Cape Town, South Africa

Cape Town is the tourism capital of South Africa, receiving the largest number of tourists of any South African city.

The area is also famous for its unique plant life: fynbos (an Afrikaans word meaning "fine bush"), a shrubby vegetation type similar to other winter rainfall shrublands, in which proteas are prominent and characteristic and which occurs nowhere else but the Cape coastal belt, the adjacent mountains and some isolated inland mountain tops. Fire is a necessary stage in the lives of almost all fynbos plants. In readiness for fire, most proteas retain their seeds on the bush for at least one year, a habit known as serotiny. They do this in structures which resemble the original flowerheads. In some species these structures are strikingly beautiful and long-lasting, which accounts for their use in dried floral arrangements.

Local wineries offer tastings and informative tours are available. August and September are the best time to visit the west coast, because the desert comes to life after the winter rains and the wild flowers bloom in profusion