Grabouw
Grabouw is a town located in the Western Cape province of South Africa. Grabouw is located some 65 km south-east of Cape Town, over Sir Lowry's Pass from Somerset West, along the N2 highway.The town is the commercial centre for the vast Elgin Valley, the largest single export fruit-producing area in Southern Africa, which extends between the Hottentots-Holland, Kogelberg, Groenland, and Houwhoek Mountains. The town's population has grown rapidly, with 44 593 people in 2019 from 21 593 as listed by the 2001 census. History Pre-colonial history The original inhabitants of the area were the Khoikhoi pastoralists and the San hunter gatherers. The indigenous people of the region, the Chainouqua Khoi, inhabited a large area on both sides of the Hottentots Holland Mountains. They traded with early European settlers, but were later dispossessed from their lands by the Dutch colonists, who began to move into the area in the late 1600s and took the Chainouqua land for farming. Fort ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Elgin, Western Cape
Elgin is a large, lush area of land, circled by mountains, in the Overberg region of South Africa. This broad upland valley lies about 70 km southeast of Cape Town, just beyond the Hottentots Holland Mountains. The Elgin region is centered on the town of Grabouw. The Elgin Valley is one of the more intensively farmed districts of South Africa and produces 60% of the national apple crop. Consequently it is now internationally known as the place in South Africa “where the apples come from”. However a recent shift in economic focus has led to Elgin also becoming one of South Africa's most notable and successful wine regions, with the coolest climate of any region in the country. Elgin wines and tourism have consequently become significant parts of the valley's economy. Deciduous fruit, Flowers and Wine Today the Elgin valley is renowned for its apple and pear orchards, its greenhouse cut flowers, its rose growing, and, increasingly, for the production of high quality, co ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Theewaterskloof Local Municipality
Theewaterskloof Municipality is a local municipality located within the Overberg District Municipality, in the Western Cape province of South Africa. As of 2007, the population was 108,790. Its municipality code is WC031. The enormous Theewaterskloof Dam, which provides water for Cape Town and the surrounding areas, is located in this municipality. Geography The municipality covers an area of in the western interior of the Overberg region. It occupies the area between the Riviersonderend Mountains to the north and the Kogelberg and Kleinrivier Mountains to the south; to the west it stretches as far as the Hottentots-Holland mountains. The western area of the municipality is the Elgin Valley, drained by the Palmiet River. The northern part is the valley of the Sonderend River including the Theewaterskloof Dam. The southeastern part is in the Overberg plain, drained by the Bot and Klein Rivers. According to the 2011 census the municipality has a population of 108,790 people ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Hottentots-Holland
The Hottentots Holland Mountains are part of the Cape Fold Belt in the Western Cape, South Africa. The mountain range forms a barrier between the Cape Town metropolitan area and the southern Overberg coast. The range is primarily composed of Table Mountain Sandstone, and lies between the eastern Cape Town suburbs of Somerset West and Gordon's Bay to the west, and the Elgin valley to the east. Sir Lowry's Pass is the only crossing, in the form of the N2 motorway. The Steenbras Dam, one of Cape Town's main supply dams, is located in the Elgin valley south of the town of Grabouw due to the abundant rainfall normally experienced in the uplands of the catchment area. Pass The Gantouw (Eland Pass) ceased to be used by wagons on the 6th July 1830, when the new Sir Lowry's Pass road was opened. Wagons of the Great Trek beginning 1835 did not actually use the old pass, instead they used the new road. When previous migrants decided to leave the Cape Town area, or Cape Colony as it was th ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Overberg District Municipality
The Overberg District Municipality is a district municipality that governs the Overberg region in the Western Cape province of South Africa. It is divided into four local municipalities and includes the major towns of Grabouw, Caledon, Hermanus, Bredasdorp and Swellendam. The municipal area covers and had in 2007 an estimated population of 212,787 people in 60,056 households. Geography The Overberg municipal area covers lying to the south-east of Cape Town. It stretches from the Hottentots-Holland mountains in the west to the Breede River mouth in the east, and as far as the Riviersonderend Mountains in the north. It includes Cape Agulhas, the southernmost point in Africa, and has coastline on both the Atlantic Ocean and the Indian Ocean. The largest town is Grabouw (pop. 44,593) in the Elgin Valley adjacent to the Hottentots-Holland on the north-western edge of the district. The municipal headquarters are located at Bredasdorp (pop. 12,749) in the southern part of the dist ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Hottentots Holland
The Hottentots Holland Mountains are part of the Cape Fold Belt in the Western Cape, South Africa. The mountain range forms a barrier between the Cape Town metropolitan area and the southern Overberg coast. The range is primarily composed of Table Mountain Sandstone, and lies between the eastern Cape Town suburbs of Somerset West and Gordon's Bay to the west, and the Elgin valley to the east. Sir Lowry's Pass is the only crossing, in the form of the N2 motorway. The Steenbras Dam, one of Cape Town's main supply dams, is located in the Elgin valley south of the town of Grabouw due to the abundant rainfall normally experienced in the uplands of the catchment area. Pass The Gantouw (Eland Pass) ceased to be used by wagons on the 6th July 1830, when the new Sir Lowry's Pass road was opened. Wagons of the Great Trek beginning 1835 did not actually use the old pass, instead they used the new road. When previous migrants decided to leave the Cape Town area, or Cape Colony as it was th ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Somerset West
