Down town in Cape Town.

Finally we made it to Cape Town, the jewel in the crown of South Africa.  It certainly lives upto that title lots to do and see.  The main part of the city is actually quite small it is known as the city bowl and is sandwiched between Table Mountain, The Lion's Head (another big hill in the city), Signal Hill (from where they fire the noon day gun) and the sea.  The first think we decided to do was stretch out legs and climb up Table Mountain, we looms up behind the city to 1080 Metres.  You can take the cable car up and down but we decided to climb up one of the many walking paths.  You may think its a nice easy walk to the top, but its pretty much the equivelent of climbing a Munro and the path we took (The Platteklip Gorge route) was the most direct, but the toughest and was pretty much straight up !!!!

Start of the climb.

Gillian at the bottom of the Patteklip gorge.

 Looking back down the gorge.

 Gillian on the summit at Maclears Peak.

 Cape Town in the background (Lions Head on the left and Signal Hill on Dean's right). 

 Gillian and Cape Town (you can see Green Point Stadium above Gillians Head). 

At the cable car station.

 Table Mountain cable cars (note we are walking !!!).

 In the evening the table cloth covers the mountain.

The next day we got the Cape Town city bus tour which was great as it took us to some of the nice beaches around the city.  We also went to some museums on the route.

A nice start to the bus trip : Table Mountain.

On the bus !!

 Camps Bay.

Victoria and Alfred Waterfront.

 Down the waterfront with Table Mountain in the background.

Downtown Cape Town.

Gillian selects her valentines muffin at Charlies bakery.

  District 6 was a vibrant part of Cape Town where many different people from different backgrounds worked and lived together. In 1966  the apartheid government decided to declare the area "White Only" area and force removed the whole community and demolished their homes.  There was much international condemnation of this and the area was been left deserted since then.

 District 6 Museum.

District 6 as it is now.

View from our hostel.

 Some of the rich residents of Cape Town.

Cape Town city hall, where Nelson Mandela made his first public appearance after his release. 

 Time to get fit at the open air gym on Sea Point.

 Cape Town Victoria and Alfred waterfront.

No trip to Cape Town would be complete without a trip to visit Robben Island, a maximum security prison for politican prisoners during apartheid.  This is where many leaders and members of the African National Congress (ANC), including Nelson Mandela were imprisoned.  The tour is very interesting especially as the tour is conducted by a former inmate called "Sepo".

On the ferry out to Robben Island.

 Gateway to the prison.

 Prison Football pitch.

 Former inmate "Sepo" telling us about life in the prison. 

Prisoners slept on the floor until 1970's when they successfully managed to protest for proper beds. 

Prison corridor.

Nelson Mandela's Cell.

Nelson Mandela's Cell.

Watch tower.

Lime quarry where prisoners were forced to do hard labour.  The prisoners quarried the lime for 15 years.  The first 6 months the lime was used to surface the roads on the Island, afterwards they did it for no reason at all.  Many of the prisoners suffered eye damage from the brightness of the light in the quarry (Nelson Mandela now has  to wear sunglasses due to this).

Looking back from Robben Island to Cape Town.

The last area we visited is called Bo-Kaap. It is a colourful quarter of the city where many of the Malaysian communities live.

 Gillian in the Bo-Kaap.

Colourful Houses.

 Bo-Kaap Street.

Last sunset in Cape Town.

Cape Town was a very interesting city to visit and there is plenty to do here for everyone hiking, museums, nice bars and cafes.  After our little city break we hired a car for a few days and packed out bags and headed down the Cape Peninsula to visit the Cape of Good Hope and Cape Point.