Haunted Houses in Cape Town, South Africa

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The ghosts of Cape Town are, by many accounts, not a quiet group. They're said to linger in the nooks and crannies of the city's venerable architecture, posing a diaphanous reminder of the region's turbulent colonial past. Lucky -- and brave -- visitors to the cape could find the continent's southernmost coastline very creepy indeed.

Rust-en-Vreugd

Rust-en-Vreugd (capegateway.gov.za/eng), an ornate rococo built in the late 1700s by a much-reviled Boer financier, is said to be populated by a range of otherworldly occupants. Now an art museum, it's not uncommon to hear visitor accounts of ghost sightings in the building's ostentatiously ornamented halls. Some guests hear footsteps, some see a woman drifting between the downstairs rooms, some see a different woman staring from an upstairs window, some see an empty crib and some feel a hand on their shoulder when no one else is in the room. Gov. Lord Charles Somerset, British governor of Cape Town during the colonial period, has also been seen here -- and dogs often snarl ardently at his portrait, displayed in the hall.

Castle of Good Hope

An ancient stronghold erected in the 1600s, the Castle of Good Hope (castleofgoodhope.co.za) still stands as a famous fixture on Africa's southernmost coastline. After the advent of British occupation, this fortress was made the ceremonial seat of the colonial British government; now, it's home to the West Cape Department of the Army and houses the Castle Military Museum. As is the case with many old military establishments, the castle's dark past pervades the stories that surround it. Visitors report hearing voices and footsteps in the windowless dungeon, once a torture chamber, and in the narrow stone stairs and labyrinthine corridors that wind through the building. A flickering male ghost has been seen walking around the buttresses and leaning over the parapet. Once, a guard hung himself with the rope bell; now, the building's workers hear it ringing on its own from time to time. The castle's spirits aren't all men, and they aren't all military -- Lady Anne Barnard, the party-loving first lady of Cape Town in the late 1700s, sometimes makes an appearance at parties and sunbathes nude near a pool in the back courtyard.

Cape Town University's Little Theatre

The University of Cape Town is home to a small theater (uct.ac.za/about/arts/littletheatre) that's tucked into a cluster of old buildings near the center of town. Visitors and workers that remain in the building in its quiet hours report hearing someone playing the piano; perhaps, it's the spirit of an actress who died in the theater's green room, unwilling to stop performing. The theater's longtime caretaker tells stories of being sharply pushed from behind while painting scenery. The caretaker speculates that the ghost is of a scenic painter named Cecil -- an outspoken perfectionist during his lifetime -- that's attempting to encourage matching attention to detail from beyond the grave.

Tokai Manor House

During a New Year's party at Cape Town's Tokai Manor House in the early 1900s, the revelers dared a young nobleman to ride his horse around the living room. He did -- but because of the large amount of alcohol he had consumed previous to saddling up, he was unable to control the animal. The horse galloped out the door and careened from the high veranda, fatally breaking the necks of both the rider and the horse. Visitors report seeing a spectral reenactment of the spectacle every New Year's Eve.

About the Author

Annette O'Neil graduated from the University of Southern California with degrees in cinema, global communication and geology. A writer for more than a decade, O'Neil has written copy, content and editorial articles for hundreds of clients and publications, including Yoga Awakening Africa and Whole Life Times.

Source: http://traveltips.usatoday.com/haunted-houses-cape-town-south-africa-100753.html

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