Malcolm van Staden
Somerset West, South Africa
Somerset West is a town in the Western Cape province of South Africa. It forms part of the more widely known city of Cape Town which is the legislative capital of South Africa. The town is overlooked by the Helderberg (meaning "clear mountain"), which is a part of the Hottentots-Holland range of mountains.
Somerset West is a relatively peaceful setting compared to the busier metropolitan areas of the Cape Town CBD and it's surrounding suburbs. Though it fits in well with the general relaxed and laid back lifestyle that is typical to Cape Town.
The oldest remaining vineyard in South Africa, Vergelegen, is situated on the outskirts of Somerset West.
Cape Town itself is known for it's picturesque Table Mountain as well as it's stunning beaches. Most notably it's known for it's fynbos. Fynbos, meaning “fine bush”, is a unique and strikingly beautiful group of flora endemic to a small section of the Western Cape of South Africa. There are only six floral kingdoms in the world, and fynbos not only constitutes one kingdom (the smallest) all on its own, but is the only one occurring entirely within one country. There are 9 000 species of fynbos occurring in the Cape area, and over 2 000 species on Table Mountain alone – which is more plant species than occur in the whole United Kingdom. Proteas, South Africa’s national flower, are part of the fynbos family, as is rooibos, a plant increasing in international popularity as a herbal tea.
