Original subtitles

(wind blustering)

(uplifting music)

(bright music)

(gentle music)

- Our journey begins in Saldanha,

along the largest and deepest bay in all of South Africa,

before moving down the shoreline

and through the West Coast National Park.

From there, we'll pass over hillside vineyards

on our way to Robben Island,

home to the prison that kept Nelson Mandela isolated

from his country for 17 years.

Next, we continue southwards to find Cape Town,

the mother city that gave birth to the entire nation,

and home to the iconic Table Mountain.

Still moving to the south, we cross the pristine shores

of Camps Bay and Noordhoek Beach,

on our way to Simon's Town,

the seat of South Africa's naval power

for more than 200 years.

Lastly, we'll complete our journey

amid the same waters roamed by a ghost ship

at the Cape of Good Hope.

(soft music)

Nestled into its namesake bay,

the Saldanha Works rolls out 1.2 million tons

of steel each year.

This is the only plant in the world

to have successfully combined the multi-stage process

of creating steel into a single continuous chain,

making it a global leader in emission control

and environmental management.

The state of the art process is not only remarkably clean,

it's also incredibly fast,

requiring only 16 hours to transform iron ore

into steel, hardened at temperatures

approaching 1,000 degrees Celsius.

The factory sits along the deep natural port

where the first European sea traders

arrived in Saldanha 500 years ago.

Though fossilized evidence shows

that man may have been present here

for more than 100,000 years.

(vibrant music)

Just to the south of the port,

and a little inland, are the flawless golden beaches

and deep blue waters of the West Coast National Park,

a protected marine area covering 28,000 hectares

and serving as home to thousands of seabirds,

wildflowers, and roving antelope.

Continuing south, we find Langebaan,

one of South Africa's oldest towns.

This purposefully quiet holiday destination

allows no industry inside the town's borders.

The crystal clear waters, year-round sun

and white sand beaches, have made modern Langebaan

a popular seaside resort, especially for kite surfers

and bird watchers, who can find

more than 300 distinct species of birds in the lagoon,

including the world's largest breeding colony

of black harriers.

Sometimes called the jewel of the west coast,

Langebaan has an archeological history

dating back millions of years,

and is one of the richest fossil deposits in the world.

In this tapestry of colors,

more than 200 ancient species have been discovered,

including the remains of Africa's only bear.

As we head inland, we approach one

of South Africa's many vineyards.

(bright music)

The climate in the western Cape

is not unlike the Mediterranean.

The result is extremely fertile soil,

which, when combined with the nation's bold vintners,

is producing some of the most exciting wines

found anywhere in the world today.

Several of those wines are made here,

at Darling Cellars, where dry land vineyards

and non-trellised bush vines grow what locals say

are grapes as close as one can get

to what nature intended them to be.

Turning sharply to the south,

over more of the 1,300 hectares of Darling vineyards,

we get our first glimpse of the majestic Table Mountain,

standing tall in the distance,

like a sentry protecting her fields.

And several of those fields hold the Havana Hills Winery,

perched atop a shale stone hill,

and constantly cooled by the Atlantic breeze,

wine enthusiasts could hardly ask

for a more perfect environment to anchor superb vines.

Also in the shadow of the mountain

is the Durbanville Hills Winery.

Renowned for its Sauvignon Blanc,

grown on the cool slopes of the Tygerberg Hills,

this state of the art facility stands proudly

on the same land where the region's very first wine sales

likely began in 1702.

And just to the east, about seven kilometers

into Table Bay, is Robben Island,

(gentle string music)

which has witnessed humanity at its very best

and its very worst.

For centuries, it has seen ships wrecked on its shores

and been an ideal place to isolate

and contain primarily political prisoners.

The most famous inmate of Robben Island

is surely the anti-apartheid revolutionary

named Nelson Mandela.

Before becoming the first black president of South Africa,

Mandela spent 27 years in prison,

18 of which were served on this island

in a small, concrete cell.

During the day, he would break rocks in the nearby quarry.

Robben Island could be viewed as nothing more

than an icon of ignorance and brutality.