Somerset West ( af, Somerset-Wes) is a town in the Western Cape, South Africa. Organisationally and administratively it is included in the City of Cape Town metropolitan municipality as a suburb of the Helderberg region (formerly called Hottentots Holland). The vehicle registration code for Somerset West is ''CFM'' and the post code is 7130 for street addresses, and 7129 for post office boxes. History A cattle post was established here by Dutch soldiers in 1672. A town developed around the Lourens River (originally "Tweederivier", which means "Second River"; "Eersterivier", meaning "First River" passes through Stellenbosch, some to the north) and the farm of Vergelegen (Dutch: "remotely situated"), an 18th-century farmhouse built in the historic Cape Dutch style by Willem Adriaan van der Stel, governor of the Cape and son of Simon van der Stel, who gave his name to the nearby town of Stellenbosch. Willem Adriaan was later sent back to Holland after being charged with corru ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Western Cape
The Western Cape is a province of South Africa, situated on the south-western coast of the country. It is the fourth largest of the nine provinces with an area of , and the third most populous, with an estimated 7 million inhabitants in 2020. About two-thirds of these inhabitants live in the metropolitan area of Cape Town, which is also the provincial capital. The Western Cape was created in 1994 from part of the former Cape Province. The two largest cities are Cape Town and George. Geography The Western Cape Province is roughly L-shaped, extending north and east from the Cape of Good Hope, in the southwestern corner of South Africa. It stretches about northwards along the Atlantic coast and about eastwards along the South African south coast (Southern Indian Ocean). It is bordered on the north by the Northern Cape and on the east by the Eastern Cape. The total land area of the province is , about 10.6% of the country's total. It is roughly the size of England or the S ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Sir Lowry's Pass
Sir Lowry's Pass is a mountain pass on the N2 national road in the Western Cape province of South Africa. It crosses the Hottentots Holland Mountains between Somerset West and the Elgin valley, on the main route between Cape Town and the Garden Route. A railway line also crosses the mountain range near this point. The pass is 4 lanes wide and is subject to heavy traffic, especially at the start and end of holiday periods when many people travel in and out of the Cape Town area, and is sometimes seen as an accident black spot. The summit of the pass is at 460 m. There is a viewpoint at this point which is also used as a paragliding launch point. Baboons are often seen in this area. The top of the pass was formerly the start of the Boland Hiking Trail, but this section of the trail was closed after a number of deaths due to the difficult hiking conditions. On the Grabouw side, the road passes the Steenbras Dam. Sir Lowry's Pass Village is situated near the base of the ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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N2 (South Africa)
The N2 is a national route in South Africa that runs from Cape Town through George, Gqeberha, East London, Eastern Cape, East London, Mthatha and Durban to Ermelo, Mpumalanga, Ermelo. It is the main highway along the Indian Ocean coast of the country. Its current length of makes it the longest Numbered routes in South Africa, numbered route in South Africa. Route Major towns and cities along the route of the N2 include Cape Town, Somerset West, Caledon, Western Cape, Caledon, Swellendam, Mossel Bay, George, Western Cape, George, Knysna, Plettenberg Bay, Humansdorp, Port Elizabeth, Makhanda, Eastern Cape, Grahamstown, King William's Town, Qonce (formerly King William's Town), Bhisho, East London, Eastern Cape, East London, Mthatha, Kokstad, KwaZulu-Natal, Kokstad, Port Shepstone, Durban, KwaDukuza, Empangeni, Piet Retief, Mpumalanga, Piet Retief and Ermelo, Mpumalanga, Ermelo. Western Cape Cape Metropole The N2 begins in central Cape Town Cape Town ( af, Kaapstad; , ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Groenland Mountains
The Groenland (Dutch for "Greenland") is a small mountain range in the Western Cape, South Africa, and forms part of the Cape Fold Belt. Location and geography The Groenland mountains run from east to west. They lie between the Hottentots Holland mountains to the west, and the Houwhoek mountains to the south-east. They thus form the northern boundary of the Elgin valley. They are located between the towns of Grabouw in the south-west, and Villiersdorp in the north-east. These towns are linked by the Viljoen's Pass (named after local farmer Antonie Viljoen), part of the R321 road which cuts through the Groenland mountains at the point where the Palmiet River flows. The range is primarily composed of Table Mountain Sandstone. History Pre-colonial history The mountain and its surrounding areas were originally the homeland of the indigenous Chainouqua Khoi people (also spelled as Chainoqua), who inhabited a large area on either side of the Hottentots Holland mountains. Under the l ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Kogelberg
The Kogelberg is a range of mountains along the False Bay coast in the Western Cape of South Africa. They form part of the Cape Fold Belt, starting south of the Elgin valley and forming a steep coastal range as far as Kleinmond. The Kogelberg area has the steepest and highest drop directly into the ocean of any southern African coastal stretch. Ecology {{main, Kogelberg Nature Reserve The mountains are made predominantly of Table Mountain Sandstone and form some very rugged terrain, which is extremely rich in fynbos, the native Cape flora. The Elgin Valley's surrounding mountain ranges are considered the hub of the Cape floral kingdom. They contain more plant species than anywhere else in the floral region, and a large section of the mountain range is now protected in the massive Kogelberg Nature Reserve. The unique local vegetation type is classified as Kogelberg Sandstone Fynbos. The climate is Mediterranean, however much milder than average, due to constant maritime winds ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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South Africa
South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countries of Namibia, Botswana, and Zimbabwe; and to the east and northeast by Mozambique and Eswatini. It also completely enclaves the country Lesotho. It is the southernmost country on the mainland of the Old World, and the second-most populous country located entirely south of the equator, after Tanzania. South Africa is a biodiversity hotspot, with unique biomes, plant and animal life. With over 60 million people, the country is the world's 24th-most populous nation and covers an area of . South Africa has three capital cities, with the executive, judicial and legislative branches of government based in Pretoria, Bloemfontein, and Cape Town respectively. The largest city is Johannesburg. About 80% of the population are Black South Afri ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |