The continent of Africa (of which Pliny wrote: Ex Africa semper aliqui novi - "There is always something new out of Africa"), in the south, lay largerly unexplored till the Portuguese undertook great voyages of navigation that ultimately culminated in Bartholomew Diaz rounding the Cape in 1544.
What follows is quite interesting. Let Cape Gull bed and breakfast accommodation recall it for you.
In 1850, Francis Drake completed his circumnavigation of the globe and during his rounding of the Cape wrote of "the fairest Cape in the whole circumference of the world". In the early 1600's Table Bay became the halfway stopover and post office for the Dutch East India Company, long before the existance of Cape Town.
The view of the Cape that has greeted mariners over the centuries is largely unchanged by time: that of an amphitheatre formed by Devil's Peak in the East, Table Mountain in the center and Lion's Head in the west. Table Bay is an indentation on the coast, with Cape Town on its south side facing across the Bay to the mainland of Africa. The most dramatic view of the mountain is no doubt that presented to the traveller approaching by sea but a definitely credible second-best for land based viewers is from the charming village of Bloubergstrand. This is where our bed and breakfast guest house is located. Behind the Mountain lies the rest of the range: the west face which overlooks Camps Bay and the Atlantic, this consists of a series of buttresses known as the Twelve Apostles, which run all the way to Hout Bay.
Table Mountain was named by Portuguese navigator Antonio de Saldanha in 1503. This massif is just over 3,500 ft (1,066.8 m) high and two miles (3.2 km) wide. It may be climbed (a very adventurous affair although easier routes are available) or scaled via the new revamped cablecar (an option preferred by the British Royal Family in 1947 on their South African tour). The summit plateau provides breathtaking views of Cape Town, Bloubergstrand and the Peninsula; and offers refreshments for the foot weary traveller. Every night in the summer months the mountain is floodlit. Our Cape Town bed and breakfast offers beautiful views of this awe inspiring scene.
The development of Cape Town started in 1652 with Jan Van Riebeeck (the first governor of the Cape). A fort and vegetable gardens (later vineyards and orchards) were established to provide supplies for the ships of the Dutch East India Company.
In 1806, Cape Town passed into the hands of the British. The street plan remained largely unchanged until the 1930's when the size of the city was doubled by the filling in of over 300 acres of Table Bay.
Cape Town lies on the Northern shore of what was once an island, now connected with the mainland by a sandy, low lying area (Cape Flats). The peninsula reaches south for about 35 miles (56 km) and is crammed with mountain scenery and bays.
It supports over 3000 species of vegetation. The National Botanic Gardens at Kirstenbosch on the Eastern slope of the Mountain, aid in their preservation. The Cape of Good Hope Nature Reserve is at the southernmost tip of the Cape Peninsula.
On the sheltered eastern coast of the peninsula one will find False Bay (named for those early captains who took the wrong turn en route to Cape Town) and Simonstown.
In 1993, Cape Town once again took center stage in South African history when Nelson Mandela delivered his first speech as a free man, upon release from the Robben Island Prison.