Posts Tagged ‘cape town tourism’

What to Expect From Cape Town

Written by MichaelZ on November 16, 2009 – 5:44 am -

The West coast attraction of South Africa, Cape Town is close to L’agullas, which is located on the most south point of the African continent. This most wonderful scenic and spectacular part of the world is famous for its most miraculous Table Mountain. Cape Town’s climate is moderate, being a coastal city. It also experiences very strong seasonal winds and rainfall during the winter. The attitude of the residents of this place is of late back nature, which can controvertibly be called as the Cape cultural heritage.

The History Of Cape Town
Bartolomeus Dias came to the Cape in 1488 and named it The Cape of Storms (later on it was known by another name “The Cape of Good Hope”). Ten years later, Vasco de Gama came to the Cape and after this, the Portuguese began Eastern trade and the Europeans became acquainted with the Khoi-Khoi. It could be implied that this was the beginning of the Capes cultural variations. Jan Van Riebeek built a lasting settlement at the Cape in 1652, which functioned as a rest stop for boats to get clean water and food to eat. It also helped with Eastern trade. The Cape used slaves, because of the crops that needed to be cultivated to feed the boat dwellers that traveled through. The transported slaves were also a part of the Capes changing cultural legacy.

Tourism
For anyone planning to visit St. George’s Mall at the Cape will find that they offer a good variety of ethnic music along with tribal African dancers. You will find good traditional music using instruments such as bongo drums, xylophones and flutes. On the first of January, Cape Town has a multiplicity of cultural activities of the “Kaapse Klopse” or Coon Carnival. This is a yearly parade consisting of about 20,000 dancers and singers that perform traditional tunes to start out the New Year on a positive and festive note. If one visits this time of year, they can also experience singing of the Cape’s Malay choirs as well as the many church choirs, which is a very distinctive part of the Cape’s musical and cultural heritage.

You can also get cheap Cape Town car rental deals online by going to Car Rentals South Africa.

Architecture And Robben Island
The architectural design of Cape Town is a fine blend of different architectural styles, including – Dutch, English as well as more recent African styles. The cultural heritage of the old cape is reflected in the Dutch buildings, which also provide a soothing scene. Further, there is an interesting practice called “shack chic”, wherein the economically weaker Africans use interesting designs and materials for building houses because they can’t afford good material. The city also delights the visitors with its boat trip to Robben Island, which was used as a jail at the time of the apartheid movement. It had also housed Nelson Mandela for 27 years, who later became President of South Africa. Most of the politicians engaged in anti-apartheid movement were kept here. The Island has now been turned into a museum with memories of the discriminated past of South Africa.

The Castle Of Good Hope And Table Mountain
The Castle of Good Hope is a major tourist spot and has attracted a lot of tourists in the recent days. It is situated in the heart of Cape Town city, in South Africa. It is one of the oldest stone buildings of South Africa and is known for its museum and has a good restaurant too. The Western Cape’s military administrative headquarters is situated in the Castle of Good Hope as well. Cape Town is most known for Table mountain (The name says it all). It is noted for its popular cable car service, enabling the tourists to relax, and there is a good restaurant at the top of the mountain, where they get good food and tourists can enjoy their food and the view at the same time.

Cape town is a city with lot of tourist attractions. Getting a cheap flight into Cape Town is just as easy getting the attractive rates on their car hire deals.The city is also known for its variety of lodges, hotels, bed and breakfast houses, and back packers. The city will suit any type of tourist as it supports different type of people, food, and music and of course variety architecture.

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