The New York Times-20080127-36 Hours In Cape Town
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36 Hours In Cape Town
Full Text (1644 words)CAPE Town is South Africa's Los Angeles to Johannesburg's New York -- the glitzy, gorgeous, self-obsessed foil to its grittier, more serious and more powerful big sister. Which is not to say that it lacks a serious side. Cape Town holds its own with Johannesburg as a locus of South Africa's liberation struggle, and no other African city combines heart-stopping beauty and historical gravitas so effortlessly.
Friday
3 p.m.1)TAKE IT FROM THE TOP
In Cape Town everything plays second fiddle to Table Mountain, the city's 3,051-foot icon. So join the hordes of videocam-toting tourists who take the rotating cable car to the top (27-21-424-8181; www.tablemountain.net; 130 rand round trip for adults, or about $19 at 6.89 rand to the dollar, and 68 rand for children aged 4 to 18). The views of the city, Table Bay and the spectacular landscape beyond the mountain's south flank are both awe-inspiring and a grand orientation for the first-time visitor. Spend an hour hiking; snap the rock rabbits, or dassies, that abound on the cliffs; and check out the giant compass rose in the mountain's center. Return footsore, but inspired.
6 p.m.2)A DEEP PURPLE FALLS
Over sleepy walls in the Gardens district is a garden furrowed in 1652 by slaves to supply food to ships of the Dutch East India Company. Today it is a botanical preserve, the centerpiece of South Africa's parliament and several national galleries and worth a stroll in its own right. Steps away is one of Africa's best restaurants, Aubergine (39 Barnet Street; 27-21-465-4909; www.aubergine.co.za), which serves modern twists on Continental food in a similarly eclectic -- and elegant -- blend of blond-wooded modern and country decor. Have a drink in the outdoor lounge, with superb views of Table Mountain and Devil's Peak, then dine on springbok medallions infused with bitter chocolate or calf's liver with a pumpkin fritter and pineapple chutney. The wine list, featuring South Africa's best, is both broad and deep. A three-course dinner for two with a glass of house wine runs 600 rand.
10 p.m.3)WASTED ON THE YOUNG
The Observatory neighborhood south of downtown -- named for its location near the first Royal Observatory at the Cape of Good Hope established by the British in 1820 -- was one of the few areas to escape racial separation under apartheid. Today it's a funky neighborhood of cafes and clubs serving the cosmopolitan student body of the University of Cape Town, a center for other nations' study-abroad programs. Hang out at the Obz Cafe (115 Lower Main Road; 27-21-448-5555; www.obzcafe.co.za), a neighborhood institution that is host to comics, plays and local musicians in its own theater, or Cafe Ganesh (Lower Main Road at Trill Road; 27-21-448-3435; www.cafeganesh.co.za), a downscale student bar-cum-club-cum-restaurant that serves samoosas (3.50 rand), Indian South Africa's answer to egg rolls, downstairs, and art films and live, sometimes impromptu, performances upstairs.
Saturday
11 a.m.4)THE CHAINS OF HISTORY
District Six, in the mountain's shadow, was a bohemian mix of Indian, black, Muslim and white residents until the apartheid government razed the neighborhood in the 1960s to enforce racial separation. Sixty thousand people lost almost everything. The District Six Museum (25A Buitenkant Street; 27-21-466-7200; www.districtsix.co.za; free admission) is in a converted church that was once a center of anti-apartheid activity. It graphically documents apartheid's ravages in photographs and artifacts from the vanished neighborhood.
1 p.m.5)THE HISTORY OF CHAINS
Most South African gold comes from Johannesburg, a thousand miles away. But by far its most glittering representation is here in the Gold of Africa Museum (96 Strand Street; 27-21-405-1540; www.goldofafrica.co.za; 20 rand for adults, 10 rand for children under 16), which showcases two centuries of goldsmithing, from necklace chains to masks to crocodiles, by artisans from western Africa and beyond. The highlight of several hundred stunning pieces is the world's finest assemblage of African gold artwork, acquired from a Geneva museum in 2001. Grab a snack and a glass of wine in the courtyard of the impeccably restored museum building; modern goldsmiths also practice their art in a workshop there.
2 p.m.6)DRIVE, HE SAID
Many of the cape's charms are outside the city, so rent a car and head 15 miles south along the Atlantic to Hout Bay (www.houtbayonline.com), Dutch for Wood Bay, signifying the forests that once pelted the area. Hout Bay is a fishing center that is also a laid-back retreat for wealthy Capetonians. But the highlight is Chapman's Peak Drive, a five-mile mountainside journey justifiably called one of Earth's most scenic motorways. Bring a camera for the staggering bay and mountain views; beware the high winds that can pitch the incautious over sheer 700-foot cliffs.
