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Travel: Cape Town, South Africa

A Town For All Seasons

Below, South Africa continued to unravel. Dots became herds of wildebeest and springbok skittering across the veldt. Kloofs -- the distinctive rock outcrops of the region -- became individual shapes. So did herds of elephants. Then came the first of the villages, small, thatched-roofed rondavels, each surrounded with a patch of cultivated ground.

This was the countryside I remembered. I had spent my childhood out on the veldt and later worked here during the troubled years when South Africa had been isolated by its racial policies. I had been a foreign correspondent and the white supremacist regime had not liked what I reported. I was expelled. Then Nelson Mandela invited me back -- one of the first things he did when he came to power.

I had met him a lifetime earlier when he had been on the run from the regime. I had stayed in touch with him in his long imprisonment. He was, and remains, for me a charismatic figure.

After he became South Africa's first Black president, he wrote to me: "Come back. See how I am trying to bring about change."

Now on this January morning I was back -- this time not to report, but to look for an elephant. Not any tusker, but one who would fit the concept of my film script Mambo.

It is the story of a girl who lives out on the kind of countryside I could see below the wing of the South African Airways jumbo that had brought me down from the cold of northern Europe. In the story the girl -- Beth -- finds that her father, a game park ranger, has decided that Mambo has to go on the cull list. Beth kidnaps Mambo. The film becomes a buddy-buddy film and a chase that has, I hope, a surprise twist.

This trip was my latest of many. The script was finished. Now I was going to meet the producers. But there was more to look forward to than moving a film to its next stage. There was the opportunity to spend a few days in my favourite town.

The plane banked -- and there it was: the world's largest "table cloth". White and pristine, it mantled the top of Table Mountain, hiding the rough edges and the cracks in the towering granite.

This great natural wonder is what makes Cape Town such a city like no other. No matter how many times you come to Cape Town, it immediately exercises a mesmeric hold.

Cape Town's foundations go back to 1666, but it always offers something new to see there. Its soul is not quite that of the Africa of the hinterland. That is the world of Rider Haggard and Wilbur Smith: of sangoma, the tribal witch doctors, and of wildlife and wilderness.

Though Cape Town is not exactly sophisticated in the way of Paris, London and New York, it has a charm all of its own.

Its buildings are part of that world -- only more gentle and set against the vineyard slopes of Table Mountain.

And the weather! To step off your plane having spent a night in the air is usually to arrive for breakfast into a skyscape of dazzling blue that makes the sea an invitation to swim.

The best time to visit is between November and March, the Cape's long and languid summer. Then temperatures can reach 30C/86F. But you can still go and be assured of sun between April and October. The only caution is that in the late winter the Cape can be stormy. But they only last a day or so. And a drive up into the hinterland can still bring you into fine weather.

But whenever you go, the sheer grandeur of Table Mountain hovers over you, protective and dominant. No one can come to Cape Town without going to its table top.

There's a cable car that revolves gently to give you a panoramic view. And at the top you can look southwards towards Antarctica, or northwards up into Africa. My favourite view is to the north-west, to Robben Island. It was there that Nelson Mandela was imprisoned. It was there, all those years later, I accompanied him out to the island. To make the trip is to step back into history.

Another must for any visitor is to go to the Victoria and Albert Waterfront. It is filled with hotels, shopping malls and craft shops and open-air market stalls. It's as good as Fisherman's Wharf in San Francisco.

What makes it doubly worth the visit is that the area still has a working harbour -- one that began when the area was dominated by the Dutch fort, then became a Huguenot haven and a British colony.

A different sense of the city can be obtained by visiting the shops in the old part of the city along Long, Loop and Bree streets. You can spend a fascinating morning in the area exploring the world of African bric-a-brac.

Beyond is Greenmarket Square. It was an absorbing open air market -- and housed some of the finest antique shops in southern Africa. If you browse long enough you can find some old-yellowwood and stinkwood pieces of furniture that would grace any home.

The centre of town keeps some of the most charming museums you will find anywhere. I have yet, for instance, to find anything in Europe that matches Koopmans de Wet House and the Bo-Kaap Museum. In either you can sense the vibrant history of this town and the mixed races that each contributed to what it is.

Then there are the beaches. If you like your sea warm and gentle, go no further than to the sandy enclaves at Muizenberg, Fish Hoek and The Boulders.

Here you can watch the jackass penguins strut their stuff. If you want something a little more challenging, head for the Atlantic seaboard: Sea Point, the four famous beaches at Clifton, and the equally superb one at Camps Bay. But remember: the water here is cold even on the hottest day!

In the evenings, against a backdrop of some really sensational sunsets, there is an energetic night life which equals that of Malibu or Venice Beach in Los Angeles.

The food here is simple and fish-based. But the joy of Cape Town is that it is a gourmet's paradise. Here are a few recommendations:

Kaapse Tafel. This offers the authentic taste of Cape cuisine, a mix of Dutch, Indonesian and Malaysian dishes. If you want to try something more eclectic, go to Mama Africa or the African Caf�. This is native cuisine cooked to perfection.

For that special night, I recommend Rozenhof or the Green Dolphin down on the waterfront.

But almost wherever you go, you will find food to remember during your stay. And your euro or dollar will go a long way.

Where to stay is also not a problem: the town is spoilt for choices. There is, of course, Nellie herself -- the majestic Mount Nelson Hotel. It is a venerable institution and still gives off an air of nostalgia for the day when the grandees of Britain came there to escape the harsh winters of the English shires. You can sense their clipped voices drifting down the corridors or out in the magnificent gardens.

I like to stay out at the Steenberg, a converted winery out at Constantia. Its bedrooms are spacious and its restaurant offers some of the very best food in town.

It was there that my two Hollywood producers met with me. They loved the place so much they actually wondered if they could buy the winery. But that was on the night they had consumed some of its very best bottles! Next morning they had forgotten their plan to retire and become wine merchants.

But hopefully they will be back soon to try and move Mambo along. Making a Hollywood movie is a bit like being in Cape Town. Manana is a word that is a little too fast for either place.

But that's the joy of Cape Town. You think you have seen it all on the first visit. Then you return and find something new. And the next time, and the next...


Canada Free Press, CFP Editor Judi McLeod


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