Cape Town

South Africa Updated Apr 2026

The first thing that hits you in Cape Town, South Africa, is the smell of kelp burning off the noon sun while a muezzin’s call drifts over the Bo-Kaap’s crayon-box houses—two oceans, three centuries, and at least five cuisines braided into a single breeze. You came for Table Mountain; the city will hand you that postcard and then quietly hand you six other stories you didn’t order.

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Cape Town, South Africa Photo: Andrew Harvard / Pexels
Attractions
25
Audio
4 h
Trip length
4–6 days
Best season
Late Feb–April (warm, dry, harvest)

Why Cape Town

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One minute you’re tasting 350-year-old Constantia wine in a cellar built by slaves, the next you’re chasing koesister syrup down your wrist on a side street where neighbours still greet in rapid-fire Afrikaans. The architecture keeps the same reckless rhythm: Georgian brick elbowing Dutch gable beside a Heatherwick-designed grain-silo turned cathedral of African contemporary art.

Cape Town’s calendar is equally impatient. Minstrels in pink suits parade in January, whales breach so close you hear the slap in September, and the cable car shuts without apology if the mountain decides to wear its cloud tablecloth. Plan flexibly; the city rewards the curious, not the checklist.

  • Table Mountain & Two Oceans

    The cableway hauls you 1 067 m above sea level in under five minutes; on top the plateau is wide enough to fit 27 football pitches and the air smells of fynbos and salt. From there you watch the Atlantic and Indian oceans argue over the colour of the horizon.

  • Castle of Good Hope

    Built 1666-79, the star-shaped fort is South Africa’s oldest colonial structure; inside you can walk the kat balcony where Van Riebeeck once addressed soldiers and still hear the noon cannon boom across the city.

  • Zeitz MOCAA

    Heatherwick Studio carved a cathedral of concrete out of 1920s grain silos; the result is the continent’s premier contemporary African art space, all honeycomb atriums and 80 galleries spiralling upward.

  • African Penguins at Boulders

    Simon’s Town’s granite coves shelter one of the only land-based penguin colonies on earth; you can swim within metres of them and the water is warmer than you expect because False Bay faces the Indian Ocean.

Places to Visit

Not every monument, just the ones we'd walk you past ourselves.

All 85 places in Cape Town

Neighborhoods

Where to wander, by quarter — each with its own rhythm.

  • Bo-Kaap

    A 1760s Muslim quarter painted lithium pink and turmeric yellow. Cobbles echo with Cape Malay spice—cardamom, cinnamon, the sweet smoke of koesisters lifted at dawn. Buy saffron from Atlas, eat bobotie on a rooftop that looks straight into the mountain’s sandstone ribs.

  • City Bowl & Bree Street

    The city’s gastronomic spine: 900 metres of wine bars that pour Swartland chenin beside basement jazz joints and neon-voodoo coffee roasters. Start at Truth’s steampunk cathedral, end three croissants later on a rooftop where the Noon Gun still thumps across the harbour at exactly 12:00.

  • Woodstock

    Victorian warehouses turned into street-art galleries and Saturday food markets that smell of Ethiopian berbere and wood-fired sourdough. The Old Biscuit Mill’s chimney still says “Albany” in faded brick; inside, you’ll find Cape Town’s most obsessive sour-beer brewers.

  • Kalk Bay

    A tidal harbour where seals beg for snoek heads and the train skims so close you could spit on the tracks from your calamari basket. Browse first-edition prints above the swell, then eat fish and chips at Kalky’s while gulls mug the outdoor tables.

  • Sea Point

    Eleven kilometres of ocean promenade used by dawn joggers, sunset drummers, and Senegalese hair-braiders. Mojo Market stays open until the last band packs up; the Atlantic stays open forever.

  • De Waterkant

    Gay nightlife tucked between 1820s cottages painted the shade of melted gelato. Thursday’s drag show at Café Manhattan spills onto the street; by midnight the bouncers at Beulah are deciding who gets into the subterranean piano bar that smells like spilled gin and antique velvet.

  • Hout Bay

    Working harbour ringed by chapman’s-peak cliffs and weekend craft markets that sell peri-peri biltong and leopard-print kaftans. Take the short boat to the seal colony; the skipper will tell you which rock looks exactly like Nelson Mandela’s profile.

