TABLE MOUNTAIN

1086m Table Mountain is Cape Town’s most famous icon and, as part of the Western Cape Floral Kingdom, was declared a World Heritage Site in 2004. Towering over the city, the mountain is visible from 200km out at sea and is often covered with clouds - we call it the tablecloth. Table Mountain is home to more than 1 470 species of plant - more than in the entire United Kingdom. 200 of them are found nowhere else. 5 minutes drive from Ansela´s Place is the Table Mountain Cableway, from where you can take a trip to the top to enjoy spectacular views of Cape Town. Cameras compulsory. For the more energetic, there are a number of walks on or up the mountain, ranging from easy to adventurous. Table Mountain also offers rock climbing routes at various grades - as well as the opportunity, for the brave, to abseil off it... no wonder it’s a Top Ten Western Cape attraction.

KIRSTENBOSCH NATIONAL BOTANICAL GARDENS

Kirstenbosch National Botanical Gardens, situated on the eastern slopes of Table Mountain, is a horticultural haven not to be missed. Kirstenbosch, 10 minutes by car from Ansela´s Place in the Cape Town suburb of Newlands, is entirely indigenous and is home to more than 8 500 plant species. Another Top Ten Western Cape Attraction, this splendid 528 hectare botanical garden was established nearly a century ago in 1913. Today it showcases the full splendor of the unique Cape Floristic Kingdom and its varied fynbos (fine bush). There’s also an impressive cycad collection and more than 150 bird species visit the gardens. Take a picnic or enjoy a meal at one of the restaurants. In summer there are sunset concerts on Sunday afternoons and the annual New Year´s Eve party is always quite an event. You can also climb the Mountain from here - the best and most shaded is Skeleton Gorge with its woody ravines and ladders.

CAPE TOWN COMPANY GARDENS

Established in 1652, the Company Gardens is today a leafy green oasis in the centre of Cape Town and home to its major museums. 2 minutes walk from Ansela´s Place is the Company Gardens, which started life as the Dutch East India Company’s 17th century vegetable patch! Today the more decorative Gardens lie between Orange Street and Adderley Street, right next to the Houses of Parliament (free entry). Within the Gardens there is a Saffren Pear Tree, believed to be the oldest cultivated tree in South Africa, as well as a sundial dating back to 1787. The Iziko South African National Arts Gallery and Museum (R10 entry), The Slave Lodge (R10) and the Planetarium (R20) are also housed within the Gardens, as is the Bertram House Museum (R5) and the Jewish Museum (R50). Museum Mile. This is the ideal place to relax and forget about the stresses of modern life. Here culture and horticulture unite as one.

CASTLE OF GOOD HOPE

The Castle of Good Hope is the oldest European building in South Africa and dates back to 1666. But Cape Town has never had to be defended! Construction took about 13 years to complete. The 5 bastions of the castle are Oranje, Buren, Katzenhellenbogen, Leerdam and Nassau. The courtyard houses the Kat Balcony which is the entrance to the excellent William Fehr collection of period furniture and paintings. The Castle of Good Hope was at the centre of life at the Cape for 150 years, as Cape Town grew as a city. Today it is a military museum with a renowned restaurant and a visitors´ information centre. Concerts and art exhibitions are occasionally staged here: it makes a great venue. If you visit, be sure to drop in on the dungeons where you may be introduced to the resident ghost. The Castle is just 3 minutes walk across the Grand Parade from Ansela´s Place

BO-KAAP

A 5 minute walk from Ansela´s Place, the Bo-Kaap, on the slopes of Lion’s Head, is the place where slaves were settled in Cape Town in the 1700s. After the abolition of slavery at the Cape in 1834, most of the slaves continued to live there. And many of today’s residents are direct descendants of these slaves. A walk through the cobblestoned streets of Bo-Kaap is a unique cultural experience - mosques nestle side by side with colorful houses on quaint cobbled streets. These brightly colored Georgian style houses are characteristic of this area of Cape Town, as is the warmth of both the people and their cuisine (Biesmiellah’s on Wale Street: best samoosas in town). Visit the Bo-Kaap Museum in Wale Street for a glimpse into an important part of the Western Cape’s past or climb to the Noon Gun restaurant just before noon to witness a Cape Town tradition... the Noon gun that is fired every day at noon.

