath in the vehicle fumes and the driver’s smoke in the open back and zoom around corners like on an amusement park ride. You also get to meet the most interesting characters and tour different parts of the city as the driver picks up & drops off folks in the most bizarre order!

There are many routes to climb up Table Mountain in CT. The most interesting and botanical one is up Skeleton Gorge from Kirstenbosch Gardens. Immediately above Janet’s head is Skeleton Gorge – our route up the mountain.

In the bottom half of the gorge, the trail consists of ladders leading up the rock. Then it stops and you need to climb the rocks.

During our climb we enjoyed lovely vegetation, some of it unique to Table Mountain. Once on top, we met many lizards and chameleons sunning themselves in the bright sunshine on the warm rocks.

The 360 degree views of CT from the top of the mountain are spectacular. Pictured at left is ‘the Lion’. The prominent peak is the head and the rump extends to the right. Immediately above ‘the lion’ is the fashionable Sea Point – our home while in CT. The body of water is Table Bay and Robben Island is off shore. The beach area in the distance is called Tableview – the last picture in this chapter is taken from that beach.

On the lion’s rump (but too small to make out in this picture) is Signal Hill. At noon each day except Sunday, a cannon is fired. Since days of old, people set their timepieces from this signal. Pictured here is the cannon marking noon on Dec 04, 2004.

Kirstenbosch Gardens are considered among the most beautiful in the world. Cecil Rhodes (of Rhodesia fame) bequeathed the property to the nation on his death in 1902.

Pictured at left is a Bird of Paradise. They peaked in November, but we were able to find this late bloomer!

Timmie, this one’s for you.

The next 2 are random flowers from Rick’s many flower pictures.

Cecil’s memorial to himself is ‘a classic example of the extremes of stuffy bombast that went into the British Empire architecture and statuary, but impressive nonetheless.’ – Lonely Planet Guide, Southern Africa, September 2003.

This community is 25 km north of CT and offers wonderful views of the city. Pictured here is a kite surfer, cruising the waves, with Kirstenbosch Gardens and Skeleton Gorge barely discernable as the backdrop.