  • Muizenberg

    Surfer village warmed by the Indian Ocean—water ten degrees kinder than Camps Bay. Victorian bathing boxes in sherbet stripes line the beach; the waves are gentle enough that you can stand up on your first lesson and still make it to the masala-chai food truck before it closes at three.

Plan your trip

Before you go

Getting There
Cape Town International Airport (CPT) is 20 km east of centre; no rail link since 2022. Authorised shuttles, Uber/Bolt, or N2 highway by car. Long-distance trains terminate at Cape Town Station (corner of Adderley & Strand).
Getting Around
No metro—use MyCiTi BRT: 1-day pass R90, 7-day R300 (2026 fares). Routes reach Hout Bay to Atlantis; cards cost R40. Golden Arrow buses cover 1 300 routes with R40 Gold Card. Metrorail Southern Line runs to Simon’s Town but check daily status.
Climate & Best Time
Mediterranean: dry summers 20-28 °C (Dec-Mar), wet winters 12-18 °C (Jun-Aug) with 70-80 mm monthly rain. Best weather Mar-May and Sep-Nov; whale season Aug-Oct. Table Mountain closes in high wind—book morning slots.
Language & Currency
English is universal signage; Afrikaans and isiXhosa dominate conversations. Currency is South African rand (ZAR); cards accepted almost everywhere but keep R5 coins for car guards.
Safety
Stick to busy zones: V&A Waterfront, Sea Point Promenade, CBD daylight streets. Don’t hike Table Mountain alone—use 086 110 6417 for ranger emergencies. Night walks after dark away from crowds are discouraged.

03 Top tickets in Cape Town.

Book ahead

Curated from places in this city. Same price as official sites.

Cape Town Helicopter Tour: Atlantic Coast
V&A Waterfront
Cape Town Helicopter Tour: Atlantic Coast
★4.8 from €220.55
Cape Town Highlights & Hidden Gems Including Tickets and Snack
V&A Waterfront
Cape Town Highlights & Hidden Gems Including Tickets and Snack
★4.7 from €82
Robben Island: Ferry Ticket & Prison Museum Tour
Robben Island Maximum Security Prison
Robben Island: Ferry Ticket & Prison Museum Tour
★3.9 from €42.50
Private Cape Peninsula + Kirstenbosch Garden Full Day Guided Tour
Kirstenbosch National Botanical Garden
Private Cape Peninsula + Kirstenbosch Garden Full Day Guided Tour
★4.9 from €116.96
Cape Town City Pass: Save Over 50% on 80+ Top Attractions
Iziko South African Museum
Cape Town City Pass: Save Over 50% on 80+ Top Attractions
★4.5 from €106.06
Zeitz MOCAA
Zeitz Museum Of Contemporary Art Africa
Zeitz MOCAA
★3.5 from €14.50

Prices shown are indicative — final pricing and availability are confirmed at checkout. Audiala may receive a commission from bookings made via these links.

Where Two Oceans Met—and the World Changed Course

From Khoekhoe pastures to a parliament that freed a nation, Cape Town keeps rewriting the map.

  1. c. 120 000 BCE

    First Human Footprints

    Early Homo sapiens leave stone tools in coastal caves. The ocean here is warmer; giant buffalo and long-horned antelope drink from springs that will one day be Adderley Street. These campsites are the oldest evidence of modern human behaviour anywhere on earth.

  2. c. 2000 BCE

    Khoekhoe Herds on Table Bay

    Pastoralists drive cattle between seasonal pastures where the Liesbeek River meets the sea. They call the flat-topped mountain Huriǂoaxa—‘mountain that emerges from the sea’. Their portable reed huts can be rolled up in an hour; ownership is counted in cattle, not acres.

  3. 1488

    Dias Plants a Padrão

    Bartolomeu Dias steps ashore, sights the mountain, names it ‘Table of the South’. He sails on, but the stone pillar he plants tells Lisbon the sea route to Asia is open. Within a decade, every spice-laden carrack will tack past this beach.

  4. 1510

    Battle of Salt River

    Viceroy Francisco de Almeida’s raid ends in disaster: 64 Portuguese dead, the viceroy among them. Khoekhoe tactics—feigned retreat over dune ridges—enter the written record. Europe learns the Cape is not an empty refuelling stop.

