I should mention a couple of other mountains here. Signal Hill is a
relatively flat topped hill with a complete view of the city and the ocean.
There's a cannon on this hill that is a legacy of the British control over the
Cape at the end of the 19th century. Originally the cannons were fired to
announce the sighting of a ship. Ship sailing to India from Britain would stop
over in Cape Town to restock their supplies before continuing their voyage.
Today the cannons are fired at noon every day - except Sundays and public
holidays. Another name for Signal Hill is the Lion's Rump. This is because it's
actually a natural extension of a mountain called
Leeukop,
an Afrikaans name meaning Lion's Head. From a certain viewpoint this mountain
does indeed resemble a lion's head.
We visited the largest bird sanctuary in Africa, the World of Birds. Home to
more than 3000 species of birds visitors walk through the enormous aviaries and
experience what it would be like to see these birds in the wild. I recall an
enormous hornbill with an affinity for visitors - he would sit on his thick
perch calling people to scratch his head. He was at least the height of my
torso, and very brightly feathered with
skyward fbisd an alarmingly large curved beak. The
birdlife included eagles, swans, herons, guinea fowl, flamingos and a variety
of rare birds from all over the world. World of Birds cares for injured birds,
and is a breeding centre for endangered species. The centre is also home to a
number of different mammals, and we watched meerkats, squirrels, mongooses,
foxes, genet cats and a huge tortoise relaxing in large, very comfortable
enclosures. I cannot bear the sight of caged animals, so for me walking through
the aviaries and animal enclosures was like being in the wild bush.
No trip to Cape Town is complete without a visit to one of the region's
wineries. South African wine is world famous, and the Cape's vineyards are well
wroth seeing. A number of wine routes are available, but we don't really being
part of a crowd, and because we had an excellent guide in the shape of Pete we
took our own route through the Paarl and Constantia districts. We stopped at
two excellent wineries. The first one we sat on the verandah of a gracious, old
Dutch Gable-style house complimenting glasses of wine with an assortment of
delicious cheeses. The second vineyard was called Meerlust, and the reason I
remember the name is because of the setting for our wine tasting. They seated
us at a gnarled Rhodesian teak table in the wine cellar. Surrounded by hundred
of massive kegs of wine we tasted some truly superb merlots, cabernet
sauvignon, pinotage and chardonnay. There was also an excellent rose and some
fine port. Pete, husband and I bought several bottles to take home with us. On
our way back down the winding leafy roads we stopped at a restaurant that was
originally a station master's office. The old building, complete with railway
track, was a real piece of vintage memorabilia to the Cape's rich and varied
history.