Hout Bay and Mariners’s Whalf
Originally a small fishing village, Hout Bay is now a favourite with visitors with its traditional harbour and many restaurants and curio shops. The beach is flanked by the harbour on one end and the cliffs of Chapman's Peak on the other. It's a favourite amongst windsurfers, paddleskiers and surfers and is ideal for walking.
Cape Point and Nature reserve
At the tip of the Cape Peninsula 60 km south-west of Cape Town, lies Cape Point, a nature reserve within the Table Mountain National Park; a declared Natural World Heritage Site.
Encompassing 7 750 hectares of rich and varied flora and fauna; abounding with buck, baboons and Cape Mountain Zebra as well as over 250 species of birds, Cape Point is a nature enthusiast paradise.
Rugged rocks and sheer cliffs towering more than 200 metres above the sea and cutting deep into the ocean provide a spectacular background for the Parks’ rich bio-diversity. Cape Point falls within the southern section of Table Mountain National Park. The natural vegetation of the area, fynbos, comprises the smallest but richest of the world's six floral kingdoms.
Historic Simon’s Town
The town officially called Simon’s Town, but often referred to as Simonstown, was originally named Simon’s Vlek after Simon van der Stel, the Dutch governor of the Cape Colony between 1677 and 1699, who surveyed the bay east of Cape Town in 1687 and earmarked it as a safe winter harbour during the months of May to September for which it was finally proclaimed in 1741.
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