An example of a Cape Town city touring experience We start with a drive up Adderley Street, the main road of the city, viewing all the historic points of interest along the way. From Adderley Street we pass by the Castle, the oldest building in the country. The Castle of Good Hope is the third oldest surviving building in South Africa. Built between 1666 and 1679, this pentagonal fortification replaced a small clay and timber fort built by Commander Jan van Riebeek in 1652 upon establishing a maritime replenishment station at the Cape of Good Hope for the Dutch East India Company, better known as the VOC. The castle is a National Monument and houses the famous William Fehr Collection of historic artworks, the Castle Military Museum and ceremonial facilities for traditional Cape Regiments. From the castle we return back to the city center taking in more of the historic and interesting buildings along the way. Our next stop will be The District six museum. The Group Areas act forcibly relocated millions of South Africans from their homes. District Six is the most famous example of this forced relocation policy under the Apartheid government. This museum, serves as a place of remembrance to all who lost so much during those years of state oppression. District Six was originally established as a mixed community of freed slaves, merchants, artisans, labourers and immigrants and was a vibrant centre with close links to the city and the port. By the beginning of the twentieth century, however, the history of removals and marginalisation had begun. In 1966, it was declared a white area under the Group areas Act of 1950, and by 1982, the life of the community was over. 60 000 people were forcibly removed to barren outlying areas aptly known as the Cape Flats, and their houses in District Six were flattened by bulldozers. The District Six Museum, established in December 1994, works with the memories of these experiences and with the history of forced removals more generally. Our next stop is The South African Jewish Museum which narrates the story of the South African Jewish community from its early beginnings, against the backdrop of South African history over more than 150 years. The Museum is interactive and high-tech, and includes an exclusive documentary on Nelson Mandela and interviews with leading figures during the struggle against apartheid. The museum also houses a reconstructed Lithuanian shtetl, enabling the visitor to experience both past and present. The Discovery Centre provides online information on European origins, South African villages and towns, and a search facility for family trees. A video wall entitled ‘Culture Among Cultures’ portrays similarities and differences in the rites of religious passage of South Africa’s diverse communities, promoting understanding and commonality The SA Jewish Museum is a vehicle for education, information and dialogue. Through its international exhibitions and cultural programs, it offers a dynamic and relevant experience. Situated in the Central Business District, is Greenmarket Square, the perfect spot to observe South Africa’s ‘rainbow nation’ in all its hues. Once the scene of slave markets, this is the site of one of the city’s most vibrant flea markets, where clothing, jewellery, knick-knacks and souvenirs are on sale every day, and tourists and business people rub shoulders in the many sidewalk cafes that surround this busy cobbled square. On the west side of the square is the Old Town House, dating from the mid-18th century, which is a wonderful example of Cape Dutch architecture and houses the Michaelis collection of Dutch and Flemish landscape paintings. Evening classical concerts are held regularly on the veranda. A larger flea market takes place at Green point Stadium every Sunday during the summer months. Next we visit one of the most amazing project of Cape Town - Streetwires. Unemployment is the major hurdle facing our country, leading to numerous other social ills like crime and poverty. This hampers community growth and development. Streetwires strives to create sustainable, meaningful long-term employment for as many unemployed and needy South Africans as possible. By providing people with a workplace, permanent employment, a sense of purpose and access to resources like skills training and personal development, they are helping to improve the life of many formerly destitute South Africans. Street wire art, unique to Southern Africa and largely unavailable beyond our borders, is a living testimony to the industriousness and creative spirit of our people. Born in the shanty towns and dusty back roads and baptised on the streets, today this genre is a thriving and legitimate art form in its own right, with many 'wire masters' making a living selling their creations not only on street corners and at craft markets, but also in upmarket shops and galleries around the world. Like our people, each hand-crafted piece is special in its own way, and each one has its own story to tell. Our next stop, The Bo-Kaap, is an historic, architecturally and culturally interesting area of Cape Town. A traditional residential area of Cape Town's Muslim community, the suburb is situated on the slopes of Signal Hill. You will find cobbled streets, brightly Coloured houses from the nineteenth century, Muslim shrines ("Kramat") and mosques. Most of the residents are descended from slaves brought here by the Dutch in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. They came from Africa, India, Sri Lanka, and Malaysia, and elsewhere in Asia. They are known as "Cape Malays", even though this term is incorrect as most of them are not descended from Malaysians. The "Bo Kaap" or "Cape Malay Quarter” is one of the culturally and historically most interesting parts of Cape Town. The Cape Malay community has also had a large influence on the cooking of South Africa with its delicious cuisine usually consisting of a combination of fruit, spices, vegetables and meat. On returning to the city and depending on the weather, we ascend Table Mountain in the world famous cable car. From the top of the mountain it is possible to see all the way down to the Cape Point reserve as well as the rest of the peninsula. The views from the top of this mountain are of the best in the world and certainly the best in the Cape. The exhilarating ascent of Cape Town's Table Mountain is a must for any visitor and provides breathtaking views over the city and its beaches. The panorama stretches from Table Bay to False Bay and around the mountain to the Hout Bay Valley and Kommetjie. On a clear day one has a magnificent view across the Cape Flats to the Hottentots Holland Mountains. The mountain is sculpted from sandstone and it rises 1086 metres above the bay. Its flat summit measures nearly 3km from end to end. The mountain is home to approximately 1470 species of plants. Many of these are endemic, i.e. appearing nowhere else on earth, including the rare Silver Tree and the wild orchid Disa Uniflora.
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