  5. 1652

    Van Riebeeck’s Five Ships Drop Anchor

    On 6 April the Dutch East India Company’s commander steps onto a sand-spit and orders a fort of mud, thatch and green bamboo. The instructions say ‘refreshment station’; the seedlings he plants will grow into a city of half a million.

  6. 1658

    First Slave Auction

    Angolan prisoners of war are sold in the shadow of the half-built fort. The Cape’s population is 40% enslaved within a year; by 1834 the Lodge will hold 500 people in a space the size of a tennis court. Their creole Dutch becomes Afrikaans.

Show the full timeline (23 moments)
  1. 1666

    Castle of Good Hope Rises

    Jan van Riebeeck’s successor lays the first yellow-blue sandstone on 2 January. The pentagon is the largest building between Lisbon and Batavia; inside, a bell still strikes the hour for ships that no longer come for spices but for power.

  2. 1713

    Smallpox Empties the Peninsula

    A ship from Ceylon carries the virus; within months half the Khoekhoe population is dead. Entire clans vanish; their grazing lands become ‘vacant’ in Company records. The epidemic opens the interior to settler expansion decades before any treaty.

  3. 1795

    British Redcoats March up Adderley

    After a brief cannonade at Muizenberg, the Dutch governor capitulates. The Union Jack flies over the Castle for the first time; the same year the colony’s press prints the first newspaper south of the equator. Cape Town is now a pawn in European wars.

  4. 1834

    Chains Struck, Shackles Remodeled

    Slavery ends on 1 December, but freed people must serve four more years as ‘apprentices’. Former slaves move up the slopes of Signal Hill, paint their houses sea-blue and sunrise-pink to spite the past. The Bo-Kaap is born.

  5. 1860

    Prince Alfred Dumps the First Stone

    Victoria’s second son tips a wheelbarrow of rock into Table Bay. The breakwater will become Africa’s first deep-water harbor; within a decade, diamonds and gold pour through Cape Town on their way to London vaults.

  6. 1901

    Plague and Segregation

    Bubonic plague arrives via a steamship from Argentina. The city council razes crowded inner-city lanes and moves black residents to Ndabeni, South Africa’s first formal township. The pattern of racial geography hardens into concrete.

  7. 1905

    City Hall Opens with Carillons

    The Italian Renaissance pile of honey-coloured sandstone dominates the Grand Parade. Its 39-bell carillon can be heard as far as Robben Island on still nights. No one guesses that, 85 years later, a freed prisoner will speak from its balcony.

  8. 1940

    Cecil John Rhodes Dies

    The imperialist who annexed Rhodesia and funded the Cape-to-Cairo railway dream expires at his cottage in Muizenberg. He leaves Groote Schuur estate to the nation—and a mountain of debts that still shape South African politics.

  9. 1960

    Sharpeville Echoes in Parliament Street

    After police kill 69 protesters, Cape Town’s Anglican dean, 29-year-old Desmond Tutu, leads 30 000 mourners down Adderley. The city’s first mass political funeral turns the cathedral steps into a pulpit that will haunt apartheid for three decades.

  10. 1966

    District Six Declared White

    At 6 a.m. on 11 February, bulldozers start on the first of 60 000 evictions. By 1982, 35 hectares of homes, mosques and jazz clubs are rubble. Only the Methodist church remains—its doors welded shut, its organ silent for 15 years.

  11. 1967

    A New Heart Beats in Groote Schuur

    On 3 December, Christiaan Barnard transplants a 25-year-old woman’s heart into Louis Washkansky. The operation takes 5 hours; the world watches in real time. Cape Town becomes the city where death is briefly reversible.

  12. 1989

    The Purple Shall Govern

    Police dye cannon water purple to mark protesters; the marchers chant back: ‘The purple shall govern!’ 30 000 people fill the city centre. Three months later, the Berlin Wall falls; six months after that, apartheid negotiators sit in the same cathedral.

  13. 1990

    Mandela Walks Free onto the Balcony

    At 8 p.m. on 11 February, Nelson Mandela steps out of Victor Verster prison and onto City Hall’s balcony. 50 000 people see him raise a fist; for many, it is the first time they hear his voice. Cape Town becomes the stage where apartheid ends.

  14. 2004

    Table Mountain Becomes a National Park

    Fynbos—smaller than London but holding more plant species than the British Isles—gets its own park. Rangers replace soldiers; rare tortoises roam above the city instead of cannonballs. The mountain that once watched ships now watches hikers.

