South Africa Locals' Picks

Sihle Khumalo: Dark continent, My black arse :)

This new release and first book by South African author Sihle Khumalo, details his travels from Cape to Cairo by public transport.

‘I had always wanted to write a book but I had never known what type of a book I would write. As my 30th birthday was getting closer I thought, why don’t I do the Cape to Cairo – which I had always wanted to do - and then after the trip attempt to write a book based on my travels and thus kill two birds with one stone. As they say, the rest is history.’

Read Pete “the meat” ’s review below:

From Cape to Cairo - that’s the intention, and that’s the span of the book. Shades of Kingsley Holgate and extended family, with Land Rover engines rumbling and belching, and loads of red rum around camp-fires at night! Maybe a lion roaring, or some hyenas yelping in the distance!

Well - not so, when Sihle Khumalo describes his real-life encounters. Same route, by and large, that many have traversed over the “dark continent”, but somewhat unusual, and a great deal more stamina required by the writer! Because, when the perspectives are flowing from an obviously suave, worldly-wise African graduate of Uni and sometimes life, choosing to get down and dirty on the roads and buses that span this large and complex continent we call home, this make for excellent reading, as well as some good laughs

So, sit back and travel tightly with our friend Sihle, as he buses through most of southern and eastern Africa’s states, backpacks through some very odd places, joins queues for hours at border crossings, gets mildly irritated at fruit and food vendors, becomes furious when he isn’t offered a lift in an air-conditioned 4×4 (with a license plate not far from where he started, two months prior!)………..and you find that he has crept right under your skin, whether it’s superficially black or white! Recall as you read, the personal resolutions he vows to keep, on his return to normality in SA (be worth finding out how our friend is doing on those, I suspect!). Chuckle at the ladies he tries half-heartedly to hook up with, en route, more out of curiosity, it seems, than serious intent

Date: October 16th, 2007 | 1 comment

Shopping: Willowbridge mall, Tygervalley

In the last 10 years Cape Town has seen an explosion of retail areas, and shopping malls. I am not entirely sure where all these extra consumers are coming from, but it seems that business is thriving across the board.

The latest addition is Willowbridge, which is less of a mall and more of an enclosed shopping street. It houses some very upmarket stores and I am betting the rents are commensurate.

You can see a directory of the retailers here.

There are plenty of restaurants and coffee shops, with most of the usual suspects present ie: Vida e Cafe, Col’cacchio, Kauai. We had a marvelous pizza at Col’ Cacchio (which apparently translates as “up yours!”) in my opinion this small chain offers the best pizza in Cape Town, with the thinnest crust and highest quality ingredients. We also had to have another ice cream at Cafe Magnifico, even though they charge and extortionate R14 for a scoop, which is about twice what you would pay elsewhere.

Date: August 21st, 2007 | No Comments

Cool Runnings, Toboggan track in Durbanville, Cape Town.

Thanks to some nifty climate change South Africa is getting more and more snow in the winter months, and skiing is now a viable option for 3 months of the year.

Tiffendel ski resort in the southern Drakensberg is located on the slopes of Ben McDhui “Ben Mac”, the highest peak in the Cape (3000m), granted they supplement the snow with the man made stuff, but beggars can’t be choosers. If we make a conserted effort to burn more fossil fuels and increase our pitiful carbon footprint, South Africa could add “Ski destination” to it’s tourism accolades.

Date: August 14th, 2007 | No Comments

Durban’s “The Golden Mile” Kwazulu-Natal

Durban itself is probably best known for its “Golden Mile”, a 6km walk along the golden sands, that stretches from the Suncoast Casino and Entertainment World in the north to uShaka Marine World in the south.

Both uShaka Marine World, Africa’s largest marine park and home to an aquarium and dolphinarium, Wet ‘n Wild water park and numerous top class restaurants and shops and Suncoast Casino, a casino complex with a private beach, hotel, restaurants, shops and public entertainment facilities, are fairly new and very popular additions to the mile.

Date: April 24th, 2007 | 1 comment

Kalk Bay and Cape to Cuba restaurant.

We came back to the Kalk bay/Simon’s town area on Monday to have another crack at the Olympia cafe, which was fuller than a minibus, and to fetch Sarah’s cell phone from the kind gent that found it under our table at “Skebangers” in Noordhoek. Who says there is no good left in this world.

Kalk Bay is a lovely little village between Muizenberg and Fishoek and it has seemingly really caught on in recent years. Tons of antique shops and little speciality stores are here and doing a roaring trade. TIP, if the traffic looks heavy along the coast road from Muizenberg, take “Boyes Drive” along the mountainside, this could save you an hour of bumper busting on a weekend.

Date: April 10th, 2007 | 1 comment