24 hours in Cape Town

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This was published 12 years ago

24 hours in Cape Town

Table setting ... the cable car at Table Mountain, with Lion's Head in the background.

Table setting ... the cable car at Table Mountain, with Lion's Head in the background.Credit: Getty Images

From cape cuisine and cabernet to cape flora and hip-hop, Sam Vincent discovers the city's unique character.

Wedged at the violent confluence of the Atlantic and Indian oceans and misty Table Mountain, the first sight of South Africa's second city is still as awesome as it must once have been for scurvy-blighted sailors approaching by sea.

But, like any great city, its people make Cape Town unique. By sourcing their slaves from Madagascar, India, western Africa, Malaya and the East Indies, the first Afrikaners unwittingly set the scene for what is today the most piquant cultural mix on the continent, combined with more recent arrivals from Britain and southern Africa.

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8am

Infamously unpredictable weather isn't the only thing Cape Town shares with Melbourne; the city is also the national caffeine capital. The haunt of choice is Cafe Mozart on Church Street, where cool Capetonians dismount from their fixed-gear bicycles for a different kind of fix. Shaded by trees, umbrellas and a beadwork billy-goat sculpture, the outdoor tables are a great vantage for watching the nearby buskers and street hawkers. As well as excellent coffee, the Mozart serves particularly good breakfasts (I recommend the french toast with haloumi, cherry tomatoes and pesto).

Cafe Mozart, 37 Church Street, breakfast and lunch Mon-Sat, Sun closed.

9am

Arguably the most detested law of apartheid was the Group Areas Act, whereby suburbs were segregated by race, resulting in the forced removal of thousands of non-whites from desirable land.

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The District Six Museum tells the story of one such area. Once a vibrant, multiracial community of freed slaves, merchants, labourers and migrants, District Six was reserved for whites only in 1966, which displaced 60,000 people. The museum focuses on personal stories to highlight the strength of the community that was destroyed, including sad displays on a lost music scene. The most poignant display, however, isn't what's in the museum but the empty space behind it; 20 years after the dismantling of apartheid, District Six remains an inner-city wasteland, with resettlement hampered by conflicting ownership claims and bad memories.

District Six Museum, 25A Buitenkant Street, open Tue-Sat 9am-4pm, Mon 9am-2pm, Sun by appointment only. Entry 20 rand ($2.50); phone +27 21 466 7200, see districtsix.co.za.

10.30am

If retail therapy is prescribed, the first stop should be the flower sellers at Trafalgar Place, a Cape Town institution for 150 years. The cape contains one of the highest concentrations of botanical biodiversity on Earth, which is beautifully displayed in this open-air gathering of family-run florists. Keep your eye out for king proteas, pink ericas and grassy restios, all of which are native to the slopes of Table Mountain.

A few blocks west, Merchants on Long is a high-end boutique that stocks African designer jewellery, swimwear, clothing and handbags. Owner Hanneli Rupert aims to offer local brands usually exported overseas in an environment that evokes the continent's rich past without resorting to "noble savage" kitsch. Framed butterflies symbolise exploration, traditional rugs brighten the space and the furniture has been kept modern to avoid colonial connotations.

If you're interested in hearing what makes Capetonians move, the nearby African Music Store has a wide choice of beats from across the continent. Popular Cape Town acts include jazz group Ological Studies, hip-hop luminary Emile YX? and YouTube phenomenon Die Antwoord ("The Answer"). Irreverent and eccentric, this rap-rave crew parodies "zefs", the Afrikaner equivalent of bogans.

Cape Town flower sellers, Trafalgar Place (between Parliament and Adderley streets). Merchants on Long, 34 Long Street; phone +27 21 422 2828, see merchantsonlong.com. The African Music Store, 134 Long Street; phone +27 21 426 0857, see africanmusicstore.co.za.