  15. 2010

    Soccer Turns the Stadium Green

    Cape Town Stadium rises on 68 000 tons of concrete where the old rugby ground stood. Vuvuzelas drown the Atlantic wind; Spain train where prisoners once broke stone. For a month, the city forgets its divisions and shouts in one voice.

  16. 2018

    Day Zero That Never Came

    Dams drop to 12%; the city prepares 200 emergency water collection points. Residents learn to shower in 90 seconds; hotels remove bath plugs. Through rationing and winter rain, Cape Town proves that collective habit can avert catastrophe.

  17. 2021

    Fire on the Mountain, Ash in the Library

    A runaway blaze races 5 km in 45 minutes, gutting the University of Cape Town’s special-collections wing. Original 19th-century Khoe dictionaries and anti-apartheid posters turn to ash. The mountain, always a watcher, becomes a reminder that memory needs more than stone.

Who lived here

  • Anti-apartheid leader · 1918–2013

    Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela

    Imprisoned on Robben Island; first free speech from City Hall balcony

    He spent 18 years looking at Table Mountain through a barred window. On 11 February 1990 he walked out and spoke to the world from Cape Town’s City Hall balcony—still the best place to feel the moment the city exhaled.

  • Cardiac surgeon · 1922–2001

    Christiaan Neethling Barnard

    Performed first human heart transplant at Groote Schuur Hospital

    In 1967 he swapped a dying man’s heart for a young woman’s in the middle of the night. The theatre lights still work; ask for the museum tour and stand where medical time began again.

  • Anglican archbishop · 1931–2021

    Desmond Mpilo Tutu

    Archbishop of Cape Town 1986–1996; died here

    He danced the toyi-toyi in his purple cassock on the cathedral steps and coined the phrase ‘rainbow nation’ while the city still smelled of tear gas. His funeral procession crossed the same square where slaves were once flogged—history folding back on itself.

  • Dutch colonial administrator · 1619–1677

    Jan van Riebeeck

    Founded Cape Town in 1652

    He planted a garden where Company’s Garden still grows today—originally to keep his scurvy-ridden sailors alive. The oak he imported is gone, but the grid he drew became Adderley Street and the Waterfront still smells of ship tar and spice.

  • Jazz pianist · born 1934

    Abdullah Ibrahim

    Born in District Six; founded M7 music academy here

    He turned the township’s penny-whistle jive into global piano suites. On Sundays you can still hear his chords drifting from a second-floor window above Buitenkant Street, where the academy keeps the keys warm for the next kid with a song.

  • Painter · born 1953

    Marlene Dumas

    Born in Kuils River, studied at UCT

    She left for Amsterdam but keeps returning to the light that bounces off False Bay—her canvases carry the particular bruised-blue colour you only see here after the south-easter has blown the dust away.

Where to Eat

Where locals actually book dinner — not the tourist menus.

Insider tips

Small things that change how the city treats you.

  • Cableway Wind Rule

    Table Mountain cableway shuts on gusty days even when skies look perfect. Book the first slot, then keep the afternoon free as a back-up; the ticket stays valid 7 days.

  • Gatsby Split

    One gatsby feeds three. Ask the vendor to quarter it and share the R80 cost; you'll still need two hands to hold your piece.

  • Lion’s Head Torch

    Start the 45-minute summit walk 45 min before sunset. The city lights come on as you descend, and you skip the midday heat.

  • Bo-Kaap Quiet Hour

    Chiappini Street is residents' driveway at 08:00. Photos before 07:30 or after 18:00 keep doorways clear and locals friendly.

  • Tip in Rand

    10 % is standard; most card machines don’t auto-add. Ask the waiter to swipe again if you need to tip – they can’t alter the first slip.

  • MyCiTi Airport Hack

    The MyCiTi bus from the airport to Civic Centre costs R90 vs R400 for a taxi. Buy the card at arrivals and load R100 credit—works for Waterfront and Camps Bay too.

Frequently asked

Is Cape Town worth visiting?

Yes—few cities let you stand on 560-million-year-old rock at sunrise, swim with penguins before lunch, and be in a wine estate by sunset. The geography is theatre: two oceans, a flat-topped mountain, and townships wedged between 17th-century forts and glass-walled galleries.

How many days do I need in Cape Town?

