As you can see, South Africa's Table Mountain is well-named. Growing from a 17th-century Dutch East India Trading Company supply station established to service the shipping route between Europe and the Spice Islands, Cape Town is now all grown up.

 Cape Grace – Located on a private pier with a private yacht basin on one side and the working harbour of the Victoria & Alfred basin on the other, this may be the best Cape Town hotel for those who like to explore their surrounds on foot. The property lives up to her name, offering a gracious hospitality in an elegant environment and has long been a favourite with us. Aside from the luxurious stay, the location offers something of a colourful window into the everyday activity of local life and interplay between the commercial Waterfront space and the working harbour. From the pedestrian commuters traversing the Bascule Bridge and the work teams on a boat in dry-dock, to the resident seals, squawking gulls, dragon-boat racers and morning joggers, the activities play out daily against the backdrop of Table Mountain.

If you aren’t staying here: Visit the Bascule Whisky bar, overlooking the yacht marina. Locals top up on wanderlust at this bar by gazing at the rigging and marvelling at the workmanship of super yachts.

“This Cape is a most stately thing,” wrote Sir Francis Drake in 1580, upon sailing around Cape Point, “and the fairest Cape in the whole circumference of the earth.”

Situated within Table Mountain National Park, Cape Point provides the peninsula with a mountainous view worthy of the region’s majesty. With a nature reserve situated within the park, you don’t need to leave the Cape to see creatures in their natural habitat. You’re almost certain to come across the notorious chacma baboons (please do not feed them), but you may also see eland and bontebok (two species of antelope), or even the rare mountain zebra. A large variety of birds are also regular visitors to the park, including sunbirds, black eagles, ostrich, and ocean-going species such as albatross and cormorant.

Even in a city surrounded by mountains, Table Mountain stands apart. So named for the level plateau found at its peak, this natural wonder towers above South Africa’s legislative capital and constitutes the crown jewel in the city’s majestic backdrop, formed in conjunction with Devil’s Peak, Lion’s Head and Signal Hill. Famous for the National Park that bears its name and a cableway that provides spectacular views on its way to the top, we prefer to tackle one of the mountain’s many hiking trails—making the view from the top that much more rewarding.

In 1580, Sir Francis Drake sailed around the Cape in The Golden Hind, and the ruggedness and breathtaking beauty of the peninsula led him to write: “This Cape is a most stately thing, and the fairest Cape in the whole circumference of the earth.” Cape Point marks the confluence of two great currents: one from the equator (Agulhas Current, the strongest north-south current in the southern hemisphere) and the other from the Antarctic (Benguela Current), causing turbulent seas and monstrous waves.

- by Michele Harvey

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