Cape Town South Africa Culture And History - Cosmopolitan Cultural Mix

By Gerald Crawford

Cape Town has a cosmopolitan cultural mix which has been influenced over the years mainly by the Dutch, French and British, with a significant influence also having come from Malaysia. Cape Town is home to artists and performers of every description,.

With a fascinating history going back 350 years, Cape Town offers a huge selection of museums and places of cultural interest to visit. Also to be considered are tours of the townships, a ferry trip to Robben Island or a wander through the District Six Museum.

The Malay Quarter (more correctly named the Bo-Kaap), hugs the lower slopes of Signal Hill and is a maze of narrow alleys and densely clustered flat roofed homes. The Bo-Kaap is home to a large Islamic community, many of whom are descended from slaves imported by the early European settlers from the Dutch colony of Java.

The VOC Company Gardens, located at the upper end of Adderley street, with its stately oak trees, shady paths, green lawns and lily covered ponds has a direct line of descent from the earliest settlers. When Jan Van Riebeck landed in the Cape in 1652, his first task was to plant a vegetable garden to supply the passing ships of his employers, the powerful Dutch East India Company. The modern Gardens are located at this spot and although much reduced from the original size are still a wonderful place to spend a few hours.

The Castle dating back to roughly the same period is the oldest European structure in South Africa, the Castle of Good Hope. The "castle" is actually a defensive fort, construction of which began barely 2 days after the arrival of the first Dutch settlers in April 1652. Although today the Castle is far away from the sea, it was originally built on the beach, Strand Street, which passes the structure is translated as "Beach Street". The area where the cape Town station now stands was originally under the ocean and has been built on land reclaimed over the years so that today the ocean is a couple of kilometres distant.

Cape Town is home to a number of historic buildings, many of them well preserved and can be visited by the public. Bertram House, in the city centre was built in the 1830's when anything much beyond Adderly Stret was farmland. The house is now a museum and gives a wonderful insight into cape Town life almost 200 years ago [Tel: 021 424 9381].

There are many more such gems to be found in and around the city, such as Koopmans De Wet House, the Groote Kerk (Big Church) in Adderley Street. Also worth a visit is the bustling open air market at Greenmarket Square, the Historic buildings and dusty book shops in Long Street (walk its length and find out how this street got its name), the huge underground Golden Acre shopping mall, the old Slave Lodge and the South African Museum [021 424 3330], to name but a few.

Come for a visit.

Gerald Crawford was born in South Africa, studied electronics, telecommunication, eco-travel and african travel concepts. He taught responsible tourism in South Africa. If you have any questions or comments please e-mail me on. E-mail Address: southafricantravelarticles@12234455.co.za Website Address: http://www.12234455.co.za Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Gerald_Crawford

South African Cape Town Travel Information

By Gerald Crawford

"Tavern of the Seas"

In 1652 Jan van Riebeeck sailed into Table Bay and laid the foundations of South Africa's oldest city. His first undertaking was to establish a vegetable garden for the purpose of providing passing merchant ships with fresh food. Before long, weary sailors from around the world dropped anchor in the bay to replenish supplies.

The settlement soon earned the titled: 'Tavern of the Seas', and to this day, Cape Town has maintained a reputation for friendly hospitality. With its majestic Table Mountain backdrop, Cape Town is one of the most beautiful cities in the world. An eclectic mix of architectural styles reflects the tastes and dictates of the past - and the more functional demands of the 20th century.

The city's Edwardian and Victorian buildings have been meticulously preserved, and many outstanding examples of Cape Dutch architecture are found in the city and its environs. Cobble stoned streets, mosque's and the flat-roofed pastel homes of the Malay Quarter entrance a cosmopolitan ambience, and in a recent development, the restoration of the Victoria and Alfred Waterfront evokes images of the seafaring activities of the 19th century.