3 p.m.7)TUXEDO JUNCTION
Now, time for some fun. Across the cape peninsula and through a string of picturesque towns lies Boulders Coastal Park (open 24 hours; 10 rand entry fee from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.), the locale of scores of gigantic cantaloupe-round boulders and, more important, hundreds of African penguins. Two feet tall, brimming with head-cocking curiosity and hair-trigger irritability, the penguins are among the most endearing sights on the cape, and being thoroughly socialized, they grudgingly tolerate human presence, though not touch. Boulders Beach has one of only two land-based African penguin colonies; the rest are on islands. Even hardened adults will be completely charmed. Get a late lunch at the Penguin Point Cafe (4 Boulders Place, Simon's Town; 27-21-786-1758; www.bouldersbeach.co.za), an indoor-outdoor restaurant where much of the fare -- like the tiger prawns with udon noodles in butter sauce or ostrich fillet with Thai coconut curry sauce and spiced tomato jam -- reflects an Asian influence. Lunch for two, with appetizer, dessert and a glass of wine, can run 350 rand, but burgers and other less expensive fare are also offered. Then take your camera and a swimsuit to the beach and splash with the birds.
7 p.m.8)TASTE OF AFRICA
Tourist-oriented Cape Town is so distinctly European that it's all too possible to forget its roots. So head to the Africa Cafe (108 Short Market Street; 27-21-422-0221; www.africacafe.co.za), set in a restored Georgian house from the 1700s on a street that has lately become a restaurant (and tourist) destination. The menu plays on dishes from three major South African cultures, Xhosa, Zulu and Ndebele, and variants like the spicy Malay foods brought by Indonesian conscripts who first came to Cape Town 300 years ago. The fixed-price menu (170 rand per person) includes samples of 10 dishes, with the chance to take more of those you like, plus coffee and dessert. An adjoining ceramics shop offers original dinnerware designs reflecting the restaurant's culinary heritage.
9 p.m.9)ON THE BEACH
Daytime, one can sit in an outdoor cafe at Camps Bay and marvel at the bodies on the icing-sugar beach, directly west, and the squadrons of paragliders directly above, buzzing Lion's Head, the 2,200-foot counterpoint to nearby Table Mountain. Evenings, one takes the not-too-strenuous hike to the top of Lion's Head to watch the sunset, then heads back for some fashionable night life. Live jazz reigns at Dizzy (39-41 The Drive; 27-21-438-2686), an unpretentious and laid-back cafe. A D.J. plays Africa-flavored tracks at Baraza (The Promenade, Victoria Road; 27-21-438-2040; www.blues.co.za), an upscale cocktail bar outfitted in African-Arabic decor (the name is Swahili for meeting place), where patrons gather on sofas overlooking the beach and bay. Strictly for younger folk who just want to party, La Med (Glen Country Club, Victoria Road; 27-21-438-5600; www.lamed.co.za), on the beach in adjacent Clifton, is a burgers-and-beer pub by day and student-crammed dance club by (very late) night, and the attire ranges from casual to bikinis and cutoffs.
Sunday
10 a.m.10)FRUIT OF THE VINE
There was a time long before apartheid when South African wines were savored by Napoleon and Louis XVI. The vintages are reclaiming their global renown now that democracy (and a wave of new investment) has arrived. Before you leave, visit one of the many wineries south of Cape Town, which combine a healthy sampling of varietals with brunch at some of the region's finest restaurants. One of many is Vrede en Lust in the Franschhoek Valley (Route 45 at Klapmuts Road, Simondium; 27-21-874-1611; www.vnl.co.za), which also offers accommodations in an inn dating from the late 1600s. Besides the tour, visitors can enjoy private wine tastings and a newly renovated thatched-roof restaurant, Cotage Fromage (27-21-874-3991).
THE BASICS
South African Airways flies daily to Cape Town from Kennedy Airport in New York and Washington's Dulles Airport, sometimes stopping briefly in Dakar, Senegal, and always changing planes in Johannesburg. Round-trip fares from New York start at about $1,300. Taxis from the airport to central Cape Town are around 200 rand, about $30 at 6.89 rand to the dollar. Renting a car may be more efficient, and Cape Town is reasonably navigable to outsiders; but remember that South Africans drive on the left.
Crime is always a concern in South Africa, and Cape Town is no exception. Reasonably vigilant travelers should encounter no problems: the scare stories generally exceed the reality.
Good hotels abound in Cape Town. The Victoria and Alfred Hotel (on the pierhead of the Victoria and Albert Waterfront; 27-21-419-6677; www.vahotel.co.za) has gorgeous, unusually spacious rooms in a converted 1904 warehouse on the water. Double rooms start at 2,975 rand.
Protea Hotels offers a mix of reliably good locations, ranging from Holiday Inn-quality to considerably fancier. The newly refurbished Protea Hotel Sea Point on the city's trendy west side (Arthur's Road; 27-21-434-3344; www.proteahotels.com) has 124 rooms with mountain or sea views, including six suites decorated by South African artists. A double starts at about 1,050 rand.
[Illustration]PHOTOS: FROM LEFT: The beach at Camps Bay; the dishes at the Africa Cafe are a celebration; the District Six Museum honors a neighborhood razed by apartheid; and the gold museum is for karat lovers. (PHOTOGRAPHS BY ALICE BUCKLEY FOR THE NEW YORK TIMES)MAP Map details area of Cape Town.