Useful Info & Tips
The Khoi People – A History
The Cape peninsula on the southern tip of Africa is a world of sun and seas, towering mountains, forests, wild animals, fertile valleys of olives, vineyards, crops and livestock – and, inevitably, rivers of blood. Back in time our ancestors, gathered around a great...
The Khoi people and their traditions – BIRDS, PLANTS and ANIMALS
The Cape Floral Kingdom The Cape Floral kingdom is one of the most abundant in the world. It plays host to myriad plants, fynbos and herbs as well as a rich and diversified variety of birds, mammals, reptiles, amphibians, insects and marine life. For detailed...
Hout Bay -A History
Hout Bay is a fishing village on the Atlantic coast lying between the peaks of greater Table Mountain’s Karbonkelberg and Constantiaberg. It is rich in cultural heritage, with sites dating back to the Stone Age, ruins of 18th century coastal forts, historic farmsteads...
A History of the Hikes – East Fort
By the 18th century Dutch settlers realised that Hout Bay could serve as an alternative anchorage to Table Bay. However, successive Dutch and British administrations also perceived that the bay was a useful entry point for an invading military force. Consequently, a...
A History of the Hikes – Manganese Mines
Manganese was first discovered on the mountains in 1873, however it was not until 1909 that commercial mining began. Clumps of black ore were propelled 700 metres down the mountain in a wood and corrugated iron chute to a jetty on the sea’s edge. A short cocopan line...
A History of the Hikes – Chapmans Peak Drive
Work on this dramatic road linking Hout Bay to Noordhoek almost never started because the project was initially turned down as impractical. What made Chapman’s Peak Drive a reality was a mining engineer’s report that the peculiar geology of that section of the...