Three days covers the headline trio—mountain, peninsula, museum strip—but you’ll leave half the story untasted. Add two more for a township dinner, Constantia vines, and a surf lesson at Muizenberg; seven if you want to hike overnight in the Silvermine basin.

Is Cape Town safe for tourists?

The city centre and Waterfront are heavily patrolled; violent crime against visitors is rare but pick-pocketing happens on Long Street after midnight. Use Uber after dark, keep cameras in a plain tote, and ask your guest-house which township streets to avoid after 18:00—locals know the three-block rule.

Do I need a car in Cape Town?

Only if you’re day-tripping beyond the peninsula. MyCiTi buses reach the airport, Camps Bay and Hout Bay; the train to Simon’s Town is cheap but delays are common. Hire a car for one day to drive Chapman’s Peak—then return it and save the parking headaches.

When is the best time to visit Cape Town?

Late February to April: warm, dry days, uncrowded beaches, and wine harvest events. Winter (May-Aug) brings cheaper rooms and dramatic storm-watching but the cableway closes more often.

Can I drink the tap water?

Yes—Cape Town’s tap water ranks among the world’s cleanest and is what restaurants serve by default. Bring a bottle; single-use plastic is now legally discouraged.

All Places to Visit.

85 places to discover

Kirstenbosch National Botanical Garden
Place

Kirstenbosch National Botanical Garden

Two Oceans Aquarium
Place

Two Oceans Aquarium

Castle of Good Hope
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Castle of Good Hope

Iziko South African Museum
Place

Iziko South African Museum

South African National Gallery
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South African National Gallery

Place

Zeitz Museum of Contemporary Art Africa

Rondebosch
Place

Rondebosch

Newlands Forest
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Newlands Forest

Constantia
Place

Constantia

St. George'S Cathedral
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St. George'S Cathedral

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Artscape Theatre Centre

Rhodes Memorial
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Rhodes Memorial

Bloubergstrand
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Bloubergstrand

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Little Theatre

Robben Island Museum
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Robben Island Museum

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District Six Museum

Church Square
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Church Square

De Waal Park
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De Waal Park

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South African Sendinggestig Museum

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Disa Park

Heart of Cape Town Museum
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Heart of Cape Town Museum

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St. James Church, Cape Town

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Cape Medical Museum

Place

Artillery Memorial, Cape Town

Green Point Lighthouse
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Green Point Lighthouse

Mostert'S Mill
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Mostert'S Mill

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National Council of Provinces

Nobel Square
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Nobel Square

Maclear'S Beacon
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Maclear'S Beacon

De Hel Nature Area
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De Hel Nature Area

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Choo Choo Park

Cape Town International Airport
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Cape Town International Airport

V&A Waterfront Clock Tower
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V&A Waterfront Clock Tower

Bo-Kaap
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Bo-Kaap

Groote Kerk
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Groote Kerk

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Noon Gun

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Ysterplaat

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Nelson Mandela

Slave Lodge
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Slave Lodge

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Egyptian Building

Koopmans-De Wet House
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Koopmans-De Wet House

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Golden Acre

Rust en Vreugd
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Rust en Vreugd

Grand Parade
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Grand Parade

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Statue of Sir George Grey

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Cape Town Holocaust Centre

The Cenotaph
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The Cenotaph

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Statue of Bartolomeu Dias

Showing 1–48 of 85 places

Photo credits (7)
  1. Andrew Harvard — Pexels License (https://www.pexels.com/license/) — Source: https://www.pexels.com/photo/34862398/
  2. Jan van der Wolf — Pexels License (https://www.pexels.com/license/) — Source: https://www.pexels.com/photo/19627232/
  3. Kelly — Pexels License (https://www.pexels.com/license/) — Source: https://www.pexels.com/photo/33622104/
  4. Niklas Eichler — Pexels License (https://www.pexels.com/license/) — Source: https://www.pexels.com/photo/3770287/
  5. Jörg Hamel — Pexels License (https://www.pexels.com/license/) — Source: https://www.pexels.com/photo/36026466/
  6. Stefan Maritz — Pexels License (https://www.pexels.com/license/) — Source: https://www.pexels.com/photo/35217000/
  7. Kürşad Ç. — Pexels License (https://www.pexels.com/license/) — Source: https://www.pexels.com/photo/28240582/

Photos may have been resized or cropped.