Cape Town Cauldron of Cultures

Sheetal Wadhwa Munshaw gets first-hand experience of the amazing diversity of cape town

They say the first impression is the last impression, and in the case of Cape Town, it's definitely a lasting one.

Speaking of impressions, when you touch down at Cape Town, the first thing that hits you is its cosmopolitan disposition. The half-hour journey to the city centre takes you through a melting pot of cultures and lifestyles as you see informal settlements landscaping the terrain on one hand and the spanking new Cape Town International Convention Centre (CTICC) and swanky world class hotels dotting the city skyline, on the other.

On my first visit to Cape Town, I had this strong feeling of deja-vu...‘the poesy of Paris, the romance of Rome?’ I thought to myself. But here I was sipping a warm ‘Pinnotage' on a nippy July night at the Victoria & Alfred Waterfront. The waterfront is the nucleus of the city, with an incessant inflow of tourists and locals. It’s an ideal setting for film shoots, romantic evenings and the Waterfront is in fact a complete haven for tourists. It has a variety of 40 restaurants, chic cafes, pubs, taverns, 250 shops, curios, 18 cinemas and a host of other attractions. It has the biggest names in fashion including labels such as Gap, Christian Dior, Morgan, Nine West and a gamut of others.

And while the city has an essentially European demeanour, it has an undeniably African character. It almost feels as though the two continents were at a crossroad in confrontation with each other. But truly, it is the mélange of these two extreme cultures that gives rise to the cosmopolitan character of Cape Town. Physical inconsistencies form the generic make up of the city of Cape Town which manifests itself even in its varying seasons. The city has four seasons – sometimes in the same day!

Enthuses Sheryl Ozinsky, manager, Cape Town Tourism, “It’s really in its contrast that one needs to see Cape Town; not on one level or fixated on one facet but as the whole, the way it is, in its past, present and future, as a cosmopolis, a hub for people of various nationalities - an ongoing cultural exchange - where people from various origins call Cape Town their home. It is a city of extraordinary images that clash and complement each other, a city of weather changes and one that has weathered change.”

My acquaintance with this characteristic pot pourri culture of Cape Town began as I checked-in at the eloquent Table Bay Hotel. A charming receptionist greeted and escorted us to our quintessentially English guest room. South African hospitality par excellence had a bottle of bubbly awaiting us along with a turn down a L’Indienne. But that’s not all, the hotel enjoys an enviable location, connecting directly to the shopping galleria at the Victoria & Alfred Waterfront. When you’re not up to a formal dining at the hotel, just walk through to a plethora of eating out options the Waterfront has to offer. You could choose from Cape Malay cuisine, Cape Dutch, South African, Portuguese and Cape country cuisine amongst local specialties. As for international cuisine you could easily find Mediterranean, Continental, Indian, French, Italian, Japanese and various others.

If you have had your fill and find some time to get around the city, stop by at the information centre and get yourself a city map. Just outside is the IMAX theatre for those interested. Further down is another set of excellent restaurants as well as jazz bars. An indigenous crafts market is also within the five-minute radius from the V&A Waterfront. It’s worth a look and is excellent ground for scouting souvenirs.

For all you Mandela fans, a ‘not miss’ is definitely Robben Island. In fact I was told on my last visit that tourists could even spend a night at the island in the future. The other outstanding icon is Table Mountain, now a world heritage site, that serves as a beacon to the entire city, ‘an impressive exclamation mark at the base of the continent’ with its panoramic view of the Cape and its surroundings. To access the Table Mountain, you need to take a cable car ride, an exhilarating experience, allowing visitors to discover the mountain’s unique species, its unusual indigenous flora and fauna. If you’re the type who’d much rather walk around and soak in the city, downtown is also quite charming with its local flea markets and wayside cafes. Cape Town is really the cultural capital and in many ways reminds me of Paris. Its liberal attitude and embracing nature has made it an inspiration for artisans and musicians, wine makers and chefs, gays and fanatics, diverse slices of society and varied races of origin who call Cape Town their home. The city is made up of such a diverse population with so many realities that it is difficult to claim a unifying cultural myth. There are only a few places in the world where you have the option of watching the sunset from the shores of either of two of the great oceans - the Indian Ocean or Atlantic.

A complete embodiment of Cape Town’s unconventional attitude is the Victoria Junction Hotel, an absolutely funky, contemporary, snazzy place to stay in. Everything about the place is non-conformist. Young, dynamic personnel sporting designer uniforms dish out prompt service. The hotel has slick rooms and in general spirited ambience. Home to film production crews who flock from the world over including India, the hotel is made to resemble a production studio.

