Getting back into the more modern area of Cape Town and walking towards the Castle of Good Hope we notice all the high rise buildings which sometimes are mixed with older buildings creating an interesting mix of building styles.
Continuing on we notice a beautiful older building that we identify from our map as being the City Hall, it looks quite impressive.
Right before the Castle there is a large mostly empty parking lot which we find quite bizarre given that land seems to be at a premium in Cape Town. There is a small market and a few cars parked but else it is an unexplained puzzle for us. At least we know that from the balcony of the City Hall Nelson Mandela made his first speech after being liberated from jail and the crowd was obviously gathered in this square.
The castle is not as impressive as we expected from the pictures but it has a nice entrance over a moat guarded by two lion statues and quite a few museums inside.
In fact the view from the entrance is the most impressive one and we take it all in before entering the fortress proper.
The Castle of Good Hope was built by the Dutch East India Company between 1666 and 1679 and is the oldest surviving building in South Africa. It was protecting a vital resupply point on the route between Netherlands and Indonesia, the Dutch East Indies.
We take the time to explore the buildings but there isn’t a lot to see and soon we are ready to move on.
We explore the fortifications a bit more, there are a few cannons left and even a moat or a part of it.
Returning we enjoy the great views of the City Hall and Table Mountain over the fort, one of the best with the sun peeking through the clouds. It is now time to go to the waterfront to find a restaurant for our last dinner in Africa.
