The eyes of the world will be on South Africa in June as the 2010 Fifa World Cup kicks off.
A quarterfinal and semifinal will be played in Cape Town.
Mary Ann Anderson, of MCT, has some tips for travellers to that southern city.
Artefacts in the District Six Museum attest to the days of apartheid.
The museum is a stop on the Roots Africa tour.
Hunkering down against the wind-whipped, cloud-shrouded summit of Table Mountain, my first thought was that the bottom of Africa is pretty much the tops.
The 360-degree vista of Cape Town was striking against a sky painted a rich lapis lazuli and from the pinnacle of the mountain the city quite literally seems to unfold all the way to the ends of the earth.
Indeed, the closest landmass to it other than Africa itself is the Antarctic.
Poised at the tip of South Africa's southwesterly coast, the entire Cape Peninsula, encompassing Cape Town, the Cape Winelands and the beaches of False Bay, juts spectacularly into the hammering waves, where they collide at the intersection of the warm Indian Ocean and the cold Atlantic.
Hands down, Cape Town is one of the most beautiful cities in the world and all eyes will be on it from June 11 to July 11 when the 2010 Fifa World Cup and the bend-it-like-Beckham bunch come to South Africa.
The games will be played in cities all over the country, among them Johannesburg, Durban, Nelspruit and Pretoria, with several matches, including a quarterfinal and a semifinal, in Cape Town.
If you have managed to score tickets to the World Cup, here are some Cape Town top tips - a must-do list of places to see and things to do while you are in the city.
1 Visit the Victoria & Alfred Waterfront.
The stunning architecture of Cape Town, with the V&A as its centrepiece, clearly evokes an Old World ambience.
The sun-drenched waterfront is a working harbour that basks underneath Table Mountain, and its old warehouses and docksides have been converted into a buzzing beehive of activity.
Glittering hotels edge the waterfront, including Victoria & Alfred, the Cape Grace, the Dock House and the One & Only.
2 Experience Robben Island.
Board the Robben Island Ferry on the V&A for a fascinating tour of the desolate island prison where Nelson Mandela spent nearly two decades of his life for fighting the good fight against apartheid.
Tours are led by former political prisoners who gladly share their life stories.
3 Ride the cable car to the top of Table Mountain.
The view from Table Mountain's flat top - the locals compare it to a tablecloth - bedazzles and is perfect for watching the alchemy of the setting sun spinning its rays to liquid gold across the Atlantic.
4 Take in a Roots Africa Tour to understand apartheid and the African perspective.
Roots Africa takes you on an extensive cultural tour of Langa and Khayelitsha townships, the millions-strong shanty towns created by the South African government under apartheid.
5 Take in the picturesque architecture of Bo-Kaap.
With its cobblestoned streets, vividly-coloured homes and venerable mosques and minarets, Bo-Kaap's influence is Malaysian, Indonesian and Indian.
Try a cooking "safari", where you go into a Bo-Kaap home and learn to make traditional and multicultural Cape Malay dishes seasoned with spices from around the world.
6 Experience a Creative Cape Town walking tour.
Focusing on any number of facets, including events, attractions, or food and restaurants, hoofing it is the best way to see the city.
7 Romp through Kirstenbosch Botanical Gardens.
Set on the slopes of Table Mountain, the gardens are breathtakingly smothered with indigenous flora and fauna.
8 Ramble through the Cape Winelands for wine tastings.
The storybook Cape Winelands with their intoxicatingly fresh breezes are the centre of South Africa's boutique wine industry.
Eighty percent of the days are sunny here, so as you drift through the villages of Franschhoek, Paarl and Stellenbosch - the historic cradle of Afrikaans, with its heavy Dutch influence - the bouquet from the vineyards is prevalent and sweet.
A few premier wine estates include the Delaire, the Spier, Ernie Els (yes, the golfer), the Groot Constantia and the Moreson (my personal favourite with its signature "Miss Molly" wines).
9 Experience the wine estates and country inns with an overnight stay.
The exquisite Grande Roche in Paarl bespeaks Dutch and French influences and houses Bosman's, an excellent restaurant.
The bright and sunny LeQuartier Francais in Franschhoek has consistently been named among the top inns in the world, as has the Steenberg in Tokai.
The Constantia, also in Tokai, is extravagant yet at the same time peaceful and tranquil.
10 Take in the Big Five and visit Sanbona Wildlife Reserve.
About three hours outside Cape Town, Sanbona is on the southernmost tip of the Cape Peninsula is the Cape of Good Hope, once a stop on the spice routes of the early explorers as they went east to India or west to the New World.
Travel home to a free-roaming pride of white lions.
Their blue eyes and nearly pure white fur captures the imagination and have earned them the nickname of "angel lions".
They are unlike any of the other big cats in the world.
Accommodation at Sanbona includes a well-appointed lodge and a luxurious tented camp, plus all the requisite elephants, cheetahs, zebras and hippos scattered about the reserve that is the size of Singapore.
11 Count the whales in False Bay.
From June until October, have a whale of a time sighting these sleek mammals as they rise and fall with thunderous glee.
Drive or stroll through the False Bay villages of Fishhoek, Muizenberg and Kalk Bay, or better yet stay at such places as the St James, a luxurious yet affordable boutique hotel, where you can watch the continuous action from the comfort of your own room.
12 See the Cape of Good Hope.
On the southernmost tip of Cape Peninsula is the Cape of Good Hope, once a stop on the spice routes of the early explorers as they went east to India or west to the New World.
Antarctic winds and pounding surf have polished the beaches as fine as diamond dust.
Surrounded by a national park and nature reserve, home to elands, zebras, ostriches and baboons, the Cape is a juxtaposition of towering mountains, rolling hills and tranquil pastures that sweep down to the ocean's edge.
13 Walk among the penguins at Boulders Beach at Simon's Town.
There is just something too cute about the tuxedoed, diminutive African penguins waddling around Boulders Beach, a series of sea coves hidden among the boulders of the Cape Peninsula.
14 Have a sundowner.
A sundowner is a drink at sundown and it doesn't get any easier than that.
15 Eat your way across Cape Town.
From springbok to warthog to line fish - that is any fish hand-caught by line - no place on the African continent has better dining than Cape Town.
From experience and from asking virtually everyone I know who has been to Cape Town, these are our top picks for restaurants: Salt at the Ambassador Hotel, OYO at the Victoria & Alfred Hotel, The Quarter Gourmet Bunny Chow, the Foodbarn in Noordhoek, Maze at the One & Only Cape Town, Moyo at the Spier Estate near Stellenbosch, Catharina's at the Steenberg Hotel in Tokai, Signal at Cape Grace on the waterfront, the Greenhouse Restaurant at the Cellars-Hohenort Hotel and the Harbour House in Kalk Bay.
16 Shop, shop, shop.
From the pedestrian malls on the V&A filled with upscale boutiques, to roadside markets and souvenir stands, there is no shortage of shopping for gifts and jewellery.
Tanzanite is a good buy and so are diamonds.
17 South Africa is called the Rainbow Nation for good reason.
Officially, there are 11 languages spoken in the country, with most people speaking English and Afrikaans, plus a mix of European, Arabic and Asian tongues that keep conversations interesting.
Listening to the melange of languages along the V&A is a fascinating multicultural experience in itself.
18 With so much to do, don't forget your tickets to the World Cup.
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