Museums / Historical Interest, Cape Town

It's hard to imagine that being banged up in the prison block at the Castle of Good Hope would be much of a laughing matter ... yet on the lintel of one of the cell doors is a carving declaring it, "Miss Reece's Hotell Lodgeings for Single Gentlemen"!

Mind you, the carving is on the outside of the cell, and as it seems unlikely that prisoners would be allowed to either stray outside their cells or have an object sharp enough to carve wood in their possession, it seems most likely that this was a joke on the part of the wardens.

Although it is now primarily a tourist attraction, the Castle of Good Hope still retains some military functions - which include housing the army recruiting office that serves central Cape Town.

The soldiers were of much greater interest to my son than the guided tour, and he hung around the door observing the people in the office, who treated him with admirable good humour. We did check out whether he was eligible to join up, but were assured that (at the ripe old age of five and a half) he was just a tad too young and first needed to be able to carry a musket without it dragging on the ground behind him!

If you're visiting the Castle of Good Hope, it's nice to time your visit to coincide with the Ceremony of the Keys, which takes place at 10:00 and 12:00 every weekday. If you have a choice of times, attend the 12:00 ceremony, it is directly followed by the firing of the Noon Gun from Signal Hill which served as a time signal for the city and ships in port.

The uniforms worn by the guards are based on those worn by the Dutch garrison during the 18th century and unlike many other period uniforms are surprisingly undated - almost stylish!

One of the most poignant aspects of the Castle of Good Hope is an unassuming wooden cross commemorating the South Africans who fell at the Battle of Delville Wood during World War I.

The cross was barely given a mention on the guided tour that we participated in. This is a great pity as it honours the memory of many South Africans who perished in the engagement, which was the costliest of the World War I campaign for the South African forces.

Visitors may not realise that as part of the Empire - and later the Commonwealth - South Africans served with the Allied Forces during both world wars. The Battle of Delville Wood was part of the larger Battle of the Somme, and the South African troops of the 1st Infantry Brigade were tasked with holding the wood (which was strategically located on higher ground) in the face of a fierce onslaught by German troops. The carnage was almost unimaginable, with some sources claiming that the South Africans eventually suffering 80% casualties, yet still managed to hold their section of the wood.

Official statistics indicate that out of a total complement of 3,155 at the start of the battle, 457 were killed, 1,476 were wounded (of whom 120 had died of their wounds within three months) and 483 were either missing or captured as prisoners of war. For me, losses on this scale are unimaginable, so to put this loss into context, according to Wikipedia, "on the Western Front, units were normally considered to be incapable of combat if their casualties had reached 30% and they were withdrawn once this level had been attained". Just to remind you ... they lost anything up to 80%, which speaks volumes as to their commitment and sheer determination.

The South African Miliary History Society movingly describes Delville Wood as follows: "'The six days and five nights during which the South African Brigade held the most difficult post on the British front - a corner of death on which the enemy fire was concentrated at all hours from three sides, and into which fresh German troops, vastly superior in number to the defence, made periodic incursions only to be driven back - constitute an epoch of terror and glory scarcely equalled in the campaign. There were positions as difficult, but they were not held so long; there were cases of as protracted a defence; but the assault was not so violent and continuous . . The high value the enemy set upon [Delville Wood] is proved by the fact that he used his best troops against it ... The South Africans measured their strength against the flower of the German army, and did not draw back from the challenge."

In over two decades of visiting Cape Town, I'd never got around to visiting the Castle of Good Hope: I can't quite explain why, as I love castles, but somehow this one had never quite managed to make it to the top of the list. After an abortive attempt to visit last year (when I was stymied by its unexpectedly early closing time), we finally made it through the gate on our last visit - and I'm so glad that we did.

The Castle of Good Hope is technically a 'fort' rather than a 'castle' - the difference being that it was solely intended as a military structure, and was not intended as the residence of an influential person (such as a king or a nobleman). Semantics aside, it is a fascinating structure with a curious pentagonal design and an equally interesting history.

The first twist is that when you enter the Castle is that your eyes are assaulted by a blaze of colour. South African buildings are very seldom painted any colour other than white, and the sunny brightness of yellow plaster more commonly encountered on Maria Teresa structures in Central Europe is both a surprise and a delight. And all this against a backdrop that is an uninterrupted view of Table Mountain in all its glory ... a photographer's delight (if only the Tablecloth hadn't descended a few minutes previous)!

Unsurprisingly, the Castle is the oldest surviving European structure in South Africa, and was established by the VOC as a replenishment station for the Dutch East India fleet. Construction began in 1666 on the site on an earlier fortification established by Jan van Riebeeck, and has subsequently been through several rounds of modification to achieve its current configuration.

