Africas West Coast, Spain & France

Nestled at the foot of Table Mountain and flanked by Devil’s Peak and Lion’s Head, Cape Town is known by South Africans simply as ‘the Cape,’ an acknowledgment of its uniqueness and its status as the Mother City. The first area to be settled by Europeans in the 17th century, it is today a major seaport and the legislative capital of South Africa. The feeling here is not African but cosmopolitan, and a sense of history remains.

In 1883, a German businessman, Adolf Luderitz, purchased a parcel of land enclosing a small bay for purposes of speculation. The so-called Skeleton Coast had limited potential in many ways, being largely made up of the shifting sands of the Namib Desert. Then, in 1906, a local railway worker noticed an oddly sparkly stone beside the tracks. It proved to be a diamond, and it became clear that there were many like it lying literally on the surface of the sands. By 1909 a diamond rush was in full sway, and a thriving, German-styled town called Kolmanskop sprouted out of the desert to house the gem-seekers. When the easy pickings ended, the townspeople simply walked away, and the desert climate preserved the town as it was slowly engulfed by the shifting sands. Today it makes an evocative and haunting place to visit. The bay still hosts a bounty of wildlife as well, including seals, whales and flamingos. Other endeavors have started, too, such as the culture of delicious oysters in the clean, cold ocean waters.

Its name in Afrikaans means “Whale Bay,” but those days are long gone. Today its dramatic setting is inseparable from any impression of this deep-water port on Namibia’s desolate, but beautiful “Skeleton Coast.” Here the undulating dunes of the Namib Desert meet the sea, and its lagoon is spangled with white pelicans, pink flamingos and other seabirds. Up the coast road is Dune Seven, the highest along Namibia’s coast, and a great place to take off your shoes and feel some sand between your toes after your Atlantic crossing.

Its name in Afrikaans means “Whale Bay,” but those days are long gone. Today its dramatic setting is inseparable from any impression of this deep-water port on Namibia’s desolate, but beautiful “Skeleton Coast.” Here the undulating dunes of the Namib Desert meet the sea, and its lagoon is spangled with white pelicans, pink flamingos and other seabirds. Up the coast road is Dune Seven, the highest along Namibia’s coast, and a great place to take off your shoes and feel some sand between your toes after your Atlantic crossing.

Luanda looks to be booming. Development and construction is fueled by extractive industries such as petroleum and diamonds. However over half the city’s residents live in poverty. It has for several years dominated the chart of the most expensive cities in the world for expatriates, outstripping such notorious places as Hong Kong and London. Like the rest of Portugal’s African colonies, Angola won its independence under force of arms in the mid-1970s. But the country immediately descended into a disastrous civil war that lasted decades, severely stunting development. Sites of interest include the 16th century Fortess of Sao Miguel, which looms over the harbor. Any visitor will assuredly be directed to the towering monument at the mausoleum of Agostinho Neto, the hero of the revolution. The National Museum of Anthropology is a good place to learn about the folkloric traditions, including a collection of exemplary masks.

Cotonou is a large port city on the south coast of Benin, in West Africa. At the eastern end of central Boulevard St. Michel is the huge Dantokpa Market, which features religious items and spices alongside everyday objects. To the southwest, the 19th-century Cotonou Cathedral has a striking red-and-white striped facade. Nearby, in the Haie Vive district, the Fondation Zinsou museum shows contemporary African art.

Tema port is about 25 km from Ghana’s teeming capital. The cultures of West Africa share a traditional propensity to be busy. It’s exciting and can be dazzling to newcomers. Accra is a bustling, colorful city where everybody is rather joyfully struggling to get ahead. Enjoy it. The oldest section, Jamestown, is centered around the 17th century James Fort, where the British converted a traditional market for precious metals to a trade in slaves. Climb the red-and-white lighthouse for a view of the busy city. Visit the National Museum to get a glimpse of the elaborate and very ancient cultures of Ghana through exhibits of art and artifacts. Then survey Independence Square, and its memorial to the independent nation’s first leader Kwame Nkrumah. Once your pulse is up to speed, perhaps venture into the sea of humanity that is the Makola Market. The Artists Alliance gallery contains works in every medium imaginable from the fertile community of Ghanaian artists. The ANO Centre for Cultural Research is another place to discover the rich vein of creativity that runs from antiquity into today’s culture. A more vivid example can be experienced at Labadi Beach, where enterprising entertainers, venders and artists gather to ply their trades among the visitors from neighboring luxury hotels. Like the pulsing, jazzy Ghanaian popular music, the beat of Accra is fast-paced and insistent, but full of joy.

