The first inhabitants of the area now occupied by the Cape Town City Bowl and the Atlantic Seaboard surely appreciated the magnificent views, the beautiful fynbos floral kingdom and the delicious food provided by the Atlantic Ocean just as much as the visitors and residents of today do. The first European explorerers to visit the Cape - the Portuguese - were met by the Khoi Khoi, herders who were semi nomadic in this part.

The first people from Europe who settled here were from Holland, sent by the Dutch East India Company to develop a settlement with the purpose of providing fresh food for trading ships on their way to and from the East. This settlement grew, augmented by slaves from Indonesia and Madagascar as well as descendants of the Khoi Khoi. Protestant Huguenots from France settled here after being forced to flee their homes for religious reasons.

By the mid 19th Century this already cosmopolitan city was taken by the British as a colony, and English, Scots, Irish and Welsh were added to the melting pot. At this time the city slowly started spreading further until it reached its present proportions, with a supplement being added by the ground dredged when building the Duncan Dock in the 1930s to form what is now the foreshore, adjacent to the V&A Waterfront. The cosmopolitan feel has remained characteristic of Cape Town, with various African peoples lately adding a new vibrancy to the Mother City.