EXCURSIONS

The Big Six: Table Mountain, Victoria & Alfred waterfront, the winelands, Cape Point, Boulders and Kirstenbosch. We do them all and a lot more beside, though, where possible, with a non-tourist twist. As well as the ‘must see’ stuff we also visit the work of leading landscape architects and garden designers in and around Cape Town. With the Football World Cup this year there are even more projects to see.

1. Table Mountain

There are two ways of exploring Table Mountain: the easy way by cable car and the hard way on foot. Both are weather dependent, both deliver spectacular views.


The latter is more satisfying and more flexible if the weather should be against us. Accompanied by mountain guides, we will decide on the day which route and whether we can use the cable car as, with the slightest hint of wind, it stops running.

2. Victoria & Alfred waterfront development

The V&A is a giant shopping mall for tourists but a definite “must see”. There’s a microbrewery in the harbour, lots of eateries and plenty of African arts and crafts shops for those presents to take back home. (Pic below left is the V&A from the sea)


It’s also the boarding stage for ferries to Robben Island (not included in the excursions, but you can
go if you wish). This is the prison island where Nelson Mandela was jailed for almost 27 years.



(Pic above left is the view the prisoners looked out on every day; centre: the exercise yard where Mandela created a garden with shade under
which prisoners could sit and read. Left: his minute prison cell - his home for quarter of a century).

In contrast, we can meet up for tea at the Mount Nelson, Cape Town’s
famous old colonial style hotel.


Sir Winston Churchill described the hotel as a Union Castle liner run aground. Tea at “The Nellie” has become something of an institution in the city.

3. Cape Point & the Boulders penguins

The promontory of Cape Point, which lies at the end of the Table Mountain range, is where, Capetonians will claim, the Indian and Atlantic oceans meet. (They don’t. It happens 105 miles to the southeast at Cape Agulhas).


The drive from town is spectacular, past dramatic cliffs and panoramic views of the Cape, stopping for tortoises, avoiding the baboons and saying hello to an ostrich or two. Last year we even saw a school of whales (Pic below centre: those dots in the sea are whales!)


Next stop Boulders to get up close and personal to a colony of Jackass penguins, old and young,


that have made this delightful beach their own. Then, via the historic naval base of Simonstown to the unspoiled fishing village of Kalk Bay where fish can still be bought on the quayside, straight off the boats as they come in to harbour. (See pic below left. R: a group member is introduced to cricket and oysters at the famous Brass Bell restaurant).


The village is popular with Capetonians for its bijoux shops and great restaurants. Why not enjoy a sundowner at Polana, a wine bar right on the rocks, and watch the evening settle in.

5. Winelands

Both in Cape Town itself, and in the triangle between the city, Stellenbosch and Franschhoek, there are many fine wine estates, some dating back to the 17th Century, each offering something unique. We will visit a number of estates -- some traditional...


and some modern...


All offer fine wines for tasting and/or buying. Others offer fine food as well.


We’ll enjoy the best of both.

6. Kirstenbosch

No need to add this on the list really. You’ll be working there and see it as no tourist ever sees it


including the top secret development of well known species of plants for the 100th anniversary of the
gardens coming up soon -- and the painstaking result of nearly a decade of cross breeding.


EATING, DRINKING AND RHYTHM

Cape Town is famous for its food, wine and music. But it’s a large city with many great eating places
all over the urban expanse. So on some evenings we’ll suggest restaurants -- perhaps famous for their
food, their ambiance or their music and provide transport to them for those who want to venture out.


Otherwise outside the front door is a great selection of places to eat, some very elegant, some very funky,
some, as Mama Africa in the pixture above l, with live bands. Or Gold (r) where lots of unexpected things happen. One thing you can be sure of though is eating
in Cape Town is cheap.


VISITING GARDENS & LANDSCAPED SITES

As many of the group are professionals in the industry or are amateurs with an interest in gardening and garden design we lay on visits to see the work of top garden designers and landscape architects in Cape Town and with the 2010 World Cup Football this year, there have been many large-scale landscaping projects completed, particularly in the townships. It’s an exciting year to be in Cape Town. Here are some of the gardens we visited over the past two years.

Greenpoint stadium: Johan van Papendorp, master planner of the new stadium’s grounds and park explains his concept to the group.


Still under construction in 2009, this year we will be able to see the results of his labours. Picture below shows the stadium from Signal Hill, the perfect place to watch the sun go down.



Lake Michelle: A multi-award winning landscaped estate where the brief was to keep the grounds as natural as possible and use only plants indigenous to this corner of Cape Town.



Cellars-Hohenhort Hotel: Head gardener Jean Almon shows us around the grounds she has been responsible for for many decades and is now considered one of the top hotel gardens in the world. Some of the UK’s top garden designers have been persuaded by her charm to offer ideas and schemes == amongst them John Brookes who put us in touch in the first place.



High Constantia: An up-market development where the challenge for landscaper Francesca Weston was to find a balance between formal and natural planting.



Alan Dawson: Former Springbok cricketer turned garden designer. Two of his award winning gardens, one formal the other natural.



Vergelegen Wine Estate: A traditional Cape Dutch wine estate, now owned by Anglo American. Below left are the celebrated camphor trees forming a shady avenue to the main house. Centre are the formal gardens in front of the old house. Head gardener, Eric Theron, now retired, took us around the estate which he has tended for decades. The board walk leads to his pride and joy, the camelia plantation, still in bloom when we were there.



Khayalitsha public space: Not all the landscaped areas and gardens we saw were in the well manicured suburbs or the city centre. This area was once a dark, dangerous pathway from a township railway station to a residential area. Now it is an open and much used play and access park which will be one of the big screen centres during the world cup. Landscape designer Tarna Klitzner takes us through her plans with a couple of junior interested onlookers -- or maybe landscape architects in the making.


Paarman manor: Ina Paarman is the Delia Smith of South Africa. Her cookery books emphasise the benefits of growing fresh produce so an important feature in her own garden is an ornamental (but also practical) vegetable garden. Her landscaper, Rene van Westhuizan, has drawn up a four year master plan for the estate, now into its third year.



Henk Scholtz: His quirky cottage garden in Franschhoek was discovered by Monty Don. He takes flotsam and jetsam and turns them into sculptures, interspersed by clever planting. Here he’s standing against his blue wall. At his feet is a spiral of cat food tins in a gravel garden.