Castle of Good Hope in Cape Town

13 November 2023 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General Reading Time:  8 minutes

Entrance © Bernard Gagnon/cc-by-sa-4.0

Entrance © Bernard Gagnon/cc-by-sa-4.0

The Castle of Good Hope (Dutch: Kasteel de Goede Hoop, Afrikaans: Kasteel die Goeie Hoop) is a bastion fort built in the 17th century in Cape Town, South Africa. Originally located on the coastline of Table Bay, following land reclamation the fort is now located inland. In 1936 the Castle was declared a historical monument (now a provincial heritage site) and following restorations in the 1980s it is considered the best preserved example of a Dutch East India Company fort.   read more…

Cape Town City Hall

1 July 2023 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General, House of the Month Reading Time:  5 minutes

© Magemu/cc-by-sa-4.0

© Magemu/cc-by-sa-4.0

Cape Town City Hall is a large Edwardian building in Cape Town city centre which was built in 1905. It is located on the Grand Parade to the west of the Castle and is built from honey-coloured oolitic limestone imported from Bath in England.   read more…

Klerksdorp in South Africa

14 October 2022 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General Reading Time:  10 minutes

Protea Hotel © Jthapelo060/cc-by-sa-4.0

Protea Hotel © Jthapelo060/cc-by-sa-4.0

Klerksdorp is located in the North West Province, South Africa. Klerksdorp, the largest city in the North West Province, is located 165 km south-east of Mahikeng, the provincial capital. Klerksdorp was also the first capital of the then Transvaal Republic and used to be the home of the first Stock Exchange in the region. It became an important trading town linking Kimberley to Johannesburg. It became home to a mix of farmers, miners and immigrants servicing the two industries.   read more…

University of Cape Town

3 October 2022 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General, Universities, Colleges, Academies Reading Time:  5 minutes

Upper Campus at Groote Schuur on the slopes of Devil's Peak © Adrian Frith/cc-by-sa-3.0

Upper Campus at Groote Schuur on the slopes of Devil’s Peak © Adrian Frith/cc-by-sa-3.0

The University of Cape Town (UCT) is a public research university in Cape Town, South Africa. Established in 1829 as the South African College, it was granted full university status in 1918, making it the oldest university in South Africa and the oldest university in Sub-Saharan Africa in continuous operation.   read more…

Apartheid Museum in Johannesburg

22 March 2022 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General, Museums, Exhibitions Reading Time:  4 minutes

© NJR ZA/cc-by-sa-3.0

© NJR ZA/cc-by-sa-3.0

The Apartheid Museum is a museum in Johannesburg, South Africa illustrating apartheid and the 20th century history of South Africa. The museum, part of the Gold Reef City complex, was opened in November 2001. At least five times a year events are held at the museum to celebrate the end of apartheid and the start of multiracial democracy for the people of South Africa.   read more…

Portrait: Desmond Tutu, South African Anglican cleric, anti-apartheid and human rights activist

27 October 2021 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: Portrait Reading Time:  17 minutes

Desmond Tutu at the German Evangelical Church Assembly 2007 © Elke Wetzig/cc-by-sa-3.0

Desmond Tutu at the German Evangelical Church Assembly 2007 © Elke Wetzig/cc-by-sa-3.0

Desmond Mpilo Tutu OMSG CH (born 7 October 1931) is a South African Anglican cleric and theologian, known for his work as an anti-apartheid and human rights activist. He was the Bishop of Johannesburg from 1985 to 1986 and then the Archbishop of Cape Town from 1986 to 1996, in both cases being the first black African to hold the position. Theologically, he sought to fuse ideas from black theology with African theology.   read more…

Garden Route in South Africa

22 December 2020 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General, Palaces, Castles, Manors, Parks, UNESCO World Heritage Reading Time:  4 minutes

Eastern Cape © flickr.com - South African Tourism/cc-by-2.0

Eastern Cape © flickr.com – South African Tourism/cc-by-2.0

The Garden Route is a 300-kilometre (190 mi) stretch of the south-eastern coast of South Africa which extends from Witsand in the Western Cape to the border of Tsitsikamma Storms River in the Eastern Cape. The name comes from the verdant and ecologically diverse vegetation encountered here and the numerous estuaries and lakes dotted along the coast. It includes towns such as Knysna, Plettenberg Bay, Mossel Bay, Great Brak River, Little Brak River, Wilderness, Sedgefield and Nature’s Valley; with George, the Garden Route’s largest city and main administrative centre. Recently the towns of Albertinia, Riversdale, Heidelberg, Ladismith, Calitzdorp, Oudtshoorn, De Rust and Uniondale have been added to the Garden Route district and municipality.   read more…

Victoria & Alfred Waterfront in Cape Town

4 May 2018 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General Reading Time:  6 minutes

© Osvát András

© Osvát András

The Victoria & Alfred (V&A) Waterfront in Cape Town is situated on the Atlantic shore, Table Bay Harbour, the City of Cape Town and Table Mountain. Adrian van der Vyver designed the complex. The Waterfront attracts more than 23 million visitors a year. Situated in South Africa’s oldest working harbour, the 123 hectares (300 acres) area has been developed for mixed-use, with both residential and commercial real estate. Features in the waterfront are Chavonnes Battery, Nelson Mandela Gateway to Robben Island, Nobel Square (with sculptures of the four South African Nobel Peace Prize winners Albert John Lutuli, Desmond Tutu, Frederik Willem de Klerk, and Nelson Mandela), Two Oceans Aquarium, Breakwater Lodge (University of Cape Town Graduate School of Business).   read more…

Theme Week South Africa – Johannesburg

24 June 2017 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General Reading Time:  21 minutes

Nelson Mandela Square © NJR ZA/cc-by-sa-3.0

Nelson Mandela Square © NJR ZA/cc-by-sa-3.0

Johannesburg, also known as Jozi, Joburg and eGoli, is the largest city in South Africa and is one of the 50 largest urban areas in the world. It is the provincial capital of Gauteng, which is the wealthiest province in South Africa. While Johannesburg is not one of South Africa’s three capital cities, it is the seat of the Constitutional Court. The city is located in the mineral-rich Witwatersrand range of hills and is the centre of large-scale gold and diamond trade. The city was established in 1886 following the discovery of gold on what had been a farm. The city is commonly interpreted as the modern day El Dorado due to the extremely large gold deposit found along the Witwatersrand. The name is attributed to one or all of three men involved in the establishment of the city. In ten years, the population was 100,000 inhabitants.   read more…

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