South Africa Your Correspondent
How to avoid getting scammed in Cape Town #1 : Hitchhiking Conmen
As a South African, and long time sufferer of cons, tricks, scams and so forth, I like to think of myself as at least a little streetwise. Well pride comes before a fall, and I would like to warn fellow Capetonians and anyone planning on driving our roads of a new fad in scallywagginess.
I was innocently driving home the other day when I saw a hot and bothered elderly man toting a briefcase along the R27 (West Coast Road). He was half heartedly hitching with his free hand, in an embarrassed manner. Of course I pulled over to help Oupa (Grandpa) out and he seemed very appreciative and indeed surprised that anyone would have stopped for him.
Date: October 25th, 2007 |
No Comments
Ice Skating at Grand West Casino, Cape Town
It was Sarah’s Birthday this weekend so we decided to try and go to Ratanga Junction for some gut churning and bad pizza, but unfortunately it was closed due to the weather..(it was bright sunshine) This does not bode well for the future of Ratanga Junction, seeing as we are in the middle of school holidays right now.
If you plan on going do check the website here, from a weather forecast although they don’t seem to pay attention to it themselves.
Instead we decided to check out the new ice rink at the Grand West Casino centre. My wife was born on the 7/7/77 and not a great day to visit the casino if you expect to find parking! So it was very busy and all the parents had dumped their kids in the ice rink/movies/coat check so they could get down to losing some money fast!
Date: July 10th, 2007 |
No Comments
Fishing in Wilderness: Part 2
The path to the spot starts and the Kaaimans river estuary, where you scramble (with cooler boxes full of beer, bait, rods etc) up the embankment and on to the now defunct Outeniqua choo-Tjoe railway tracks, along the tracks for about a Kilometre, through the now pitch dark tunnel and then down on to the rocks.
Parts of the mountain have slid down onto the tracks which have to be carefully climbed over in the dark, and with only 2 torches between us, good fun was had by all. None of us thought of bringing a camera along, so the photo is from the lagoon, where we wet tested out chemically sharpened hooks… (ie: caught nothing)
Date: April 25th, 2007 |
No Comments
Back from the Wilderness: First thoughts
Got back last night from a lovely few days in the garden route which has changed quite dramatically since I was last there. The landscape is even more beautiful than I remember it and when you hit the coast on the N2 near Mossel bay, the vegetation changes into lush rainforesty thickets on the hillsides. The George numberplate prefix CAW, is rumoured to stand for Cold And Wet, getting in the region of 700mm of rainfall a year, added to the heaps of mist that roll in from the sea.
We were pretty lucky with the weather though and it was only overcast for a morning before burning off to a strangely crisp 30C (90F ish), this is due to the cool air coming off the sea even though you are standing under a searing sun. Makes getting dressed in the morning interesting.
Date: April 24th, 2007 |
No Comments
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
Hoorip Hooray, Our first hot day!
Today was a teaser of the promise of summer. A nice warm day, to make everyone go out and buy Barbeque sauces…
This happens every year. Just when you think summer has arrived, winter comes back for an encore and wipes that last bit of a smile off your face before searing African sun has its way with us.
Today was 27C (80F or gas mark 2), which was enough to get me in the p-p-pool, but this weekends weather is forecast to be a misery, which is a shame as we are going up to Great Brak for some …
Date: September 18th, 2007 |
No Comments
Surf Breaks: Winter’s here bring your surfboard!
It looks like we are in for a frosty winter. With snow in Soweto?!? and on the peaks in the Drakensberg and Ceres.
The nights in winter here can be chilly to say the least, and subzero temperatures are not uncommon.
The days however can be lovely, today being such an example! Crisp blue skies hardly a breath of wind (rare for CT) and a very respectable 18 Celsius. A perfect day for a surf.
A hallmark of the Cape Town winter is the arrival of the winter swell, which creates rideable waves at our best spots, which lay mostly dormant during the summer.
There are at least 50 surf spots within an hours drive of Cape Town, and many surf schools to show you the ropes if you don’t mind the famously cold water. (which does get a bit warmer in the winter)
Date: July 2nd, 2007 |
No Comments
Fishing in Wilderness: Part 1
We had decided beforehand that this was primarily going to be a fishing getaway. The Indian ocean coastline along the garden route is particularly rich in fish, although not as many species as further (and warmer) north. Elf (Shad), Kob and Bream are bountiful here.
Fishing, for my part anyway, is always a learning experience, there are so many different conditions and variables that I rarely get used to any one of them. So being the perpetual novice, and an irritating one at that, I begin the process of harassing the locals to discover the best spots, the best bait, the right jig or trace, to get the fishies leaping into my lap.
Date: April 25th, 2007 |
No Comments
Into the Wilderness: The heart of the garden route.
This weekend (well Friday-Tuesday) we are driving up to Wilderness for a little break away.
We intend to do as much or as little as we feel like, but on the cards are some fishing (perhaps in my new little inflatable), some surfing and maybe even some golf. There will likely be some cards to be played, karaoke to be “sung”. I may well just sit and read a book, glorious.
Date: April 19th, 2007 |
2 comments
Southafricanisms: Top Ten SA sweets to try and love.
For some reason, and I assure you that I am not biased on this point.. South African convenience store confectioneries are far superior to those found elsewhere in the world. I used to think it was due to conditioned taste buds or childhood memories, but I have since found proof.
Date: March 30th, 2007 |
No Comments