Takoradi is a very important and busy West African seaport on Ghana’s Cape Coast, a main transport depot for container ships and oil tankers. Two of the main tourist sites near Takoradi are the village of Nzulemo and the old Portuguese slave depots called “castles.” The village of Nzulezo, on Lake Tadane, is a stilt community inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site for its unique architectural and cultural characteristics. At Akatekyi, crocodiles play part in the activities of a fetish priest. Elmina Castle is about an hour away, and one of the best preserved slave barracoons on the coast.

One of the most vibrant and cosmopolitan African cities, the Senegalese capital bears many visual reminders of its past as a French colonial outpost. Despite the Parisian-style boulevards and buildings, however, there is a distinctly African feel to the city. Bankers and executives can be seen going about their businesses dressed in the flamboyant traditional Grand Boubou costume, and women wear the feminine version with an equally striking headpiece. The common language is French, although many citizens may also speak as many as five or six ethnic languages, since the whole coast of West Africa has been steeped in a heritage of mutual trade for centuries. Among the many sights and sounds greeting visitors, none is more evocative and sobering than a visit to Goree Island and its House of Slaves. This fortress, just offshore of the city waterfront, displays many reminders of the brutal trade in human beings, including an unimposing doorway, set just above the waterline in the seaside wall, identified simply as the “Door of No Return.”

The most important city on the Cape Verde island of São Vicente, Mindelo originally thrived as a coal depot for steamships plying the Atlantic. With the advent of diesel engines, its importance waned, although it is still an important port for the maritime trade. The island is volcanic, dry and mostly low. The town has replica of Lisbon’s Belem Tower, located near the fish market, in an interesting part of the city. The late Cape Verdean singer Cesaria Evora started her career singing in the taverns of Mindelo, and later brought the uniquely lilting Cape Verdean form of fado music to the world through her bestselling records and concert tours.

Las Palmas is a large Spanish city, which just happens to be on the island of Gran Canaria. That fact adds the exotic, slightly African and international flavor to the place. It played an important part in the early exploration and exploitation of Africa and the New World, some of which is recounted in the Casa de Colon Museum. Columbus may have slept there, but it was never his house. It was actually the mansion of early governors. Other museums of note are the Museo Canaria with a number of Cro Magnon skulls, and the fascinating Elder Museum of Science and Technology. For shopping, strolling and general local interest, head to La Vegueta, the oldest quarter and a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and the adjacent Triana high street shopping district. Most visitors are here for the beaches, and the municipal Playa de Las Canteras is a long, clean and safe option if that is your intention. The Canaria in the name of the islands refers to the indigenous Presa Canaria breed of dogs, which are large, strong and made quite an impression on the earliest Spanish visitors.

Lanzarote is the northernmost of the Canary Islands, often known as “volcano island.” Its capital is Arrecife, a quiet town of about 30,000 inhabitants. Present day Lanzarote consists of two quite distinct massifs: Famara in the north, and Los Ajaches in the south, where centuries of erosion have sculpted abrupt cliffs and deep ravines, contrasting sharply with the smoothly rounded hills of the island’s central region.

Casablanca, located on the Atlantic coast, is with 4 million inhabitants Morocco’s largest city, and at the same time the largest port in Africa. Built on the site of ancient Phoenician Anfa, it remained a small fishing village for many centuries until the French arrived in 1912. Since then Casablanca has become a vast modern city, ever on the increase since Morocco’s independence from France in 1956. A successful blend of oriental-style, white cubic dwellings with modern Moroccan quarters gives the city an interesting flair. Lovely beaches and attractive hotels make for a popular year-round holiday resort. To help understand Moroccan culture a visit to the Medina, the quaint old Moorish quarter, is a must for all visitors.

Situated just across the narrow Strait of Gibraltar from Europe, Tangier has long comprised a hybrid culture that is nearly as European as it is African. Standing atop Cap Spartel, one can gaze down on the place where the Atlantic meets the Mediterranean. The “Hollywood” district where the foreign embassies have traditionally been located reflects the European influence. But ascending the hill above the waterfront, one enters the narrow, winding alleys of the Kasbah, the city’s oldest, most Moroccan section. Down the coast, nearby Tetouan retains a nearly untouched walled medina, with sections originally occupied by Andalusian, Berber and Jewish populations. It is small enough that visitors can explore it without risking becoming lost, making it a perfect choice as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

To taste the true flavor of this ancient port city, one should stroll its seaside promenade, pausing to rest beneath the huge banyan trees. The narrow, winding streets of the old town fan out from the port, leading you to sunny, palm-lined plazas. Visit the Catedral Nueva (New Cathedral), begun in the early 1800s but not completed for 116 years. Its dramatic, golden dome rises over a striking interior. For those who enjoy people-watching as much as sightseeing, the seafood restaurants along the eastern edge of the port provide the ideal setting.