GREENMARKET SQUARE

Green Market Square is a cobble-stoned collection of arts and crafts stalls right in the centre of Cape Town, 2 minutes walk from Ansela´s Place. Here you can buy the cream of Western Cape arts and crafts, as well as a variety of items from other parts of Africa. You’ll find hand-sewn clothing, beadwork, metal and wire work, African music, rare objects d´art and bric-a-brac. After a hard morning’s Cape Town bargain hunting, relax at one of the many coffee shops and restaurants which surround the square as you take in the history and scenic beauty of Green Market Square. The Old Town House Art Museum right on the square has some fine Old Masters too. For a rather different experience, head for the Waterfront’s 250 stores and stalls - retail therapy on a large scale - and a chance to take a trip to historic Robben Island.

DISTRICT 6 MUSEUM

When the apartheid government swooped on District Six, Cape Town in 1965, forcibly removing its occupants and declaring the area a "whites-only" zone, the rich fabric of an impoverished but vibrant community was torn to shreds. Over 60 000 people were wrenched from their homes, livelihoods, community centres and societal networks, and relocated to the bleak plains of the Cape Flats, several kilometres away .... The District Six Museum is a heritage project in itself. Part of its mission is to provide the space for former inhabitants of District Six to share and explore their memories and develop new interpretations of both the past and the present. The museum also functions as a forum where debate and policy development is initiated. District Six Museum houses an impressive collection of historical materials including photographs, paintings, artefacts, physical remains like street signs, books and studies as well as audio-visual recordings of District Six, most which were donated by its former residents. The museum is geared for individuals as well as group and school tours, and is open from 9am to 4pm Mondays to Saturdays. There is also a bookshop and coffee shop, and the museum’s Memorial Hall is available for hire for conferences or other gatherings.

HOUSES OF PARLIAMENT

The city of Cape Town, despite not being the capital of South Africa, is home to South Africa’s Parliament - Cape Town is the legislative capital, whilst the seat of government is in Pretoria, the administrative capital - which is one of the biggest draw cards to the city under the mountain. Lying in the uppermost corner of Company Gardens, with their entrance on Parliament Street, it’s not unusual for locals and visitors alike to encounter Members of Parliament in coffee shops or restaurants in the surrounding areas; and journalists use this locale to scout for news. It is from here that the President gives his State of the Nation Address, after the opening of Parliament, which involves several road closures and demarcated ‘no parking zones’ around the Gardens - a challenge for locals getting in and out of the city centre, but a welcome spectacle for visitors. Visitors can buy tickets to sit in the public gallery during parliamentary sessions between January and June, although you need to remember to have your passport with you, and there are guided tours though the buildings during the week.

ST GEORGE’S CATHEDRAL

St George’s Anglican Cathedral, a gorgeous example of Victorian era design with magnificent stained glass windows and a crypt in which there is a restaurant - reminiscent of St Martin’s in the Field in London - lies on Wale Street in Cape Town, and is known as ‘the people’s cathedral’ because of its role in the resistance against apartheid. St Geoge's Cathedral is the site of one of the country’s few labyrinths, and its stained glass windows include the work of Gabriel Loire. The central panel of the great west window is dominated by the figure of the triumphant Christ. This Christ is black - a visual counterpart to the white Christ of Calvary that stands above the High Altar - a bid to make sure that the Cathedral’s images of Christ represent the fullness of humanity. The right-hand panel of this work includes the figure of Mahatma Gandhi because of his inspiration to combat racism with love. It is also a tribute to the inter-faith co-operation central to the Cathedral’s vision as a genuinely ‘people’s cathedral'

