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What makes the Western Cape Special?
The Western Cape is the most highly educated province with a very skilled workforce in comparison to any other African region. The high school graduation (matric: South African colloquial) rate is consistently around 80%, higher than any other province. The province also boasts two internationally acclaimed universities, namely Stellenbosch University and the University of Cape Town. Quality of education remains a problem in previously disadvantaged areas (product of apartheid Bantu Education System). The South African government has shown a keen interest in bolstering the education system and quality seems to be improving.
The province has recently grown a massive tourism industry, with the majority of international tourist arrivals visiting the province, with Cape Town, Garden Route and the Winelands being popular tourist destinations. There were 1,535,903 international arrivals in 2004 with continued growth annually. Domestic tourism is also on the rise, as low-cost air carriers such as Kulula.com and OneTime making travel more affordable to more South Africans.
A bit of Geography and History.
The Western Cape is also diverse climatologically, with many distinct micro- and macroclimates created by the varied topography and the influence of both the Indian (warm water) and Atlantic (cold water) oceans. Most of the province is considered to have a Mediterranean climate with cool, wet winters and warm, dry summers. The interior Karoo has a semi-arid climate with cold, frosty winters and hot summers with occational thunderstorms. The Garden Route and the Overberg on the south coast have a maritime climate with cool, moist winters and mild, moist summers. Mossel Bay in the Garden Route is considered to have the second mildest climate worldwide after Hawaii.
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