Western Cape Article - South African Vacations

To really experience the changing moods of the sea, one needs to undertake a trip in a seakayak, a sailboat or a sailboard, while scuba-diving is the ideal way to explore the wonderworld of the sea. Many round-the-world yacht races stop off in Cape Town. For the lessenergetic, there is kite-flying, horse rides on the wide, open spaces of Noordhoek Beach andfly-fishing.CAPE BIRDING ROUTEThe diversity of the bird population of the Cape Town region is directly equivalent to thevariety of vegetation types and landscapes. This region is home to over 70 per cent ofSouthern Africa’s endemic birds and over 610 species have been recorded here.The nine mapped-out birding routes within the regions of the Cape Peninsula, West Coast,Overberg, Karoo and Garden Route make the areas and the popular birding spots moreaccessible to visiting bird-watchers.For more information visit the Cape Birding Route website: http://www.capebirdingroute.orgCAPE CARE ROUTEThe Cape Care Route strives to showcase individual projects developed to bring prosperity topeople. The tour starts with a visit to the townships where visitors can experience howimpoverished people live and make do. This route aims to show visitors how the residentsgrow their food and build houses. Visitors can also support local entrepreneurs by purchasingsome of the handmade crafts. The route illustrates how the partnership between business,government and communities helps to protect the rich culture and biodiversity of thetownships.Environmental projects have also been implemented and various stops on the routedemonstrate how these principles have provided people with cleaner and healthier livingconditions.CAPE CHILDREN'S ROUTEThe Cape is for everyone and children are guaranteed not to be bored, not even for amoment. Many museums have exciting discovery rooms for children, including the SouthAfrican Museum, the South African Maritime Museum, the South African Sea FisheriesMuseum and the toy museums at Simon's Town and Muizenberg.Theme parks, such as Ratanga Junction, offer a make-belief world of thrill-rides and fantasyexpeditions and the animals in the reserves of the Western Cape provide endlessentertainment.CAPE FLORAL KINGDOM (FYNBOS) ROUTESouth Africa is the only country in the world that can lay claim to having its own exclusivefloral kingdom. The Cape Floral Kingdom is the smallest of the six floral kingdoms of theworld, yet it has the greatest number of species. Fynbos is the name by which most of the12