CAPE TOWN CITY HALL

City Hall and Grand Parade lie side by side, both the subject of ‘imminent transformations’, which date all the way back to 2002 and have as yet to come to fruition. For years this beautiful, old building - the stairs of which were used by Nelson Mandela to address the nation when he was released from prison - has stood in the balance, its future undecided and its structure slowly falling into disrepair. This in no way diminishes City Hall’s popularity - it still remains one of the buildings sought out by visitors to Cape Town. Its original foundations were laid at the turn of the last century and it opened in July 1905, its Italian Renaissance style and classical façade on Darling Street, the imposing clock tower built to scale and exactly half the size of London’s Big Ben. Grand Parade, part of Cape Town’s ‘old town’ and one of the country’s most symbolic public spaces - it is the historical site of the release of Nelson Mandela - was most recently the site of the 4th Homeless World Cup, where, in the shadow of Table Mountain, a street soccer stadium hosted about 100,000 people.

V&A WATERFRONT

This working harbour, historical site and shopping and entertainment development has become one of Cape Town's most visited tourist attractions. The waterfront offers everything from shopping malls, and arts and crafts markets, to live music, cinemas, buskers and a variety of festivals throughout the year. There are also more than 70 eateries ranging from pubs and fast food outlets to five star restaurants, luxury hotels, and a variety of boat trips, harbour cruises and helicopter charters. The Two Oceans Aquarium is the largest of its kind in Africa and is an impressive display of life in the oceans surrounding the Cape Coast.

TWO OCEANS AQUARIUM

The Cape sits at the meeting place of the Atlantic and Indian Oceans, and over 3,000 sea animals from both oceans are showcased in the aquarium, highlighting the diversity of marine life found in the waters around Cape Town. The Two Oceans Aquarium is one of the city's top attractions and visitors of all ages will be fascinated by the variety of exhibits, such as the Predator Exhibit, featuring large sharks and rays, a kelp forest, and animals such as seals, penguins and turtles among thousands of different fish. It is also possible to dive with the ragged-tooth sharks, or in the kelp forest while feeding hundreds of fish, but advanced booking is required and divers must present dive qualifications.

ROBBEN ISLAND

From the 17th to the 20th centuries, Robben Island, 12 kilometres from Cape Town, served as a place of banishment, isolation and imprisonment. It was here at Robben Island that rulers sent those regarded as political troublemakers, social outcasts and the unwanted of society. Rebel princes from present day Indonesia, convicts from the Cape, and defiant chiefs from the Eastern Cape were removed from society and brought to the Island in chains. Robben Island has been used primarily as a prison. Indigenous African leaders, Muslim leaders from the East Indies, Dutch and British settler soldiers and civilians, women, and anti-apartheid activists, including South Africa's first democratic President, Nelson Rohihlahla Mandela and the founding leader of the Pan Africanist Congress, Robert Mangaliso Sobukwe, were all imprisoned on Robben Island.

Today, however, Robben Island also tells us about victory over Apartheid and other human rights abuses: 'the indestructibility of the spirit of resistance against colonialism, injustice and oppression'. Overcoming opposition from the prison authorities, prisoners on Robben Island after the 1960s were able to organise sporting events, political debates and educational programmes, and to assert their right to be treated as human beings, with dignity and equality. They were able to help the country establish the foundations of our modern democracy. The image we have of Robben Island today is as a place of oppression, as well as a place of triumph. Today it is a World Heritage Site and museum, a poignant reminder to the newly democratic South Africa of the price some paid for freedom.

‘Today when I look at Robben Island, I see it as a celebration of the struggle and a symbol of the finest qualities of the human spirit, rather than as a monument to the brutal tyranny and oppression of apartheid. It is true that Robben Island was once a place of darkness, but out of that darkness has come a wonderful brightness, a light so powerful that it could not be hidden behind prison walls '

Nelson Mandela