The great period of “the Discoveries” accounted for phenomenal wealth brought back from India, Africa and Brazil by the great Portuguese navigators. Gold, jewels, ivory, porcelain and spices helped finance grand new buildings and impressive monuments in Lisbon, the country’s capital city. As you sail up the Tagus River, be on deck to admire Lisbon’s panorama and see some of the great monuments lining the river. Lisbon is one of Europe’s smallest capital cities but considered by many visitors to be one of the most likeable. Spread over a string of seven hills, the city offers a variety of faces, including a refreshing no-frills simplicity reflected in the people as they go unhurriedly through their day enjoying a hearty and delicious cuisine accompanied by the country’s excellent wines.

The commercial center of northern Portugal and hub of the port wine trade, Porto is a gracious, cosmopolitan city noted for its 12th century cathedral and medieval churches, picturesque narrow streets and wine lodges at Vila Nova de Gaia. It is clustered on hills overlooking a river, and is a northern European style city with granite church towers, narrow streets and hidden Baroque treasures.

A Coruna is the largest Galician city with a culture uniquely its own, a rich folkloric tradition and its own language. Of historically remote origin, A Coruna has preserved a considerable heritage of monuments and ancient buildings, among which are Romanesque churches and a Roman lighthouse. Its most beautiful and original feature is perhaps the characteristic façade of its houses, which are completely covered by mirador windows.

Saint-Malo is a port city in Brittany, in France’s northwest. Tall granite walls surround the old town, which was once a stronghold for privateers (pirates approved by the king). The Saint-Malo Cathedral, in the center of the old town, is built in Romanesque and Gothic styles and features stained-glass windows depicting city history. Nearby is La Demeure de Corsaire, an 18th-century privateer’s house and museum.

The seaport and naval station of Cherbourg is situated along the English Channel northwest of Paris at the mouth of the Divette River. Believed to rest on the site of an ancient Roman station, Cherbourg has been occupied since ancient times and was frequently contested by the French and English in the Middle Ages because of its strategic location. Most recently passed to France in the late 18th century, the town was extensively fortified by Louis XVI. During WWII the Germans held Cherbourg until it was captured by the American forces shortly after the Normandy landings. Following a vast rehabilitation program that returned it to working condition, Cherbourg became an important Allied supply port. Today, Cherbourg is important for transatlantic shipping, shipbuilding, electronics and telephone equipment manufacturing, yachting and commercial fishing.

The capital of upper Normandy and fifth largest port in France, picturesque and historic Rouen is renowned as a treasury of medieval architecture. With a large part of the city destroyed during World War II resulting in massive postwar reconstruction, Rouen today appears as an interesting blend of ancient and modern. Fortunately, it has kept its medieval character with still-inhabited houses dating from the 15th century, which line its narrow cobblestone streets. Among the city’s most noteworthy attractions are the magnificent Cathedrale Notre-Dame built during the 13th century, and the famous Gros-Horloge, a giant Renaissance clock looming over the renowned pedestrian street of the same name. Two blocks away is the Place du Vieux Marche, or old market square, where Joan of Arc was burned at the stake in 1431. She is publicly commemorated at the site on the last Sunday of each May. The “City of a Hundred Spires” as Rouen is known, was an inspiration for Monet’s impressionistic cathedral paintings. Rouen also makes an excellent point of departure for a visit to Paris, the “City of Light.”

The capital of upper Normandy and fifth largest port in France, picturesque and historic Rouen is renowned as a treasury of medieval architecture. With a large part of the city destroyed during World War II resulting in massive postwar reconstruction, Rouen today appears as an interesting blend of ancient and modern. Fortunately, it has kept its medieval character with still-inhabited houses dating from the 15th century, which line its narrow cobblestone streets. Among the city’s most noteworthy attractions are the magnificent Cathedrale Notre-Dame built during the 13th century, and the famous Gros-Horloge, a giant Renaissance clock looming over the renowned pedestrian street of the same name. Two blocks away is the Place du Vieux Marche, or old market square, where Joan of Arc was burned at the stake in 1431. She is publicly commemorated at the site on the last Sunday of each May. The “City of a Hundred Spires” as Rouen is known, was an inspiration for Monet’s impressionistic cathedral paintings. Rouen also makes an excellent point of departure for a visit to Paris, the “City of Light.”

Crossing the English Channel from continental Europe to Great Britain, the first view of England is the milky-white strip of land called the White Cliffs of Dover. As you get closer, the coastline unfolds before you in all its striking beauty. White chalk cliffs with streaks of black flint rise straight from the sea to a height of 350’ (110 m).

Numerous archaeological finds reveal people were present in the area during the Stone Age. Yet the first record of Dover is from Romans, who valued its close proximity to the mainland. A mere 21 miles (33 km) separate Dover from the closest point in France. A Roman-built lighthouse in the area is the tallest Roman structure still standing in Britain. The remains of a Roman villa with the only preserved Roman wall mural outside of Italy are another unique survivor from ancient times which make Dover one of a kind.