Victoria and Alfred Waterfront

The waterfront in Cape Town has an interesting history. For many years, it was a busy commercial port. In fact, it became an important port in the 1500s, operated first by the Portuguese and later by the Dutch on the route to the far east. However, the global sanctions placed on South Africa because of the racist policies of the apartheid regime destroyed the commercial operation of the waterfront. So, at the end of apartheid, South Africans decided to create a kind of tourist mecca there.Today, the watefront is a glittering area of shopping, bars, and restaurants. From there you can take a short boat trip out to Robben Island to see the prison where political dissidents were held, including Nelson Mandela. In fact, the island was a prison for about 400 years. Visiting Robben Island was moving and fascinating.Central Cape Town is a pretty compact area and so I walked from the waterfront to the downtown. I heard about some bars and restaurants along Long Street and I was hungry by this time.

At top, is a view across the marina to the main mall and hotel. There are numerous shopping places around the water front but the mall had an internet cafe as well as several places to eat. Wifi access was relatively easy to find, terminals less so, so I was left wishing I had brought tmy camera. Next photo is a sign post to every places in the world followed by a view of the several bands I stopped and listened to while walking around.

At the bottom is a fine view of Table Mountain that looms over Cape Town. I wanted to take a tram to the top but it was very windy while I was there and the tram doesn't operate in high winds. Awesome view from there, I understand. This is a good reason to return sometime in the future to Cape Town :)