The beauty of shooting in Cape Town is the availability of local resources and professional expertise to see your project through, apart from the outstanding scenic backdrops the city offers and of course the cost-effectiveness. In fact Cape Town is an overall value for money destination for any profile of traveller and I’m not the only one saying that. A recently conducted survey by Deloitte & Touche has found Cape Town to be a better value for money long-haul destination for overseas tourists than even Sydney, despite both cities possessing similar striking features. According to the survey, overseas visitors prefer Cape Town for, among other things, its lower accommodation rates and minimal time difference with Europe.

But value for money is not the only attraction for visitors to Cape Town. The city offers an array of budget to high-end accommodation, great shopping and sight-seeing experiences, excellent eating out options at great prices and last but certainly not the least, it also boasts excellent state-of-the-art MICE (meetings, incentives, conventions and exhibitions) facilities. In fact the city has also climbed up the popularity charts as a convention destination with the opening of the Cape Town International Convention Centre. All facilities are accommodated under a single roof, including an integrated deluxe hotel, dedicated exhibition space, and generous banqueting and meeting facilities. The centre has modern amenities and technology as mandatory ingredients and provides a dedicated 10,000 square metres of exhibition space on the ground floor, which is column-free, rectangular, of a height between 10 and 16 metres. This space can accommodate 10,000 delegates in the plenary session or can be configured into five separate venues for smaller exhibitions, banquets or conferencing. Also, the center has a two-raked fixed seating auditoria for 1,500 and 620 people, as well as a wide variety of 33 breakout rooms of which 20 can be configured to different sizes. The largest and most advanced kitchen facility in the Western Cape ensures superb banqueting facilities at the CTICC with separation of traffic flow allowing access to all banqueting venues in the centre without interfering with the delegates. Moreover, most hotels in the city are geared to host a variety of corporate conferences and conventions.

Apart from world class business facilities, Cape Town offers a plethora of after business hour options for its business travellers. As diversity is the symbol of Cape Town, it holds true in all spheres including entertainment, from the hottest night clubs to jam clubs, gay clubs and straight clubs. For those big on music, local street musicians, jazz concerts, operas and clubs blaring alternative are among the few options for you to explore.

For those of you with time on hand, the best way to explore the city centre, the waterfront and surrounding areas, like most places in the world, is on foot. However, if you’re looking at a day trip to Cape Point or to the Cape of Good Hope, the best option is to rent a car. Reputed car rental agencies like Avis, Europcar, Hertz etc are strategically located all around the city. In fact each car rental company has a bureau at the airport itself. Driving around Cape Town is an absolute treat given the picturesque landscape but when you’re in the heart of the city centre be careful of those ‘round abouts', trust me they can literally keep you going around in circles!

Out of city limits lies a treasure of scenic hideaways and world class vineyards. If the time is short then drive to the Spier Wine Estate which is just on the outskirts providing visitors the opportunity to experience wine tasting and wine appreciation sessions. But to get into the heart of wine country you would need to spare some more time. Even a day trip would suffice for a brief visit to about five or six wine estates but that wouldn’t cover many wine regions. Among the most prominent ones include Franshoek, Paarl, Stellenbosch etc. Besides wine, which is its main attraction, Stellenbosch is the second oldest town in South Africa and has been preserved evoking the 19th century calm and elegance. Its other claim to fame is its title ‘Cradle of South African Rugby'.

If driving is a pleasure and time is not a constraint then drive straight off to South Africa’s Garden of Eden. The self drive through the gorgeous Garden Route which is a few hours from Cape Town city, is a heaven-on-earth experience. Along the scenic route do stop over at Hermanus for its fantastic whale watching opportunities. Knysna, the oyster, and in my opinion, gourmet capital of the Garden Route, is certainly worth a visit. The evening cruise on the Knysna lagoon is also quite fascinating. Outshoorn, the famous ostrich country is an experience peculiar to the Cape and unbreakable ostrich eggs make for incredible value for money souvenirs. A beach lover’s paradise, Plattenberg’s Bay is a great place to laze around and for those interested in marine life, book yourself on an ocean safari. If animal life intrigues you, a must-do along the route is definitely monkey land, a centre dedicated to rehabilitating tortured monkeys from the world over helping them to get attuned to wilderness again.

If time’s on your side, then the Garden Route is definitely a must-do circuit but even if you have two short days, Cape Town itself gives a whole lot to explore in and around the city. Although there’s one thing I should warn you about before you start out, once you’ve been to Cape Town, you’re just going to have to keep going back!