Instead, it has come to be known

as a symbol of the triumph

of the human spirit over adversity.

It closed in 1991, and is now open to the public

and a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Mandela himself said of his prison,

"It is true that Robben Island was once a place of darkness.

"But out of that darkness has come a wonderful brightness,

"a light so powerful that it could not be hidden

"behind prison walls."

Across the bay is Cape Town,

the southernmost city on the African continent,

and its most defining feature, Table Mountain.

(soft music)

Named for its level summit, Table Mountain's plateau rises

more than a thousand meters above sea level,

and runs for nearly three kilometers from east to west.

The appeal of this mountain is so great

that its image can be found on Cape Town's official flag,

and in 2011, after more than 100 million votes

were cast in a global poll,

it was named one of the new seven wonders of nature.

A dense cloud, known as the Tablecloth,

often covers the flat top of the mountain.

Local legend says the cloud is the result

of an ongoing smoking contest between the devil

and a pirate called Van Hunks.

The mountain is one of Cape Town's most popular attractions,

and in the 1920s, construction began

of the Table Mountain Aerial Cableway.

It cost over 15 million dollars in today's money

and was an instant success.

It's been upgraded three times,

and now runs on a double cable

for a more stable ride in high winds,

and the cars rotate 360 degrees

to provide outstanding views.

From the first Dutch settlers,

right up to the present-day migrants from the east,

Cape Town is a melting pot of pioneers.

In a country still reeling from the dark history

of apartheid, Cape Town stands as a beacon

of multicultural hope, a city that gave birth

to a nation, and now, by example,

leads the way to a brighter future

where every race and creed exists

in hard-won peace and harmony.

(soft music)

On the eastern flank of the city,

a one-hour walk can bring adventurous hikers

to the top of the mountain known as Lion's Head.

Once the summit has been reached,

the reward is a stunning view of the Atlantic shoreline

on one side, and Table Bay on the other.

Held within the bay is one of the busiest

and most famous ports on the African continent.

First established by the Dutch East India Company

in 1652, the harbor at Cape Town sits

along the South Atlantic route,

one of the busiest trade routes in the world.

The harbor has 34 berths and receives

more than 3,000 vessels a year,

which account for almost four million tons of cargo.

At the edge of the bay, blending seamlessly

with the working harbor, is the V and A Waterfront,

named for Queen Victoria and her second son,

Prince Alfred, who tipped the first truck of stone

for the harbor's breakwater in 1860.

What was once a simple dock has since

become a sprawling 123-hectare commercial

and residential neighborhood,

with luxury hotels that cater for the very rich.

Boasting, among other features, 450 retail outlets,

two museums, and a world-class aquarium,

the V and A Waterfront attracts

more than 23 million visitors a year.

Just inland, located on what was once the water's edge,

stands the Castle of Good Hope.

Originally a fort, the castle is now a museum.

(slow string music)

It was built by Cape Town's founder,

Jan van Riebeeck, and completed in 1679,

making this the single oldest building

in all of South Africa.

Just to the west of the castle,

in the city center, is Cape Town's city hall.

(bright string music)

Built from honey-colored limestone imported from England,

it was from the balcony of this building

that Nelson Mandela addressed 100,000

of his cheering countrymen only hours

after he was released from prison

on the 11th of February, 1990.

Not far from city hall, on the slopes of Devil's Peak,

is the site of another historic event.

It was here, at Groote Schuur Hospital, that in 1967,

Dr. Christiaan Bernard performed the world's

first successful human heart transplant.

Dr. Bernard received his education here

at the University of Cape Town.

Founded in 1829, this is the oldest university

in South Africa, and the second oldest

on the entire continent.

With a staff and student body hailing

from more than 100 different countries around the world,

the university can claim, amongst its many accolades,

fully five former students that have gone on

to become Nobel Laureates.

(gentle music)

Just above the university is the beautiful

and controversial Rhodes Memorial.

Designed by the architect Sir Herbert Baker

to honor former Cape Colony prime minister

and mining magnate Cecil John Rhodes,

the memorial features 49 granite steps,

one for each year of Rhodes' life.

