The very first time I visited Cape Town and the Cape peninsula, I fell in love with the sheer beauty of the place. Breathtaking landscape around every corner, each place with its own story to tell... It just captured me. Now, each time I visit, I find new things to marvel at, new stories to be heard. Cape Town never grows weary for me.
Yet, at the same time, there are those inescapable social issues – the legacy of apartheid, the vast slums, unemployment, poverty and crime. Somehow the Cape still has the capability to rise above all of these, somehow it triumphs regardless.
“This cape is the most stately thing and the fairest cape we saw in the whole circumference of the earth.” – From the journal of Sir Francis Drake, on seeing the Cape for the first time, 1580
The fairest Cape? It certainly has the ability to lift the soul and elicit a gasp of wonder. Table Mountain is the jewel in its vast crown: an iconic, awe-inspiring landmark that seems to keep watch over the city, the hope to apartheid prisoners looking back at the mainland from Robben Island, the inspiration to countless generations.
Right: looking down at the cableway that runs up to the peak of Table Mountain
hope on robben island
"During the many years of incarceration on Robben Island, we often looked across Table Mountain at its magnificent silhouette … To us on Robben Island, Table Mountain was a beacon of hope. It represented the mainland to which we knew we would one day return." – Former President Nelson Mandela
A Photographer's Paradise
When I first visited Cape Town I wasn't a photographer. I can't help feeling that seeing this place in all its glory inspired me to purchase my first "proper" camera some 9 months later... It has gone on to become my favourite place in the world to photograph.
The beach at Bloubergstrand, with its panoramic postcard views of Table Bay and the mountain, is top of my to do list each time I visit and home to some of my favourite photographs.
V&A Waterfront
The Victoria & Alfred Waterfront in the historic heart of Cape Town’s working harbour is South Africa’s most-visited destination, having the highest rate of foreign tourists of any attraction in the country.
The vibrant and expansive V&A Waterfront is elaborately restored to preserve the dignity of the Victorian age.
lion's head
Lion's Head, part of the Table Mountain National Park, sits between Table Mountain and Signal Hill, its peak forming part of a dramatic backdrop to the city of Cape Town.
Beyond Cape Town
Beyond the city of Cape Town, the wonder continues.
Main image: an old fishing boat on the beach at Churchaven in the West Coast National Park
The outlying areas are awash with grand vineyards, the oldest of which is Groot Constantia, founded in 1685.
“PERHAPS IT WAS HISTORY THAT ORDAINED THAT IT BE HERE, AT THE CAPE OF GOOD HOPE, THAT WE SHOULD LAY THE FOUNDATION STONE OF OUR NEW NATION. FOR IT WAS HERE AT THIS CAPE, OVER THREE CENTURIES AGO, THAT THERE BEGAN THE FATEFUL CONVERGENCE OF THE PEOPLES OF AFRICA, EUROPE AND ASIA ON THESE SHORES.” – FORMER PRESIDENT NELSON MANDELA, DURING HIS INAUGURATION SPEECH ON MAY 9, 1994
Above: Winter sunset over Hout Bay, from Chapman's Peak