"Table Mountain - one of the oldest... " a Cape Town Travel Page by jumpingnorman

The scenery is just wonderful. This is probably the most visited city of South Africa primarily because of the great climate and great architecture, my hotel actually being from the 1700's.

It's hard to describe how the clouds roll down along the side of Table Mountain like a tablecloth...but apparently this mountain is one of the oldest mountains in the world. It's the perfect backdrop for a vibrant city and the best thing is that you can either hike going up the mountain or just ride the cable car which was formally opned on the 4th of October 1929 by the Mayor of Cape Town, Rev A J S Lewis, attended by over 200 other guests. Today, millions have gone up the mountain which has the most magnificent views of the city (the plateau is 3300 ft high).

This modern city will host the 2010 World Cup and there's more and more visitors coming to Cape Town. Though South Africa has been having problems with HIV since the 1990's, the economy has been on the upswing with the advent of tourism and the abolishment of apartheid. Robben Island which can be reached in a short time by ferry from Cape Town is worth a visit, to better understand the plight/hardships that several prisoners (including Nelson mandela) had to go through. An actual prisoner was our guide at this small island penitentiary which now has some people actually living on it, on top of the ostriches that you see every now and then.