Columbus Cruise Review

Home > Cruise Destination Guide > Cape Town

Time Zone: GMT + 2.

Currency: Rand (R) = 100 cents.

Language: English.

Sightseeing: One of the biggest problems facing the first-time visitor to Cape Town is how to fit in all the attractions. The city centre is small and compact, and contains a fascinating mix of architectural styles, including Cape Dutch, Victorian and Edwardian, wedged between modern skyscrapers. Table Mountain, with its cable car to the summit, towers over it all, and is a constant landmark and point of orientation. The upper slopes of the eastern arm of the city house the Bo-Kaap (Top Cape), also known as the Malay Quarter. This area was for generations home to freed slaves, and their descendants resisted all attempts at removal by the apartheid authorities. Offshore, lies Robben Island, the prison where Nelson Mandela was gaoled by the apartheid regime. The embarkation point for Robben Island is the Victoria and Alfred Waterfront, a bustling, working harbour that has been immaculately restored and now houses a vast range of restaurants, shops, museums and other attractions, including the world-renowned Two Oceans Aquarium.

Shopping: Cape Town has, since the end of apartheid, become a Mecca for traders from all over Africa, and it is possible to buy African art from all corners of the continent. Greenmarket Square has a daily market selling African art, local jewellery, handmade clothing, music, books and antiques. Antique lovers should stroll up and down Church Street, while the upper end of Long Street is home to the finest cluster of second-hand bookshops in Africa.

Eating Out: Typical South African dishes include sosaties (a type of kebab), bobotie (a curried mince dish), bredies (meat, tomato and vegetable casseroles), crayfish (or rock lobster) and many other seafood dishes. Biltong (seasoned dried meat) is a savoury speciality. Potjiekos, a casserole cooked for hours in an iron pot is excellent. Stywepap or Poetoepap, a sort of polenta made with white maize, is widely eaten with meat. There are also excellent local red and white wines, sherries, brandies and some unusual liqueurs.