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 Seventeenth-century painting of Table Bay by Aernout Smit.
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These shores were the site of the Battle of Blauuwberg that captured Cape Town for
the British in 1806. That is the unmistakable panorama of Table Mountain you see there, with below it Cape Town, one of the finest sights to be found anywhere
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Robben Island viewed from Table Mountain; it has an area of roughly five square
miles. Its name comes from the Dutch word for seals, once plentiful in the surrounding waters. In recent times Robben Island was a maximum security prison, and was
where Nelson Mandela was incarcerated. It is now designated as a World Heritage site.
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The Cape of Good Hope ends here. We are facing the Mediterranean, some 5000 miles
away up the length of Africa.
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Fynbos is the natural shrubland or heathland vegetation occurring in a small belt
of the Western Cape of South Africa, mainly in winter rainfall coastal and mountainous areas with a Mediterranean climate. It is the world's smallest floral kingdom,
with 9000 species of plants, the richest for its size in the world. Mainly broad-leaved evergreen shrubs, especially Proteas - there are few trees in the flora - many
are native nowhere else in the world. Oils and resins found in the plants have traditional medicinal uses.
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St. Helena is a tiny volcanic island in the South Atlantic, measuring ten by five
miles. The island was discovered in 1502 and is still one of the most isolated islands in the world. For centuries, it was an important stopover for ships sailing to
Europe from Asia and South Africa. This engraving of St Helena dates from 1810 and little would have changed from when Kydd landed ashore there.
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The Castle of the Cape of Good Hope in the 21st century. Built 500 years ago, it is
not far different from what it was in Kydd's day. The Strand, however, is reclaimed land; the sea then lapped the walls of the castle
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Koeksisters are delicious South African sweetmeats, syrup-coated doughnuts in a
twisted or braided shape, deep fried in oil, then dipped into cold sugar syrup. Usually eaten cold, koeksisters are very sticky and sweet.
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In VICTORY, the jubilation at the defeat of the French was tempered with the tragic
loss of Admiral Horatio Nelson who died of his wounds on October 21, 1805. He had expressly instructed that he not be buried at sea and his mortal remains were
returned to England. He was buried at St Paul's Cathedral on January 9, 1806 where he was interred beneath the black sarcophagus originally made for Cardinal Wolsey
in the sixteenth century. This is an 1830 engraving of his tomb in the crypt.
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The views from Table Mountain are quite spectacular. Although you can walk up, we
cheated and took the cable car. Here, Kathy sits atop the summit. At its highest point Table Mountain is 3563 feet. When the wind is in the southeast Table Mountain
has its own cloud cover that spills down the sides of the mountain, "the tablecloth".
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David Baird was born in Scotland and entered the army in 1772. He was a
major-general when he commanded the expedition to take the Cape of Good Hope. He liked to wear a curved blade taken from the body of Tippoo Sahib after he stormed
Seringapatam during the Anglo-Mysore wars. This portrait shows him with his left arm amputated; he was wounded by grapeshot at Corunna in 1809. He married the
following year. A devoted husband he liked to jest: "I could command 10,000 men, yet I cannot command one woman.".
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Panorama of the Cape Peninsula looking ENE along the southern coast of Africa, with
Cape Town on the left and the Cape of Good Hope on the right.
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Simon's Town today, located on the shores of False Bay on the eastern side of the
Cape Peninsula.
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I'm done with exploring!. Let's eat here at the Cape itself, with this wonderful
view along the south coast where Kydd saw so many of his adventures.
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