Thanks to Cape Town's long history and diverse landscape, the city is surrounded by myth and legend.

Table Mountain and the ocean that lies before it are two of Cape Town's most mysterious areas. Many stories surround these places, but none more fascinating than the legend of Van Hunks and the Flying Dutchman.

The Legend of Van Hunks

Captain Van Hunks had been a brave sailor in his youth and upon retirement he chose to live at the foot of Table Mountain where he could still see the sea.

Every day Van Hunks would hike to a secret spot on the mountain, light his pipe and watch the waters he once knew so well. One morning he found that someone else had beaten him to his spot. A bit put out, but not wanting to be rude or lose his secret place, Van Hunks asked the hooded man if he could join him.

As the two sat staring at the ocean, the conversation soon turned to smoking. Now Van Hunks was particularly proud of his smoking abilities and was not about to let anyone forget it. Unfortunately, the mysterious man also seemed to believe that he was a superior pipe smoker.

This inevitably led to a smoking challenge being laid down, which both men eagerly accepted. They huffed and puffed until time became irrelevant and more and more smoke swirled around the mountain.

People below stared up in fascination as the smoke cloud slowly engulfed Table Mountain, as if it had simply disappeared.

Van Hunks was beginning to struggle, but stubborn pride forbade him from admitting defeat. Luckily for him, his opponent also seemed to be faltering and giving an abrupt cough, fell over backwards as his pipe dropped from his hand.

Van Hunks' celebratory dance came to a sudden halt as something caught his eye - two red horns had appeared on the man's head where his hood had once been.

Before Van Hunks could react, the humiliated devil gave out an almighty roar and both men disappeared, never to be seen again.

To this day, when the south-easter wind blows and cloud shrouds the mountain in mystery, people say that the devil has challenged Van Hunks to a rematch...

The Flying Dutchman

The year was 1641 and the Dutch ship was finally set to round the Cape of Good Hope. A gruelling trip to the East had taken it out of all of the sailors and no one could wait to get home.

Perhaps it was this desperation or through the negligence of the captain that no one took serious note of the slightly stronger wind and the more ominous looking clouds.

Before the lookout could even utter a scream, the ship had sailed into an intense storm that ripped at the sails and pummelled the ship's sides.

The crew begged their captain to turn back, but he would not hear of it. Uttering a blasphemous curse, the captain vowed: "I WILL round this Cape even if I have to keep sailing until doomsday!"

This terrified the crew and caused mutiny on board, but the captain killed the mutinous instigator and threw his body overboard as a lesson to his crew.

As the body hit the cruel waters, a ghostly figure appeared on the deck. The figure condemned the captain's stubbornness and was shot by the captain in response.

Unmoved, the unearthly figure cursed the captain and his crew to sail the oceans for all eternity, enduring every hardship and bringing death to all those who have the misfortune to cross their path.

Ever since, vessels have reported sightings of this ghostly ship and have even been led astray to be crushed against unseen rocks...

Do you know a different version of one of these myths? As with all legends, the story changes over the years, let us know yours in the comment section below!

Our "Flying Dutchman" pic was in fact taken recently by GoTravel24 user Rebekah Govindasamy. You could win a R250 kalahari.net voucher just for sending us your holiday snaps. Find out more.

Find out more about South Africa's legends with GoTravel24:

• KwaZulu Natal ghost stories
• Table Mountain Myths and Legends
• Cape Town myths, legends and mysteries
• Like you've seen a ghost...
• Mermaids in the Karoo
• Gauteng ghost stories
• Ghosts in South Africa's schools
• Karoo ghost stories