The Passenger ⋆ Page 26 of 301 ⋆ Memories and hints of a travelling IT professional.

April 20, 2024January 30, 2025

Cape of Good Hope

Located at the southern tip of the Cape Peninsula in South Africa, the Cape of Good Hope is one of the most iconic and historically significant landmarks in the world. Often mistakenly thought to be the southernmost point of Africa, it marks the meeting of the Atlantic and Indian Oceans and is famous for its rugged beauty, dramatic cliffs, and diverse wildlife. The cape is part of the Table Mountain National Park and attracts visitors for both its natural splendor and its historical role as a navigational landmark for sailors during the Age of Exploration.

April 20, 2024January 30, 2025

Chappy

Chapman's Peak Drive, Hout Bay / Noordhoek

Chapman’s Peak Drive, one of the most scenic coastal routes in the world, winds its way along the rugged cliffs of the Cape Peninsula, offering breathtaking views of the Atlantic Ocean and surrounding mountains. The drive stretches for about nine kilometers between Hout Bay and Noordhoek, with the road hugging the steep cliffs and offering spectacular vistas at every turn. Built in the early 20th century, the road is a marvel of engineering, cutting through towering cliffs and providing a thrilling experience for drivers and passengers alike.

April 20, 2024January 30, 2025

Boomslang

Kirstenbosch National Botanical Garden, Cape Town

The Kirstenbosch National Botanical Garden, located on the slopes of Table Mountain in Cape Town, is one of the most renowned botanical gardens in the world, celebrated for its stunning array of South African flora. Established in 1913, Kirstenbosch showcases a vast collection of indigenous plants, including a variety of fynbos species, aloe, and proteas, and serves as a hub for plant conservation and research. One of the garden’s most unique features is the Boomslang, a wooden canopy walkway that allows visitors to experience the beauty of the garden from a bird’s-eye view.

April 19, 2024May 20, 2024

Mama Africa

Being at South Africa gives you the great chance to taste different dishes from all of Africa. If you don’t always want to dine at the waterfront of Cape Town you should consider the city center and especially the Long Street when looking out for great food. There you’ll also find Mama Africa, a well-known restaurant serving African food which is easy to spot – because of the nice paintings on the outside.

April 19, 2024May 20, 2024

Bo-Kaap

Between the city center of Cape Town and Signal Hill you can find a special city quarter that is mostly known for its colorful painted houses: Bo-Kaap. It has narrow and steep streets and is obviously not the prime location to built a city quarter on (even though it is really close to the city center); it is the place that the so-called Cape Malays were allowed to settle in. They’re a Muslim group whose ancestors were enslaved by the Dutch East India Company and brought to South Africa.

April 19, 2024May 20, 2024

(Natural) History

The South African Museum was founded in 1825 and is a wild mix of 1,5 million exhibits connected to South Africa. You can learn about regional stone carvings, sharks, land-bound animals, dinosaurs, the life of Nelson Mandela and visit a planetarium connected to the museum. In fact, the South African Museum is a combination of a natural history museum and an archaeology museum which feels a bit odd at the first moment as these types of museums are typically separated in Europe.

April 19, 2024May 20, 2024

South African National Gallery

Walking through the Company’s Garden at Cape Town you’ll discover the South African National Gallery at its southwestern end. It is an art museum that was founded in 1871 and that exhibits African and European art. The collection started with works donated by Sir Thomas Butterworth Bayleys and was extended with European artists over time. Thereby this was a special place showing foreign art and the curators are aware about the effects of colonialism on their collection. Since 1990 the focus is to add South African artworks and especially paintings by black artists to the collection.

April 19, 2024January 30, 2025

Squirrel paradise

The Company’s Garden in Cape Town is a historic public park located in the heart of the city, originally established in the 17th century by the Dutch East India Company as a supply garden to provide fresh produce to passing ships on their voyages to the East. Over the centuries, the garden has evolved into a lush, green space surrounded by significant cultural and historical landmarks, including the South African Museum, National Gallery, and the parliament buildings.

April 19, 2024January 30, 2025

District 6

District 6, once a vibrant and diverse neighborhood in Cape Town, holds a poignant place in South Africa’s history. Prior to the 1960s, District 6 was home to a thriving, multicultural community of Black, Coloured, and Indian South Africans, with a rich cultural and social fabric. However, under the Group Areas Act of 1950, which enforced racial segregation during the Apartheid era, the government forcibly removed over 60,000 residents from the area, bulldozing their homes to make way for a whites-only residential zone.

April 19, 2024January 30, 2025

Kasteel die Goeie Hoop

The Castle of Good Hope, located in the heart of Cape Town, is the oldest surviving colonial building in South Africa and one of the city’s most significant historical landmarks. Built between 1666 and 1679 by the Dutch East India Company, the castle was initially constructed as a defensive fort to protect the Cape Colony from potential attacks by sea. Its star-shaped design, featuring thick stone walls, bastions, and a moat, reflects the military architecture of the time. Over the centuries, the castle has served various roles, including as a military garrison, prison, and governmental headquarters.