Cape Town South Africa

Listen up, Cape Town! This is our final countdown!

No, don’t worry, the end of the world isn’t nigh. But the end of the voting almost is! We have officially only six days left to elect our most famous landmark to become one of the New7Wonders of Nature.

Our beloved Table Mountain is currently ranked seventh in the category Mountains & Volcanoes, so we’d all better hop to it and get voting! Especially since our old Flat Top is the only South African contender in the race! Come ON, people, that old lava-spitting Italian grump Vesuvius is still ahead of us! We’ll show it that we too can blow our tops if it ends up getting on the list and we don’t!

 So, go! Vote! NOW! (And tell everyone you know!) WHAT ARE YOU STILL DOING HERE!? Go on, click click right here!

With election fever gripping the nation, we would like to break the rules by openly endorsing a candidate we believe everyone absolutely MUST vote for!

Despite being world famous, this lifelong resident of the Mother City has remained level-headed and stoic. Which is why we are launching this unabashed campaign for our beloved Table Mountain.

No, alas, our flat-top isn’t in the running to become South Africa’s next president. (We wish it were! That mountain would make a far better leader than most of the clowns who are up for election!) Our lovely landmark’s name is, instead, appearing on a ballot to become one of the world’s new seven wonders of nature.

There are over 30 other nominees, and in order to stay in contention, Table Mountain needs to be in at least the 11th position by 7 July 2009. The only way for it to get to that spot is for all of us to exercise our democratic rights and to vote for it!

Only one vote per round per e-mail address though! So act now, click on this link and cast your vote for at least one truly deserving candidate:Table Mountain.

This is the second official New Seven Wonders of the World campaign. During the first one, more than a staggering 100 million votes were cast, making it a resounding success!  

This second campaign, organised by the non-profit New7Wonders Foundation, is also off to a promising start. Some 430 nominations from 224 different countries were submitted by about half a million people within the first few months of the campaign.

Voting will continue throughout 2010 and into 2011. During this time, the New7Wonders World Tour will visit each of the finalists, introducing them to voters across the globe.

So remember, do your civic duty and vote for Table Mountain now!  Oh, yeah… and while you’re at it, don’t forget to vote in that other election too… 

It seems that the wild flower season on the Cape West Coast has started early this year because of all the good rain in the Western Cape. Remember to head up the R27 (West Coast Road) towards Langebaan and Darling to view the beautiful natural wild flower displays that the areas have to offer. Langebaan has a nature reserve called the Postberg nature reserve, which also has some small game to view while you’re watching flowers, but there are also other excellent nature reserves in the area to visit.

Generally look for good weather days with little cloud, as the flowers are best viewed in these conditions.

Flower Season Accommodation - click here!

Unfortunately we’ve had some muggings on the mountain slopes (Table Mountain) ,Signal Hill and Lion’s Head where hikers go for walks. Cape Town Routes Unlimited (our official destination marketing association), in conjunction with Cape Town Tourism (our official tourism association) has worked on contingency plans for an awareness campaign among tourists and to roll out additional security staff on the hiking routes.

Things that you can do to avoid the worst:

• Never walk alone on the mountain.
• Do not take your passport and too much cash.
• Be vigilant and make sure you park your car where security guards are visible.
• Do not walk in the dark if you’re not with a tour group (e.g. for sunset walks etc).

Closed circuit television has been installed at certain points to monitor incoming and outgoing traffic to the mountain parks, but obiously it’s a large area to patrol.There are annually many thousands of people visiting the Table Mountain national parks incident free, so just like any city in the world, look after yourself and your belongings.

I’ll write an update if there is any more news about this.