For a closer look at life at the Cape in earlier times, interesting historical collections are on display in several museums. Cape Town's shopping options invite you to endlessly browse - and buy. Elegant shopping malls, department stores, antique shops and at galleries abounds. Specialist boutiques in Long Street and the narrow little alleys intersecting it offer an enticing array of unusual articles not readily obtainable elsewhere.

At the end of the day, gourmets and lovers of sophisticated entertainment have a treat in store.

South Africa's legislative capital is situated at the foot of Table Mountain, the famous flat-topped mountain with views out across the peninsula to the Atlantic and Indian Oceans. It is possible to walk up, but for the less intrepid, there is an excellent cable car.

The main hub of the city centre is the Victoria & Alfred Waterfront, the beautifully restored old Victorian harbor which offers free entertainment, a wide variety of shops, museums, including the excellent Aquarium, taverns and restaurants.

Boat trips leave from here for harbor tours or the notorious Robben Island, where Nelson Mandela and many other nationalist leaders were imprisoned. The relics of early colonial government are centered on Government Avenue, with many fine old buildings and museums, including the Parliament Buildings; Groote Kerk (mother church of the Dutch Reformed faith); the Cultural History Museum; National Museum; National Gallery; Bertram House and Company's Garden, planted in 1652 to provide food for passing sailors.

Nearby sights of interest include Bo-Kaap (the home of the Islamic Cape Malay people, confusingly of mainly Indonesian origin); the Castle of Good Hope in Darling Street, built in 1666; the Old Townhouse on Greenmarket Square, housing a permanent collection of 17th-century Dutch and Flemish paintings; and the early 18th-century Koopmans de Wet House.

Those interested in learning more about black and 'Cape coloured' culture should visit the District Six Museum, Buitenkant Street, and take one of the many excellent guided tours of the outlying townships of Crossroads, Langa and Khayelitsha.

It is probably not safe for tourists to venture into these areas on their own. Cape Town also has excellent sporting and shopping facilities.

The Baxter Theatre and Artscape Theatre Complex offer a mix of local and international fare. Nightlife is concentrated in the V&A Waterfront, Sea Point, and parts of the central business district, notably around Long Street. Further out, the Cape-Dutch homestead of Spier and Ratanga Junction theme park both offer a variety of entertainment from classical to jazz concerts.

Excursions:

South of Cape Town a long peninsula stretches south, lined by fishing villages and holiday resorts, including Llandudno, Hout Bay, Kommetjie, Fish Hoek, Muizenberg and Simonstown, a delightful Victorian town with a couple of interesting museums and the only colony of penguins to live on the African mainland.

Inland, the magnificent Cape-Dutch farm, Groot Constantia, was one of the first wine farms in the Cape, while the Kirstenbosch National Botanical Gardens, created by Cecil Rhodes in 1895 on the lower slopes of Table Mountain, is one of the finest botanical gardens in the world.

In the summer there are open-air concerts. Nearby Chapman's Peak has spectacular views, but the scenic drive from Hout Bay is currently closed due to landfalls, and you need to walk the last section to the summit. About an hour's drive from Cape Town, the Cape of Good Hope Nature Reserve covers the southern tip of the Cape peninsula, with a profusion of flowers, birds and animals, culminating in Cape Point.

Don't miss:

* Going by cable-car up Table Mountain.

* Robben Island.

* Sundowners on the Atlantic seaboard.

* Seafood at the three harbors and the Victoria and Alfred Waterfront.

* Standing on the end of the peninsula at Cape Point.

* The photogenic historic Malay Quarter of the Bo-Kaap.

Gerald Crawford was born in South Africa, studied electronics, telecommunication, eco-travel and african travel concepts. He taught responsible tourism in South Africa. If you have any questions or comments please e-mail me on. E-mail Address: southafricantravelarticles@12234455.co.za Website Address: http://www.12234455.co.za Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Gerald_Crawford

World Travel on $1,000 a Month Or Less

By Thomas C Carroll

"I haven't been everywhere, but it's on my list." - Susan Sontag

Do you believe that it's expensive to travel? Have you ever excitedly looked over a glossy brochure of your dream vacation, only to discover that it will cost you thousands and thousands of dollars for a single 10 day vacation?

