The Western Cape
The Western Cape is a province in the south west of South Africa.
The capital is Cape Town. Prior to 1994, the region that now forms the Western Cape was part of the huge (and now defunct) Cape Province.
Prior to the formation of the Union of South Africa in 1910, it was called the Cape Colony
Western Cape Province is bordered on the north by the Northern Cape Province, on the east by the Eastern Cape Province, on the south by the Indian Ocean, and on the west by the Atlantic Ocean. The Subantarctic dependency of the Prince Edward Islands is included within the province's administration. The Breede and Berg Rivers are major rivers of the province. The capital is Cape Town and other major cities include Stellenbosch, Worcester, Paarl, and George. The Garden Route and the Overberg are popular coastal tourism areas.
The Western Cape is exceptionally topographically diverse. Most of the province falls within the Cape Fold Belt, a range of sandstone folded mountains of Permian to Carboniferous age that range in height from 1000m to 2300m. The valleys between ranges are generally very fertile and contains alluvial loamy to clay soils. The far interior forms part of the Karoo Basin and is generally arid and hilly with a sharp escarpment in the north. Coastal areas range from sandy between capes, to rocky to steep and mountainous in places. The Western Cape is also the southernmost region of the African continent with Cape Agulhas as its southernmost point, only 3800km from the Antarctic coastline.
The total land area is 129,370 km˛, about 10.6% of the country’s total. It is roughly the size of England or the US state of Louisiana.
Vegetation is also extremely diverse, with one of the world's seven floral kingdoms almost exclusively endemic to the province, namely the Cape Floral Kingdom, most of which is covered by Fynbos (Afrikaans: Fine Bush). It is extremely rich in species diversity, with more plant species occurring on Table Mountain than the entire United Kingdom. It is characterised by various types of shrubs, thousands of flowering plant species and some small trees.
The arid interior is dominated by Karoo drought-resistant shrubbery. The West Coast and Little Karoo are semi-arid regions and are typified by many species of succulents and drought-resistant shrubs and acacia trees. The Garden Route is extremely lush, with temperate rainforest (or Afromontane Forest) covering many areas adjacent to the coast and along the mountain ranges. Typical species are hardwoods of exceptional height, such as Yellowwood, Stinkwood and Ironwood trees.
The Western Cape is also diverse climatologically, with many distinct micro- and macroclimates created by the varied topography and the influence of both the Indian (warm water) and Atlantic (cold water) oceans, thus climatic statistics can vary wildly over very short distances. Most of the province is considered to have a Mediterranean climate with cool, wet winters and warm, dry summers. The interior Karoo has a semi-arid climate with cold, frosty winters and hot summers with occasional thunderstorms. The Garden Route and the Overberg on the south coast have a maritime climate with cool, moist winters and mild, moist summers. Mossel Bay in the Garden Route is considered to have the second mildest climate worldwide after Hawaii.
Thunderstorms are generally rare in the province, except in the Karoo interior, with most precipitation being of a frontal or orographic nature. Extremes of heat and cold are common inland, but rare near the coast. Snow is a common winter occurrence on the higher lying ground, however frost is relatively rare in coastal areas and many of the heavily cultivated valleys.
The dependency of the Prince Edward Islands are subantarctic islands, which experience year-round cool to cold temperatures with high precipitation and little annual deviation on both accounts.
The Western Cape has an excellent network of highways comparable with any first-world country. The primary highways are the N1 (from Cape Town to Three Sisters), N2 (from Cape Town to Bloukrans River), N7 (from Cape Town to Bitterfontein) and N12 (from George to Three Sisters). Other routes are the "R" roads and connect other areas. All major roads are tarred with major rural gravel roads well maintained. Limited access motorways are limited to the Cape Metropolitan Area, Winelands and Garden Route, however due to the low population density of the remainder of the province, the highways remain efficient and high-speed, except during peak holiday travel seasons, when travel can be slow-going in places due to heavy traffic.
Telecommunications in the province is highly sophisticated; however, landline telephone communications still leaves much to be desired (much due to the Telkom telecommunications parastatal's monopoly). All areas have internet access. Mobile cellular communications is world class with reception in all densely populated rural areas, all urban areas and along all major routes (including mountain passes and tunnels). All national banks are represented almost everywhere, including even the smallest of towns.
Tours through the WESTERN CAPE
From Cape Town to Cape Town
From Cape Town to Knysna (Garden Route)
From Cape Town to Little Karoo
From Cape Town to Port Elizabeth (Eastern Cape)
From Cape Town to West Coast (Annual Flower Tour 20-25 Aug)
From Cape Town to Hermanus (Overberg)
From Knysna to Cape TownOFF THE BEATEN TRACK