Cape Town - Tourist Paradise

In 1580, Sir Francis Drake sailed round the most southern tip of Africa in his Golden Hind and was so impressed by what he saw that he called Table Mountain and the peninsula on which it stands “the Fairest Cape in the whole circumference of the earth”.

Today, more than 400 years since Drake sailed round the Cape, Cape Town is one of the world’s great holiday destinations. Cape Town, or also known as the Mother City, is a fascinating blend of the old and the new. Here, the 17th century pentagonal Castle of Good Hope rubs shoulders with towering sky-scrapers and modern shopping malls. In the Malay quarter, known as the ‘Bo-Kaap’ (Upper Cape), bulbous minarets rise high up above buildings festooned with cast-iron adornments from another world and age of long ago. Cobblestoned streets lead into cosy squares and long pedestrian malls, where street vendors sell antiques, clothing, handcrafts, African art and endless selections of stuff. 

At the Grand Parade flower vendors offer a dazzling array of indigenous flowers at giveaway prices, while other pavement vendors sell anything under the sun. In the arcades and alleyways buskers entertain passers-by with traditional songs, dances and music. 

 At the Waterfront there is a carnival atmosphere as the Atlantic Ocean gently touches the feet of strollers whilst seafood sizzles in pans of dockside bistros and restaurants. There are boat cruises and yacht trips as well as helicopter and bus rides to every corner of the peninsula. For bargain hunters there are an assortment of shops, craft markets and seaside stalls selling anything you want.

To the west and the south of the city, the coastline curves round to reveal bikini beaches and scenic mountain drives.

And the cherry on top of it all is the cable-way to the summit of Table Mountain!

Whatever you want from a holiday you name it, Cape Town has it all!

By Danie de Villiers- Freelance Writer

Traditional South African Recipe: Anchovy Eggs

This is a traditional recipe of South Africa:

Take as many hard-boiled eggs as required take off the shells and cut the eggs in half lengthwise. Take out the yolks and pound them into a paste with butter, anchovy sauce, and a little cream or milk. Fill the whites with the mixture, put them into a pre-heated oven (300 ⁰F) for a few minutes , and serve on hot buttered toast.

Enjoy!

Danie de Villiers - Freelance writer

A little Town Called Nigel

In South Africa, in the province of Gauteng there is a little town called Nigel. I am from Nigel and I always wondered where the name came from - I thought it was named after maybe the founder of the town.

I was wrong and then I found this interesting titbit, which is a very interesting story.

In 1882, a farmer Petrus Johannes Marais of the farm Varkensfontein in the Heidelberg district made an agreement with a prospector named Johnstone allowing him to prospect for gold on the farm his.

Johnstone’s prospecting operations continued for a considerable time shrouded in secrecy. Then one day a stranger called on farmer Marais and made him an offer to buy the farm.

Fortunately, farmer Marais was at that time reading “The Fortunes of Nigel" by Sir Walter Scott, a story about a young man, Nigel Olifaunt, also known as Lord Glenvarloch who was the victim of a dishonest intrigue but eventually achieved his goal in life. This Nigel Olifaunt travels to London in order to ask the King to repay his father's loan. Nigel wishes to use the money to pay off a mortgage on his estate—but the Duke of Buckingham and Prince Charles already have their eyes on it. The lord is drawn into the chaotic life of the court, and when he becomes an enemy of the profligate Lord Dalgarno, he finds himself in grave danger.

The stranger's visit immediately aroused farmer Marais's suspicions to the extent that he decided to visit his farm himself. Once at the farm he found that his suspicions were well founded. With the experiences of Nigel, the character in the novel in mind, he determined not to allow himself to be cheated by cunning fortune seekers and at once set about to establish his own company. In July 1888, two years after the discovery of gold on the Witwatersrand, he achieved his goal. His company was registered as the Nigel Gold Mining Company. The town, which grew around the mine, still bears the name derived from Scott's book.

In 1888, the State President Paul Kruger declared Nigel as a public digging under notice no. 331 and since then the history and development of Nigel are inseparable from those of the gold mines. The town was little more than a mining camp until 1923, when the control of the town was passed into the hands of a Dorpvillage. The first meeting of this council was held on 2 January 1923.

The town is on the edge of the area known as the East Rand, the industrial engine room of Johannesburg.

By Danie de Villiers - Freelance Writer

Durban Botanic Gardens

The Durban Botanic Gardens was established in 1849, and is located next to the Greyville Race Course in the Berea, Durban. 

The Durban Botanic Gardens is a classic botanic garden, reflecting the universality of the plant kingdom. It has, for over 100 years, had a fine mixed arboretum of African, Asian and American trees. The Gardens are a few minutes’ walk from the bustling Warwick Triangle, site of one of the largest retail medicinal plant markets in the country. 

The Durban Botanical Garden hosts approximately 500 000 visitors per year, many of whom are foreign tourists. Popular attractions include picnic spots, an orchid collection, cycad collection (including the unique Wood's cycad), sub-tropical trees, palms and a tea garden.

Theme tours of the Gardens are conducted by volunteer guides by prior arrangement. Themes include: birds, history of the Durban Botanic Gardens, lake life, Gymnosperms and Angiosperms, plants of the Bible, roots, and general tour, mini beats and art. 

Africa Deluxe Tours can arrange a general guided tour of the Gardens; it is also included in many of our tour itineraries.

By Danie de Villiers - Freelance Writer

The South African Veld Oven

In rural areas of South Africa of the 17th to the early 20th century, the early settlers and farmers had to be as self-sufficient as possible; all food they used came from their farms - meat, vegetables, fruit and even herbs and spices.

Baking their food was done outside in veld ovens (in Afrikaans ‘bakoonde’) built by themselves. It was either purpose-built of clay or anthills were hollowed out and converted to a ‘bakoond’. 

A fire was made inside this ovens and when it was burnt out, the coals were removed and the food to be baked was placed inside to bake with the opening sealed by a homemade door or even with wood or planks.

By Danie de Villiers (Freelance Writer)