This article is classified "Real"
Where?
======
Cape Town is situated at the South-western tip of South Africa which, as
its name suggests, is at the southern tip of Africa. It is a common error
to assume that Cape Point [1] is the most southern part of SA. This is of
course wrong, as the locals will be quick to point out. The honour of the
most southerly part of Africa goes to Cape Agulhas, which is even more
boring and not worth discussing further.
People
======
The population varies according to who you speak with. Currently it has
been narrowed down to between 2 and 3.5 million. An official census has
been taken, but by the time the results are released the figure will be
terribly out of date.
Table Mountain
==============
The first thing you notice when you visit Cape Town is Table Mountain.
This is a very difficult thing to miss, much in the same way as it is hard
to fail to see an elephant sitting in your kitchen. Table Mountain, despite
its name, is a mountain shaped like a table, although I wouldn't look for
any giant cups of tea on it (unless you go to the cafe/restaurant at the
top). A popular activity is to wait in line for three hours to get a ride
to the top of the mountain in the cable car. It is possible to book in
advance for a place on the cable-car, and thus avoid the wait, but purists
maintain that doing so ruins the experience.
The view from the top is very nice, showing the entire city, and on a clear
day, the mountain ranges in the distance. The considerate hitchhiker must
resist the awesome temptation to spit off the edge or start a small rock
slide. The mountain is surrounded by the city, and those living or hiking
below might not appreciate your gravitational experiments.
Some History
============
Cape Town was founded in 1652 by a Dutch chappie named Jan Van Riebeeck.
The city was occupied by Holland, Britain, and France. Not, of course, at
the same time. Cape Town was an important stop-over point for ships on
their way from east to west, or the other way round. This resulted in
the above three countries fighting for it (the city), until the Suez Canal
was built and everyone packed up their toys [2] and went home.
Places To See
=============
One place a hitchhiker must avoid at all costs is the Victoria and Alfred
Waterfront. This is a tourist trap, repeat, a tourist trap. It is so
effective that it even traps the locals. Everything is more expensive here,
and cheaper wares can be found by going elsewhere.
If you do have spare funds available, there are actually a few good things
to see at the V&A Waterfront. The whole thing is actually built within the
Cape Town Harbour, which is a fully functional and busy international port.
If you want to see what goes on in a harbour, this is a good place to go
with no risk of getting thrown out.
The two best things at the Waterfont are: the Two Oceans Aquarium, which
has aquatic life from both the Indian and Atlantic oceans, and the IMAX
cinema, which at the time this article was written, was the only such cinema
in Africa. The tourist trap section of the Waterfront is the Victoria and
Alfred Mall, which is a collection of speciality shops and restaurants, and
the entire complex seems to double in size every few years. There are
institutions such as the Hard Rock Cafe and Planet Hollywood here, with
plans for more similar international companies to come in.
I would instead recommend walking around the centre of town to see all of
the various shops and clubs, especially on Loop- and Long street. Unless
you have a local to guide you, I would definitely insist that you do this
during the day. If you are feeling particularly suicidal, or want to
practice your fighting skills, you can try this at night, but of course I
really wouldn't suggest you do this. Always make sure that you have
organised transport home, as the taxis refuse to pick up passengers after
about 7pm, and the late-night public transport systems are sporadic at
best. Some taxi drivers will collect you after 7pm if you make arrangements
with them in advance, and they don't suspect you of being a mugger.
Green Market Square and Greenpoint Stadium are good places to go to see what
fell off the lorry this week. Deals can be found, but always beware of what
you buy. I myself once bought a jacket there which had upside-down pockets.
Not very useful for holding wallets and other valuables. Both of these
markets are open from about 8:30am to 4pm, with Greenpoint Stadium being at
its busiest on a Sunday morning.
If it is excitement that you are looking for, then catch a taxi. This is
generally regarded as the best way to lose your life, or your underpants,
in as short a period of time as possible. You must remember that I am not
talking about a regular taxi [3] here, but a wonderful local variant known
as the minibus taxi. The qualifications to become a taxi driver are simple.
Ignore traffic rules, other traffic, road markings, and pedestrians (other
than those who are trying to catch a taxi). Taxis can be caught at any
recognised taxi stop [4].
Another activity in Cape Town is the Wine Route. This is basically an
extended pub crawl, with guides and pamphlets. Although generally a day
trip, people have been known to disappear for weeks at a time appreciating
the fine grape beverages of the Western Cape.
Finances
========
The money in Cape Town, in fact for the entire country, is this creature
called the Rand (not to be confused with the Kruger Rand, which is worth a
little bit more). The Rand is currently worth about the same as a snotty
tissue, so hitchhikers can look forward to good exchange rates.
Sports
======
The main sports in Cape Town are Rugby, Cricket, and Football [5]. The
respective teams all have nicknames:
Football - Bafana Bafana
Rugby - Amaboko-boko
Cricket - Those cricket guys
The Rugby side won the world cup in 1995; the finals were held in this
country. The Football side won the Africa Cup of Nations; the finals were
held in this country. The Cricket team did not win the world cup; the
finals were not held in this country. (Do we see a trend here?)
Guess why Cape Town wanted to host the 2004 Olympics?
A final word for those of you who surf: Cape Town has arguably the densest
population of Great White sharks [6] in the world.
Surf's up!
[1] The bit directly south of Cape Town that sticks out to sea.
[2] Guns, soldiers, ships, etc.
[3] Road-worthy car, licensed driver, four wheels, you get the picture...
[4] Pavements, traffic lights, roundabouts, the centre of national roads,
in fact, just about anywhere that you can be seen from the road.
[5] Soccer, for the uninformed Americans.
[6] The carnivorous fish species, not a large, white, money-lender.