Approximately 20 kilometers from the city center

is Cape Town International Airport.

Opened in 1954, this is the third busiest airport

on the African continent,

with nearly eight million travelers

going through its doors each year.

As the nation prepared for the 2010 World Cup,

the airport underwent massive renovation,

including the development of a new central terminal building

at a cost of more than 100 million dollars.

As the sun begins to set on Cape Town,

the mother city is at her most beautiful,

and it's easy to see why both the New York Times

and the London Telegraph have named it

the single best place in the world to visit.

The appeal of this peninsula is nothing new, though.

In 1580, the English sea captain Sir Francis Drake said,

"This cape is a most stately thing,

"and the fairest cape we saw

"in the whole circumference of the earth."

Heading west on a new day, and over a narrow stretch

of land between Lion's Head and the Atlantic,

We find Sea Point, one of Cape Town's most wealthy

and popular suburbs.

Originally settled, in part, by French aristocrats,

Sea Point got its name in 1776,

when one of Captain Cook's commanders

encamped his men here to avoid a smallpox epidemic

ravaging Cape Town.

A little to the south lies the exclusive neighborhood

of Clifton, with its opulent mansions,

turquoise waters, and a flawless white, sandy shoreline.

Clifton continues to earn its reputation

as South Africa's French Riviera.

And for travelers who are feeling a bit freer

and risque, Forbes Magazine has twice listed this

as one of the 10 best topless beaches in the world.

Further south, beneath the mountainous cliffs known

as the 12 Apostles, is the trendier stretch of Camps Bay,

Cape Town's most exclusive resort.

With hillside luxury homes, elite night clubs,

and gourmet restaurants, Camps Bay

is known as a destination for movie stars

and super models and holds some of the most expensive

and sought after real estate in all of South Africa.

Camps Bay also offers a blue flag, perfect beach.

For a slower paced retreat, we head to the next bay,

and Bakoven Beach, so named for the iconic rock

just offshore, which sports a hole in one side

that closely resembles an oven door.

During the 1940s, a row of beachfront houses

were built here as homes for honored South African veterans

of the Second World War.

Those houses still standing today

are now national heritage sites.

(waves crashing)

Both Bakoven and Camps Bay sit before

an extraordinary backdrop called the 12 Apostles,

a remarkable series of sandstone peaks.

The name 12 Apostles is actually a little misleading.

There are, in fact, 17 crests,

and aside from Judas Peak, none are named after an apostle.

Running along the shoreline, beneath the mountains,

is Victoria Road, named to honor

Queen Victoria's Jubilee in 1888,

Victoria Road stretches from Sea Point,

down the pristine scenic coast, to Hout Bay,

and along the way, the coastal road passes

through Llandudno, a sleepy suburb of Cape Town

without any shops or commercial activity of any kind.

Llandudno doesn't even have a single street light.

What it does have are beautiful beaches nestled

into a private cove with pounding waves that make this

one of the Cape's premiere surfing destinations.

(gentle music)

Victoria Road terminates in Hout Bay.

The name of this historic fishing village translates

as Wood Bay, as the original colonists of Cape Town

used timber from this densely forested region

to construct their city.

It's one of the busiest fishing harbors

in the Western Cape, with an established tuna,

snook, and crayfish industry.

Continuing down the shoreline,

lavishly stretching for fully eight picturesque kilometers,

is Noordhoek Beach.

Literally translated as north corner,

the long, wide beaches of Noordhoek

are the most unspoiled and best protected

on the Atlantic Cape coast.

(lofty string music)

The western shore of Noordhoek is defined

by the Chapmans Peak Mountain,

diving dramatically into the water,

and the entire beach is backed

by the protected wetlands

of the Table Mountain National Park.

Near the southern end of Noordhoek

is the town of Kommetjie,

and the Slangkop Lighthouse,

the tallest cast iron beacon in South Africa.

The lamp on Slangkop was officially lit

in 1919, 20 years too late to avoid one

of the gentlest shipwrecks in history.

In 1900, a ship mistook Chapmans Peak

for Cape Point, and plowed its way onto the beach.