If this has happened to you, I can understand. I too would dream about traveling the world, but get disenhearted when I saw those expensive price tags placed on travel.

But I have learned that travel is NOT expensive. You see, travel agencies want you to believe that it costs a LOT of money to travel. That way they can jack-up the prices of tours to earn a bigger commission for themselves. They want you to think that you must have money, a lot of money, to be able to travel.

This kind of thinking does not help the majority of us. It distances us from our dreams.

A fact that most people don't realize, is that world travel can be down-right cheap. It can actually be cheaper, a lot cheaper, than staying at home.

It amuses me that travel agencies try to SELL travel. They try to get you to pay for things that you can do all by yourself. They don't want you to know this, but -

You Don't Need Them.

What do people do when they travel anyway? They get a place to sleep, eat, use transportation systems and spend money on entertainment and a few miscellaneous things like laundry, clothes and souvenirs.

What do you do at home? You pay the rent, buy your food (and sometimes go out to eat), you drive or use the bus, and you spend money on entertainment and a few miscellaneous things like cable and utilities.

Travel costs are really the same damn thing as staying at home; the big difference is that you'll be seeing and doing a lot of different things.

Let me ask you this: If I were to offer you a place to stay in your home-town, meals, entertainment for you of my choosing, and have a strictly scheduled shuttle-bus that takes you where I want you to go and when, and I'll only charge you $10,000 a month for the BASIC package, would you accept it?

Not only would you not accept it, but you'd

LAUGH IN MY FACE!

So why do travelers consistently do this very-same thing? Why do they pay travel agencies a ton of money for the very things they can do all by themselves, for a lot cheaper, and for a lot more freedom and flexibility?

World travel is not expensive at all if you know how to do it. You can travel the world for about $1,000 a month; that's only about $33 a day.

How much do you spend on a normal day at home?

Here is an example of a single-person's average monthly expenses in the United States (this is a modest estimate):

Rent: $800 a month

Food: $300

Transportation (gas, insurance): $400

Utilities (phone, internet, electricity, water, cable): $300

Entertainment: $300

Misc. (clothes, gifts, doctor bills): $400

Total: $2,500

Now let's sum-up the average monthly costs of world travel (when you know how to do it):

Hotels: $300

Food: $150

Transportation: $300

Utilities: $0.00

Entertainment/Site-Seeing: $200

Misc. (internet cafes, souvenirs, clothes): $50

Total: $1,000

Let's break this down by day:

Hotel: $10

Food: $5

Transportation: $10

Entertainment/Site-Seeing: $6.67

Misc.: $1.67

Daily total: $33.34 USD

World travel costs less than staying at home, and offers a lot more freedom.

I'm sure you're thinking that I am grossly under-estimating travel costs. But actually, the expenses above can be a LOT cheaper.

Did you know that in some countries you can book a three- star hotel for $10? Or that you can get comfortable accommodation for as low as $0.50 to $6.00 per night? Are you aware of the tens of thousands of people across the globe that invite travelers to stay at their homes - for free?

How about food? Full-blown buffets are offered for $0.50. Lunches with soup, the main course, a soda and dessert can be had for $1.50. Some companies will even pay you to dine at their restaurants!

Transportation? How about taxis that go anywhere in the city for $2. Inter-country buses for $20 to $50. Or international flights at 80% off?

By balancing your travels with expensive countries and cheap countries, your average travel costs can be just $1,000 a month or less.

Remember, people actually live in the countries that are foreign to you. In some countries the average monthly wage is only $150 - but it is enough to live on.

If they're not paying thousands and thousands of dollars a month to be where they are, then why should you?

In many places, with just $1,000 a month to spend, far from living like a pauper, you'll be living like a king.

Permanent Paid Vacations. "You're About To Discover The Secrets Of Traveling The World For Less Than It Costs To Stay At Home And How To Get Paid For It - http://www.lonewolfadventure.net Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Thomas_C_Carroll