SECRET VICTORIAN TUNNEL ADVENTURE | CPT IN SOUTH AFRICA

Experience an Underground walk below the City of Cape Town. Parts of the canals and rivers date back to 1652, when they used to supply the Company Gardens and the passing ships with fresh water. Later these rivers flowing through the city became peasant walkways, shaded by oaks, with bridges going over them. Bring your own headlights and water shoes/gumboots to explore whatâ€s in the belly of the mother city and then pop in or out of a manhole on the manicured lawns of the Castle. Learn all about the fascinating history of the waters flowing below the city. This 2 hour adventure is suitable for children seven years and older and children need to be accompanied by a guardian. The tour requires a measure of physical fitness and you need to be surefooted. We do not recommend the elderly and infirm to join a tour because certain parts of the tunnel can be slippery and have a number of obstacles and ladders to climb. Tunnel History The early streets ran parallel and at right angles to the streams that flowed from the mountain to the sea. Later, these streams were formalized and directed into ‘grachteâ€. For example the Heerengracht (today Adderley Street), was the first principal street of the settlement, following the course of the Fresh River to the fort. It was threaded by a double streamlet, with tiny bridges crossing at intervals. It ran through the town centre and continued the axis of the Companyâ€s Garden linked by way of an old gateway, was lined with stooped townhouses of the burghers and at its foot was the wooden jetty. By 1767 the street had been widened into a fashionable promenade. It was described by a traveller in 1778 as “the most beautiful street or canal, bordered with oaks, along which are built the finest houses.” The ‘grachte†had become the dumping place for the townâ€s rubbish. Thus, a systematic programme of arching over and enclosing the canals was initiated in 1838, directly changing the character of old Cape Town. At first a number of bridges were built over the canals and some canals paved. Eventually the majority of the grachte had been replaced by brick sewers. By the end of the 1850s, the last stretch of the Heerengracht had been covered and the street, renamed Adderley Street. When the Bubonic Plague broke out in Cape Town in 1901, the last of the open water courses was closed, in District Six. Location: Cape Town Central Availability: Adventures depart based on a mimimum group size of 10 pax. Who: The tour requires a measure of physical fitness and you need to be surefooted. We do not recommend the elderly and infirm to join a tour because certain parts of the tunnel can be slippery and have a number of obstacles and ladders to climb. Children age 7 and older are welcome. Numbers: This experience is for one person and forms part of a group. Weather: All adventures are water level dependent. What to take: Dress sensibly, wear boots/water shoes and take a head torch. Duration: Allow 2 hours for this adventure. Additional Information: Participation is at your own risk. This package includes a service fee and an e-voucher.