The ship's crew simply stepped out onto the sand,

barely getting their feet wet.

(waves crashing)

A few miles down the coast is the majestic

Misty Cliffs Conservation Village

nestled against the slopes of the mountains

and overlooking Witsand Beach,

and the clear blue waters of the Atlantic Ocean.

It's the most picturesque place to own a holiday house.

Misty Cliffs is well-known for surfers

and often the southern right whales play

in the waters from late winter to early spring.

As we continue south down the coast,

we pass Scarborough, another conservation village

before turning inland towards the east coast.

It was only about 6,000 years ago that the Cape Peninsula,

including where Cape Town now stands,

was a mountainous island.

As sea levels fell,

it was joined to mainland Africa

when the sandy area, known as the Cape Flats,

emerged from the sea.

On the east coast of the peninsula,

amongst the shores of False Bay, lies Simon's Town.

Today, as it has been for two centuries,

this is the seat of South Africa's naval power.

It was established as a British naval hospital base

in the late 18th century,

and home to the South Atlantic Squadron.

Simon's Town played a vital role

during the Second World War

when the Mediterranean became too dangerous

for shipping and was routed around the Cape,

where it could be protected with ships stationed here.

The military base was transferred

to the South African government in 1957.

To the south is a series of inlets,

separated by huge granite stones,

and known as Boulders Beach.

And it's most famous for the colony

of African penguins that sprang up

along the shoreline in 1982.

What began with only two mating pairs

has, in the years since, blossomed

into a colony of 3,000 of these beautiful

and endangered birds.

The African penguin population

has fallen more than 80% in the last half century.

Boulders Beach remains one of only a few places

in the world where they can be seen close up,

roaming freely in a natural and protected environment.

(waves crashing)

Moving further south down the peninsula

and covering 65 hectares of earth

is the Cape Point Ostrich Farm.

Opened in 1996, and still operated by the same family

who established the business initially,

this is a productive breeding farm

with 40 of the huge, flightless birds

roaming the grounds freely.

The largest birds on earth,

a single ostrich egg can weigh

as much as two dozen chicken eggs,

and by taking one of the farm's guided tours

during the breeding season,

lucky visitors quite often get to see the hatching

of a newborn ostrich chick up close.

As we make our way to the southern tip

of the peninsula, we have to cross

the Cape Point Nature Reserve.

(waves crashing)

Covering over 7,000 hectares of land,

this unspoiled and undeveloped reserve

is a declared Natural World Heritage Site,

featuring some of the greatest diversity

and density of plant life anywhere on earth.

All told, approximately 1,100 indigenous plants

call this reserve home, some of which

can be found nowhere else on the planet.

(soaring classical music)

Also inside the nature reserve

is the da Gama Cross, a navigational beacon named

for the famed Portuguese explorer, Vasco da Gama,

which helps point the way to a submerged shipping hazard

in False Bay.

In 1497, after more than three months

and sailing over 10,000 kilometers of open sea,

da Gama made landfall on the African coast.

Shortly thereafter, he would become the first person

to find a route connecting the Atlantic and Indian Oceans,

thereby linking Europe and Asia by sea

for the first time in history.

Our final stop brings us to the Cape of Good Hope,

often believed to be the southernmost point

on the continent of Africa,

though that honor actually belongs to Cape Agulhas,

some 150 kilometers to the east.

Originally dubbed Cape of Storms,

it was soon renamed the Cape of Good Hope,

in reference to the great fortune

of the sea route to India and the East

that was now possible.

One of the three great capes of the Southern Ocean,

this is the legendary home of a ghost ship called

The Flying Dutchman, crewed by damned sailors,

unable to make landfall, and doomed

to sail these waters forever.

The realities of the Cape, though,

are far less terrifying.

Although its full area accounts

for only 1/2 of 1% of Africa's landmass,

almost 20% of all plant life on the continent

is represented here.

It's a wild, rugged, and beautiful place,

which is rich in history and legend.

It's the perfect place to end this journey.

(lofty music)

(logos whooshing)