|
CURRENTS
|
main | south
africa | activities in capetown
Activities In And Around Cape Town The Castle of Good Hope on Darling Street, built in 1666, is one of the oldest European structures in South Africa. It houses the William Fear collection of African Art, as well as a Maritime and Military Museum. The South African Museum on Government Avenue, near the Botanic Gardens, is the oldest establishment of its kind in southern Africa and is dedicated to the study of natural history. Groot Constantia in the Constantia Valley near Cape Town was the home of Governor Simon van der Stel in 1699. The manor-house is now a museum, furnished with fine Dutch furniture and paintings of the period. The Cultural History Museum at the top of Adderly Street was once the Old Supreme Court. It contains art and culture of ancient Egypt, Greece, imperial Rome, the Far East, and other civilizations. More modern exhibits include early Cape furniture, silver, glass and stamps as well as the Mercedes Benz collection of objects dating from the Dutch East India company period of rule. The building itself is of historical importance. The Jewish Museum is housed in South Africa's oldest synagogue in the Gardens, Cape Town. It contains a collection of ceremonial silver, antiquities, books and documents relating to South African Jewish History. Robben Island is both a National Museum and a National Monument. For nearly four-hundred years, Robben Island served as a place of banishment and political imprisonment. Apartheid, however, brought international scrutiny to the island. One of the most famous inmates was prisoner 488/64: Nelson Mandela. South African activist and poet Dennis Brutus also was a political prisoner on the island. The guides on the tour are former political prisoners or prison guards and will highlight the prison facilities, former President Nelson Mandela’s jail cell and the quarries. The tour is approximately 3.5 hours in length, which includes ferry time to get to the island. Ferries depart from the Nelson Mandela Gateway at the Waterfront seven days a week at regular intervals. Reservations must be made at the ticket office prior to boarding the ferry. The cost is R100 for adults and R50 for children.
While there are over 24,000 species of wild flowers in South Africa, the southwestern corner of the Cape is particularly notable for its plant life. All indigenous flora is protected; it is against the law to pick or destroy flowers growing alongside the road, in parks, or botanical gardens. The National Botanic Garden at Kirstenbosch, about seven and a half miles from the center of Cape Town on the southern side of Table Mountain, is world-renowned and is devoted to the scientific study and growth of South Africa's unique wild flowers. Municipal Botanic Gardens, Government Avenue, Cape Town, are situated on the site of the Dutch East India Company's original garden. There is a "scent" garden for the blind. Caledon Wild Flower Reserve is about 62 miles from Cape Town on the national road from Cape Town to Port Elizabeth. Signal Hill View Point more or less divides the center of the city in half. There are excellent views over most of central Cape Town and Table Bay Harbor. On the slopes of Signal Hill is the Malay quarter, an area of cobblestone streets peppered with mosques, the oldest of them dating from 1798. For a view from the top of Table Mountain, cable cars make the ascent every 15 minutes, weather permitting, between 8:30am-6:00pm every day. From December to May, the cableway operates until 10:30pm. Stellenbosch is a town in the heart of the wine country east of Cape Town. It has many beautiful Old Dutch Cape houses, several museums including an excellent wine museum, and is the seat of the foremost Afrikaans university. The Baxter Theatre at the University of Cape Town in Rosebank (15 minute train ride from Cape Town Central) is well known for its program of plays, concerts, shows, and movies on socially relevant topics.
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
