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CAPE TOWN, South Africa - Visit Rio de Janeiro for the first time, and the physical setting of mountains and oceans can't help but impress. The same holds true for a first view of the V-shaped valley that is La Paz, Bolivia. Some might even count Salt Lake City, with its backdrop of the Wasatch Range, as the kind of place where the geographical beauty can be stunning.

Cape Town's first view offers that kind of impression. Nestled near the southern tip of South Africa, this bustling city of 3.1 million residents is geographically alluring. With massive Table Mountain looming on one side and the blue waters of the Atlantic Ocean on the other, the "wow factor" is high.

This is the kind of place that offers the urban pleasures associated with good shopping, interesting culture, bustling nightlife and numerous ethnic restaurants as well as the outdoor fun linked with the ocean, wildlife watching, hiking and golf.

It is also a city that forces visitors to make choices. This is especially true for those who start or end an African adventure by flying into or out of the city. Many who are in a hurry to view South Africa's wildlife or have had their energy drained by being on the road for weeks may not budget enough time to give Cape Town its due.

That was the dilemma I faced upon finishing an 18-day GAP Adventures tour with my daughter and son-in-law in Cape Town. It was the last day of an exhausting 3,000-mile journey across South Africa. Anticipating that we might want to see more than what was included in the tour, we booked an extra night at the inexpensive Backpackers hotel near the heart of the city.

That wasn't enough time and forced some difficult choices.

We got a chance to dine on Long Street, a colorful nightlife and restaurant district filled with colorful Victorian-era buildings. But there would be no time to visit one of the many Cape Town museums or to take the ferry to Robben Island, home to the prison that housed South African leader Nelson Mandela.

The last part of the organized tour included a spectacular ride on a cable car to the top of 3,563-foot Table Mountain, the aptly named flat-topped geographic formation that dominates the city skyline much as the Wasatch Range does Salt Lake City.

There was some brief discussion whether to hike to the top of the mountain instead, which is part of Table Mountain National Park that also includes portions of Cape Point, the Cape of Good Hope and the Boulders Beach penguin colony.

We elected to wait in line and ride the car to the top, a place that did not disappoint.

South Africa does a wonderful job managing its 22 national parks, coming close to getting the right mix of needed commercial facilities such as restaurants and souvenir shops along with hiking trails and interpretive areas. Table Mountain certainly fills that need.

The Web site http://www.sanparks.org is a good place to get information on not only Table Mountain but the other parks in the South African system.

We grabbed a quick and inexpensive meal at the cafeteria-style restaurant on the top of the mountain and then took time to explore. Little trails seemed to lead everywhere, offering different viewpoints of Cape Town below as well as the surrounding area.

There were benches near maps that gave us an idea of where we were in relation to the Cape of Good Hope, Robben Island and Cape Town. Wildflowers and native plants mixed with the rocky top of the mountain stunned us with their beauty. The top of Table Mountain proved a good place to wander and sit and to jot down memories of a trip in journals.

The formal part of the tour over, we discussed our options on our last day in Africa with the rest of our group. Several of us decided to hire a small tour bus and driver recommended by the Backpackers' staff the next day.

Sharing the cost made the fee reasonable, and we pretty much agreed on the priorities before several of us needed to be dropped off at the airport for an evening flight across two continents to London.

There were three priorities.

The first was to see the 3,000 African penguins that make the Boulders Beach portion of Table Mountain National Park a popular tourist stop. The second was a visit to Cape Point near - but not on - the southern point of Africa where the Indian and Atlantic oceans meet. (That point is Cape Agulhas, about 93 miles from Cape Point.) And, finally, we wanted to make a brief stop at the Cape of Good Hope, one of Africa's most famous landmarks.

That's a lot to do in a day with a flight looming late in the day. It made for, at best, a superficial visit. Still, our three choices proved worthy.

Tourist facilities at the penguin colony have been constructed to meet two major needs. The first and most important was protecting the birds' habitat and nesting area. The second was to provide a small but impressive visitors' center to explain the natural history of the penguins.

Then, boardwalks with viewing areas had been constructed above ground that offered a way for visitors to photograph and see the birds while giving them free access to get to and from the water.

Our driver then took us to Cape Point. This beautiful area contains walks to two historic lighthouses, museums on shipwrecks and some of the famous sailors who first came to this part of the world, historical perspectives on the cape as well as restaurants and souvenir shops.

Visitors can either walk to near the top of the point with an elevation gain of about 820 feet or take the slow-moving funicular rail car, affectionately called The Flying Dutchman, to explore the point.

In addition to learning about the history of the area, the scenery below is a huge highlight.

According to the South African National Parks Web site, the Cape of Good Hope was named by Portugal's King John II and has "captured the imagination of European sailors such as Días, who first named it the Cape of Storms in 1488, and later in 1580 by Sir Francis Drake, who called it the 'fairest cape in all the world.' "

We finally headed down for the quick trip to the beach near the Cape of Good Hope itself, somewhat disappointed that we didn't see any baboons, since there seemed to be warning signs everywhere that the aggressive animals could be dangerous to visitors.

There was time to explore the rocky beach for a few moments and then snap some photos in front of the sign. Then it was off to the airport.

On the way, our driver explained some of the nuances of South Africa's now officially defunct apartheid system as well as some of the hardships he and his family had faced in the not-so-distant past.

The background of the Khayelitsha Township, a shanty-town slum that seemed far larger and much more imposing than the better-known Soweto near Johannesburg, proved to be a fitting place to hear our driver's difficult-to-understand story about racism and segregation.

The township, near the airport, also put an exclamation point on our South African journey, reminding us of the affluence of a country rich in culture and natural resources coupled with the poverty and de facto segregation that still exists between the rich and the poor.

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* TOM WHARTON can be contacted at wharton@sltrib.com. His phone number is 801-257-8909. Send comments about this story to livingeditor@sltrib.com.