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There can't be too many cities in the world where your journey from the airport takes you past a mountainside dotted with zebra and antelope.
The University of Cape Town's little experiment notwithstanding, the Mother City can at least give you a taste of African big game.
Cape Point Nature Reserve is first on most people's list. Nonchalantly at home amid the 2 700 species of plant are Cape mountain zebra, bontebok (large, chestnut antelope), red hartebeest and eland.
Throw an ostrich or two into the mix; add a troop of baboons and the odd snake or tortoise and suddenly you have an impressive list.
If that doesn't impress you then we dare you to spend the night on an island in the middle of a wildlife reserve – with snorting hippos for company.
Rondevlei Bird Sanctuary offers nights in a self-catering cottage, accessible only by boat, where the messy noises of the southern suburbs are replaced by the gentler sounds of jumping fish, foraging otters, countless birds and the not so gentle honk of the resident hippos.
Bring along your life list: the Western Cape might not boast the number of species found in the Kruger or KwaZulu-Natal but it is packed with specials.
Nearly 90 of South Africa's endemics or near-endemics can be seen on day trips from Cape Town including the six fynbos (Cape's unique, shrubby vegetation) endemics.
Try Strandfontein Sewage Works (no, seriously!) for incredible water birds (including hundreds of flamingos and pelicans) or the adjoining wetlands of Rondevlei Bird Sanctuary.
Mountain and fynbos specials can be tracked down in any one of Table Mountain's parks but we'd recommend Silvermine or the Cecilia forest/Back Table areas.
Boulder's Beach, just outside Simons Town, is home to a large breeding colony of the indigenous African penguin and a superb place to pick up coastal scrub species and the odd vagrant.
Further afield, the West Coast National Park, the rugged Cedarberg region and the rural Overberg and Whale Coast offer a great range of habitats for top birding.
Finally, if you've got the stomach for it, pelagic birding trips operate out of the False Bay fishing villages: prepare for over 20 ocean specials plus a great chance to see whales, dolphins or even that toothy torpedo – the great white shark.
Cape Town is slap-bang in the middle of a floral masterpiece: the Cape Floral Kingdom.
You can experience this utterly unique montage of 9 000 species (70 percent of which are endemic) from almost anywhere but the Kirstenbosch National Botanical Gardens would be the obvious start.
Head for the wilds of Silvermine or the Back Table to see the fynbos in its untamed glory, and if that doesn't satisfy your thirst then the surrounding areas are packed with botanical gems: the Harold Porter National Botanical Gardens near Gordon's Bay, the Hottentot Hollands mountains, West Coast National Park and the Cape's best-kept floral secret, the Kogelberg Biosphere, are all waiting to be discovered.
Read more about the natural history of the Cape in Geology Rocks and Secret Mountain, or get the low down on great walking trails in Hiking Table Mountain.
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