Despite bristling with artilliary, it is reported that a shot was never fired from this castle. Whilst that may be the case, this was nonetheless a serious military garrison, and also served as a jail (most notably in the Anglo Boer War).

Guided trips of the castle are included in the admission price, and are well worth doing. The highlight for most tourists is the 'torture chamber' which was used to jog the memories (reliable or otherwise) of hapless prisoners. Unlike similar exhibits in Europe, there's not much in the way of torture equipment on display, but when the tour guide closes the door - plunging the torture chamber and adjacent holding cell into almost pitch blackness - you can imagine how easily terrified prisoners would have confessed to anything.

The tour includes the Castle's highlights, including the Dolphin Pool and Fountain, the prison cells and (still active) army recruiting office. However, it's worth taking a little extra time to explore aspects that are either not included in the tour or which are glossed over - including the simple wooden cross commemorating the Battle of Delville Wood and the small museum on the Boer War. This is interesting, as it documents the lesser known phases of this war in the Cape Colony, rather than the more commonly recounted history of the war in the Transvaal and Orange Free State.

Try to time your visit to the Castle to coincide with the Presentation of the Keys ceremony (after which you can complete the military experience by listening for the firing of the Noon Gun from Signal Hill.

One charming and unexpected aspect of the Castle of Good Hope is a small courtyard featuring the elegant Dolphin Pool and Fountain. This was restored in the early 1980s, based on drawings done around 1790 by Lady Anne Barnard. Anne's journals and drawings provide a unique perspective on life in the Cape Colony around the turn of the 19th century, and she herself had a strong personal link to the castle, having served as official hostess for banquets and parties held there by the Governor of the time.

Unfortunately capricious Cape Town's south easter is notorious for picking up and relocating litter, so the elegance of this spectacle is often marred by floating debris (one reason why this photo has been cropped so closely).

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The Cape Town museum is located at the end of the Corporation Gardens just next to Parliament, and is a great natural history museum that doesn't seem to get the credit that it deserves.

The building has an attractive historic exterior and the interior space is well planned, with professionally presented temporary and permanent exhibits. I particularly like the marine mammals exhibit - complete with obligatory whale song in the background. These species are obviously not represented in the Two Oceans aquarium, and hopefully will prepare you for what you are lucky enough to see in real life as you tour the coastline!

There is also a small section on South Africa's dinosaur and mammal-like reptile heritage (see my tip on the James Kitching museum in Johannesburg for more on these weird beasties). I always enjoy the fun set of dinosaur footprints on the floor where kids are encouraged to literally 'walk with (or was that 'like'?) dinosaurs' - simple yet so effective, and can keep them busy for ages!

As ever in Cape Town, it is a smart idea to have a 'fall back' option for when the weather turns nasty, and this is ideal for children and adults alike.

The Company Gardens are a pleasant spot, and it's worth lingering there for a few minutes to people watch - I speak under correction, but I have never heard of any security problems (bar the odd pickpocket) during daylight hours. The first section of the path from the CBD is lined with oak trees that are populated by a very friendly squirrel population, and it's fun for kids to feed them with peanuts - either bring your own or buy from the hawkers there.

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The Science Centre at Canal Walk is a godsend for parents of small children looking for entertainment in wet or extremely hot weather!

The centre is fairly small by international standards, but provides a good cross section of popular science exhibits that wll appeal to kids of all ages, as well as their parents.

For my son, the star attraction was a building site sponsored by the construction company Murray and Roberts. They have created the metal shell of a house (complete with scaffolding to access the upper level) and the kids are encouraged to build walls in the spaces between the metal struts using large expanded foam 'bricks' and sections of foam 'mortar'. This comes with all the requisite Bob the Builder paraphernalia: hard hats, safety vests, wheelbarrows, traffic cones, access boom and guard house, traffic lights, cranes and buckets on ropes ... Little Boy Heaven!!!

My son (nearly 4) was kept enthralled for 2 hours - ably assisted by Mum, who was masquerading as Wendy (Bob the Builder's much more competent sidekick and maybe girlfriend to the uninitiated). We had quite a work team of kids going by the time we adjourned for lunch (lots of thumbs ups and assurances that we were "getting the job done"), and after devouring a burger, he then happily returned to play for another 2.5 hours!

(For those looking for a similiar facility in Johannesburg, Murray & Roberts have sponsored a similar set up at the excellent Sci Bono Discovery Centre in Newtown).

There is a good reading corner (sponsored by Exclusive Books) just by the building site, which features educational science books as well as reading material for parents who have reached their boredom threshold but still want to keep a beady eye on their kids! There is also a cafe and a reasonable shop offering a range of all those science-focused gadgets that I can never resist buying as stocking fillers!

Entrance was R28 (April 2010) for kids, and R22 for accompanying adults, with other concessionary rates - an absolute bargain for the entertainment derived!