Cape Town itself is probably best known for Table Mountain and its magnificent "tablecloth" which it wears when the notorious south easter or "Cape Doctor" is blowing. This wind never seems to blow when the windsurfing championships are being held which is a strange enough phenomenon in itself.  Beware the unwary.  When the south easter blows not only does it blow away all the nasty pollution and germs but it makes it difficult to cross roads, blows over large articulated trucks and has a nasty habit if you are female and an enjoyable bonus if you are male of hoisting ladies skirts high in the air and exposing a great deal more than any modest self respecting lady would wish.  Moral - wear trousers or do like the Queen does and have weights sewn into the hem of your dress ... mind you they'd have to be pretty heavy!
 

Climate:

Summers: warm and dry with temperatures in the high 20s centigrade.  Can be extremely windy when the South Easter is blowing.  Inland away from the coast it gets up to much higher temperatures in the mid to high 30s.  It is not humid and at night time it can turn a little chilly so bring something warmish to pop on at night.. Summer from October through 'til May. You can always find a beach that is sheltered to sit on if the South Easter is blowing, anyway the windsurfers love it .  Beware though on the Atlantic coast the water is cold.  If you want to dabble your toes in something a little warmer make for the False Bay coast.

Winters: not particularly cold and when the Cape has all its rainfall.  No frost near the coast but inland the temperatures at night can get fairly low.  .daytime temperatures rarely fall below 16C and that is on a bad day.  Winter from late May 'til October but most from overseas would think it was rather a spring or autumn day. Few houses have central heating but a warming log fire is certainly welcoming and just the ticket on a cold winters night.  Snow does fall on the nearby mountains and up in Ceres.  Even occasionally on Table Mountain but never enough to build a snowman on the mountain!

Table Mountain: Most people who visit Cape Town want to go up the mountain.

 I

If you are lucky enough to arrive by sea it is indeed a splendid sight.  If you arrive by air from overseas the airlines often like to give you a little taster of what the Cape is all about and give you a flypast over the mountain. You can book a leisurely trip by cable car or you can choose to take a stroll up the mountain.  There are a number of good books on the walking trails and these you can pick up at any information kiosk.  Don't be caught out by the weather, a nice sunny day and turn into a freezing cold one if the south easter gets up, so do check the weather forecast before venturing up by foot, the usual sensible common sense rules apply make sure you have ample clothing should it turn chilly, water and a pair of

good walking or hiking boots or trainers

.

The Sea:

Well there is plenty of that, some beautiful beaches and many things to do at the sea.

Like a spot of windsurfing?

Although this seems more fun to me!

If these don't blow your socks off of course there is always the option of just soaking up the sun and watching the more adventurous and energetic get their kicks.  Or for those who like to take a look at the locals you can take a trip out to Seal Island in Hout Bay and when you do,  this is what you will see. Yes lots and lots of seals basking on the rocks, making a good deal of noise. Bit like our beaches at peak holidays times.

After that you might want to take a drive around the infamous Chapman's Peak a lovely picturesque drive reminiscent for you world travellers of  the South of France close to the Italian border.  You descend to Fish Hoek and the False Bay coast and tourists we aren't finished yet with our look at the local wildlife.

We turn right and head through the naval base town of Simons Town and a little further along on the left we come to Boulders Beach, a sanctuary for the jackass penguin ( who are endangered and who are often the victims of oil spills around our coasts SANCCOB is the charitable organisation that fixes these chaps up and gets them back home) and a delightful safe beach for kiddies to paddle and everyone else to have a sheltered swim. You have to share with this little fella and his friends.

That over and done with and the pictures taken you can take a drive to Cape Point nature reserve.  It has all been done up with a nice new restaurant and if you look hard enough you can see a variety of bok, um sorry antelope,  zebra and some other wildlife. Just a word of warning beware of  the baboons.

As you go up the road  to the viewing area take a look to your right .. now isn't that one of the most beautiful beaches you've ever seen makes me wanna be a pirate and a smuggler of contraband .. by the way it is called Dias beach and it even has a cave, but beautiful places are oft times dangerous!

There are a few other things to do with the sea.  Off Cape Point about 3kms is a blow hole this area of the Cape Coast is not only well known for shipwrecks but also the great white shark this is one of his favourite haunts.  Recently diving with the sharks has been a new attraction to our shores it has brought a mixed reaction so far but there are quite a number of operators offering this service if you feel you would like to

see this magnificent creatures up close

.

 Fishing for one you can go deep sea fishing from Hout Bay and at Kalk Bay you may for a nominal fee go out on one of the trawlers to hand line fish for snoek (similar to barracuda).  Gordons' Bay you can also go out deep sea game fishing on a charter boat. During the spring you can go whale watching at nearby Hermanus indeed they have a Whale festival and believe it or not a Whale Crier (like ye olde Town Criers ) he informs the town where the whales have been spotted. Whales can be seen all the way around the false bay coast and up the West Coast for a number of weeks in the spring.

Of course there is surfing and body boarding.... but you need a wet suit the water is chilly.  There are wrecks to dive off and for those of you who prefer looking rather than getting on and in the water you could always visit the V & A Aquarium at the waterfront.

More things to see and do away from the sea  but still to do with liquid ... follow in the next page ...um not quite up yet but as they say soon

 More Cape Town