Cape Town is famous throughout the world for her majestic mountain setting, and the many places and sights that both the city and the Cape Peninsula offer the tourist. Many interesting and scenically striking parts of the Cape peninsula have been mentioned in my post. Here are a number of further attractions to tempt the holiday-maker — a rich assortment of mountain walks, glittering beaches, and various artistic and cultural venues.

Nature reserves and mountain walks

The whole of Table Mountain is a nature reserve and there are countless footpaths leading up and along its slopes. An alternative to climbing to the summit is to take the cable car, which sweeps visitors to the mountain top from the cableway station on Table Mountain Road. There is a tearoom at the top, and footpaths criss-cross the summit, leading to various viewsites. The cable car operates every day of the week, but is closed in bad weather.

Lion’s Head, connected to Table Mountain by the saddle of land known as Kloof Nek, has a path spiralling to the summit — with chains to help the walker over steeper parts near the top. Devil’s Peak, at the eastern end of Table Mountain, offers several walks.

Newlands Forest offers a number of pleasantly shaded walks, as does Cecilia Forest, just south of Kirstenbosch. From Constantia Nek there is a long but easy walk to the top of Table Mountain. Further south there are shaded walks (and picnic sites) in Tokai Forest, and the Silvermine Nature Reserve offers high mountain walks with splendid vistas. On the western side of the peninsula there are walks along the mountain slopes above Camps Bay and Hout Bay. Virtually all these walks will take you through scenery far wilder than you would expect to find so near a major city.

The nature reserves on the peninsula contain baboon, porcupine, and various antelope — but none of the larger game animals that tourists come to Africa to view. A greater variety of animals can be seen at Tygerberg Zoo, which can be reached by driving out of the city on the N1 and taking the Klipheuwel exit. Nearby, in Brackenfell, is the Aromaland Animal Park, containing over 200 species of animals and birds.

For bird-lovers the Cape has several places of note. The Rondevlei Bird Sanctuary near Zeekoevlei is one of South Africa’s leading ornithological research stations, and visitors are free to use several observation platforms and waterside hides. (Hippos have also been reintroduced here.) Many bird species can be viewed at the Rietvlei Bird Sanctuary in Milnerton, while the World of Birds in Valley Road, Hout Bay, contains a huge collection of birds from throughout the world — many housed in enclosures through which visitors may walk.

A necklace of beautiful beaches

The peninsula is edged on both its eastern and western shores with numerous superb beaches — but if you are planning to swim, note that the water on the False Bay coast is many degrees warmer than that on the Atlantic seaboard.

There are several small beaches alongside the Sea Point promenade, used more for sun-bathing than swimming. More swimmers will be found in the large sea-water swimming pool at the Sea Point pad- ion. Moving south along the Atlantic coast you come to the Clifton beaches (particularly photogenic), the small Glen Beach (popular with surfers), and the grand white-sand sweep of Camps Bay beach. Several small beaches can then be found tucked away along the coast before you come to the scenic beaches of Llandudno and Hout Bay. South of Chapman’s Peak stretches Noordhoek beach, a favourite with walkers, and this eventually runs into Long Beach at Kommetjie, which is recognised as one of the finest surfing spots in South Africa.

North of the city, but also on the cold Atlantic coast, there is the popular Bloubergstrand, with its world- famous view across Table Bay to Table Mountain. Between Bloubergstrand and the city lies the wild stretch of Milnerton beach, a place for long walks and shell-collecting.

The False Bay coast has a string of popular beaches, preferred by many bathers because of the warmer water. Muizenberg has Sunrise Beach and Surfer’s Corner — where many a young Capetonian first learned to ride the waves. Here too there is the Muizenberg Pavilion and amusement park. Another favourite swimming spot on this side of the peninsula is Fish Hoek beach. At Miller’s Point, St James and Dalebrook there are natural seawater swimming pools suitable for children, and a small, well-sheltered beach that is also safe for children can be found among the rocks at Boulders.

Places of cultural interest

Three hundred years of history have left Cape Town richly endowed with elegant old buildings.

One of the oldest thoroughfares in the city is Strand (beach) Street, and it contains several important buildings. At the upper (western) end there is the Lutheran Church of 1776, which has many carvings by Anton Anreith. Adjoining the church is the Martin Melck House, which was the church’s original parsonage. Also in Strand Street, a short distance down the hill, is the Koopmans De Wet House (C). This dates from 1701 and houses a priceless collection of Cape Dutch furniture.

On the slopes of Signal Hill, the heart of the Malay Quarter is now a national monument – an area bounded by Rose, Wale, Chiappini and Shortmarket streets – and in Wale Street there is the Bo Kaap (upper Cape Town) Museum, preserved as a typical 19th century Cape Moslem house. Two other buildings of note are the S A Sendinggestig Museum in Long Street, and Rust-en-Vreugd in Buitenkant Street. Rust-en-Vreugd houses part of the William Fehr Collection of watercolours and prints – the rest of the collection is held at the Castle.

A number of other places of historical and cultural interest can be found in the city’s outlying suburbs. On the coast road between Muizenberg and Kalk Bay, Rhodes’s Cottage and the old Post Huys are both open to the public. The Post Huys dates from 1673 – a year earlier than the first occupation of the Castle. Closer to the city, off Spaanschemat Road in

Constantia, there is the Nova Constantia manor house, which was originally part of Simon van der Stel’s farm Constantia. In Cecil Road, Rosebank, there is the Irma Stern Museum, housing a collection of works by Irma Stern and various other South African artists.

Of the several cultural venues that merit special mention, perhaps the foremost is the Nico Malan complex on the foreshore – comprising opera house, theatre and restaurant. In Rondebosch there is the Baxter Theatre, with a concert hall and two theatres. In Wynberg there is the open-air Maynardville Theatre, renowned for its summer-evening Shakespeare productions.

Boat trips large and small

Cape Town had its origin as a sea port, and one attraction for visitors is the excitement of a boat-trip on the ocean waves. Several trips may be taken from Hout Bay Harbour. One trip visits the seal colony on Duiker Island. Another is a sunset cruise to Table Bay Harbour – offering magnificent views of the Twelve Apostles. From Kalk Bay there are launch trips to Seal Island.

More extravagant than any of these boat excursions is a helicopter tour of the peninsula. The helicopters leave from the heliport in Grainger Bay – within the Table Bay Harbour area. But perhaps the quaintest outing is a ride on the ‘penny ferry’. Ideal for children, this is a rowing boat that carries passengers across the entrance to Alfred Basin. Where the ferry moors alongside the East Quay there is a small museum in the old clock tower.