Cape Town

We arrived in Cape Town early the morning of November 8th (extremely tired from not sleep) and were met by our tour guide for the remainder of the tour, Stuart McMillan. Our coach driver is Saban – a nice guy and a great driver. We visited the Company Gardens where there was a monument to Cecil Rhodes and an array of flowers. We then drove around the Boor crop area which has many very colorful homes. We had lunch and shopping time at the Harbour Market, then checked in to our hotel, the Portswood, where we slept for 2 hours before going to dinner at the hotel in the evening. None of the hotels had fans in the bathroom which we found odd and also the handle to flush the toilets are on the right. I had a hard time with people driving on the left side of the road and kept thinking we were going to have a major accident with oncoming traffic. We stayed 4 nights at the Portwood Hotel, at Portswood Square – very nice hotel!

About Cape Town: Our trip to South Africa was much shorter than that of Diaz of Portugal. He sailed off searching for the riches of the east and in February 1498, he unwittingly rounded the Cape of Good Hope. Ten years later, Vasca da Gama sailed from Portugal around the Cape to India.

But the Portuguese were by no means the first to set foot in South Africa. Prehistoric people left their mark here some 600,000 years ago. European settlement began in 1652. Today, South Africa is a cultural melting pot with its diverse and vibrant character being derived from the Khoikhoi and other African tribes from the North, the Zulu, as well as Indonesian, French, Dutch, British and German settlers. Cape Town’s name originated from the term ‘Cape of Good Hope’ from which point Bartholomew Diaz and other seafarers looked forward to the sight of Table Mountain, like an inn that promised hospitality and prosperity. It is visible 40 miles out to sea. Cape Town has the 3^rd largest population of the cities of South Africa and is one of the world’s mot beautiful cities. Like Vancouver, it is looking forward to 2010 when it will host the FIFA World Cup of soccer. Bustling and beautiful, cosmopolitan Cape Town is surrounded by pristine coastlines and a magnificent countryside offering a unique floral kingdom. It is exposed to strong south-easterly winds. The splendor of Table Mountain is one of the most photographed sites in South Africa – 1000 meters high, it dominates the city. In the summer, low-lying cloud hangs over the mountain. Legend attributes the cloud to a pope-smoking contest between the devil and the pirate, Jan van Hunks. The cloud is said to remind the devil of his defeat.