Noon

Cape cuisine has its origins in the cosmopolitan slave community and the tastes of their European masters. Typical dishes include bobotie (curried mince pie under savoury egg custard), sosaties (curried kebabs) and waterblommetjiebredie (a stew of mutton, sorrel, lemon juice and cape pondweed flowers). One of the best exponents of cape cuisine is no-frills Cafe Zorina, a lunchtime favourite on the edge of the colourful Bo-Kaap, a predominantly Muslim district of liquorice-allsort houses and way-too-serious games of street soccer.

Zorina, 172 Loop Street; phone +27 21 424 9301.

1pm

Robben Island gained international notoriety during the apartheid era as Pretoria's dumping ground for high-profile opponents of the regime. Its most famous inmate, of course, was Nelson Mandela, sentenced to life imprisonment in 1964 for alleged sabotage and fomenting revolution (he would serve 18 years on Robben before moving to mainland prisons until his release in 1990).

Today, Robben Island is a World Heritage site that attracts thousands of visitors each year, mainly to marvel at the lonely cell that failed to instil racial hatred in the father of the Rainbow Nation. Tours are led by former inmates and include a visit to Cell Stories, a chilling exhibition recounting the experiences of former occupants of the prison's infamous A-section.

Ferries to Robben Island depart daily from the Victoria & Alfred Waterfront at 9am, 11am, 1pm and 3pm. The cost, including tour, is 220 rand; phone + 27 21 413 4220, see robben-island.org.za.

4.30pm

Sydney has its harbour and Rio its loaf but Cape Town's Table Mountain is among the world's most imposing pieces of outdoor furniture, perpetually set with its crisp, white "tablecloth" of cloud. Some locals say the best views of the city aren't from the top of Table but from nearby Lion's Head, which grants a vista of Table Mountain and the city below. Catch a cab to the suburb of Kloof Nek, from where it's an easy hike on the 4.5-kilometre Lion's Head trail to the 669-metre summit. The views are beautiful, especially of nearby Camps Bay.

7.30pm

Browse your dinner options on the Victoria & Alfred Waterfront, where the cranes unloading shipping containers look a little like giraffes at a waterhole. The V&A's best restaurants are dedicated to seafood; one of the most popular is Willoughby & Co. This local favourite is part fish restaurant, part fishmonger, with recent catches laid out on ice and including unique creatures of the southern Atlantic such as the kingklip (it tastes like whiting). The chilli tuna sashimi is particularly tasty and, at 80 rand a serving, great value.

Willoughby & Co, shop 6132, Victoria Wharf, open noon-11pm; phone +27 21 418 6115.

9pm

Still awake? Lucky Cape Town was once called "the tavern of the seven seas". Most of the action is in and around architecturally diverse Long Street. Take your pick from pubs in stately British hotels, wine bars in Dutch townhouses or four-storey nightclubs in 1960s monstrosities. Friday and Saturday nights are the busiest, when most places stay open until 2am. For dancers, Marvel is popular with the student set. For a more refined experience, try Five Flies, a restaurant and wine bar that occupies a 17th-century mansion said to have been owned by Cape Town's founder, Jan van Riebeeck. "This one's from Mr V. R.'s private cellar," the barman jokes as he pours me a glass of cape cabernet.

Marvel, 236 Long Street, phone +27 21 426 5880; see marvelbar.co.za. Five Flies, 14-16 Keerom Street; phone +27 21 424 4442, see fiveflies.co.za.

11.30pm

About 10 minutes' drive from the city centre, Atlantic House has comfortable rooms with views over the trendy beachside suburb of Camps Bay (think Manly with almost as many South Africans). An open fireplace warms the shared lounge room during stormy cape weather and a swimming pool has Atlantic views.

Atlantic House, 20 St Fillians Road, doubles including breakfast from 1600 rand; phone +27 21 437 8120, see atlantichouse.co.za.

Sam Vincent travelled courtesy of Singapore Airlines and South African Tourism.

Singapore Airlines has a fare to Cape Town from Sydney and Melbourne for about $1795 low-season return, including tax. Fly to Singapore (about 8hrs), then Johannesburg (10hrs 35min), then Cape Town (2hrs); see singaporeair.com. For more information, see capetown.travel.

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