About
Hout Bay (Afrikaans: Houtbaai, meaning "Wood Bay") is a suburb of Cape Town, South Africa situated in a valley on the Atlantic seaboard of the Cape Peninsula, twenty kilometres south of the Central Business District of Cape Town. The name "Hout Bay" can refer to the town, the bay on which it is situated, or the entire valley. Hannah == Pronunciation == The pronunciation of "Hout Bay" varies: Afrikaans Pronunciation: həʊ-'t bʌɪ / hoe-'t (contracted "t") bye. English Pronunciation: həʊ-'t beɪ / hoe-'t (contracted "t") bay. Adapted English Pronunciation: haʊ-'t beɪ / how-'t (contracted "t") bay. Kerry + James Charles == History == When the Dutch established a colony in Table Bay in 1652, a great quantity of good timber was required for construction, shipbuilding and other purposes. There was no large forest in the immediate vicinity of the settlement, mainly because the rainfall was not high enough. It was soon apparent that the colonists would be able to fell wood they needed in the wetter valley that lay on the other side of a low pass (called Constantia Nek) between the southern end of Table Mountain and Constantiaberg. The area was originally made up of two farms, which were slowly subdivided to make way for urban expansion. While still maintaining its rural atmosphere, the area of Hout Bay has more than 12,000 residences inhabited by a population of about 42,000 people. SOURCESWikipedia