Yes-

• Many outdoor craft markets (Greenmarket Square, Greenpoint)
• Curio sellers on the side of the road (beaded works, paintings, sculptures, flowers)
• Some private taxis

No-

• Almost all stores
• Many farmer’s markets (Old Biscuit Mill, Porter Estate, etc)
• public transport

Try to get a sense of the real value of a craft or item, it could be as low as 30-50% of the asking price.  However, do keep in mind that the difference in price will likely hurt the seller more than it benefits you.  There are some pretty desperate people out there and getting a low price for the sake of haggling is pretty unethical bloodsport.

Signage-

Briefly, there isn’t any.  That’s half the benefit (for the passengers) of the minibus system.  As long as you are somewhere along a taxi route, the taxis will pull over to let you in.  Wave one down, look remotely like you might want a lift, or simply respond to their hooting.  In some places, you may see a queue of taxis, make sure to hop in the one that looks like it might leave first (or the one that looks the most roadworthy).  You can ask people where the nearest road on a taxi route is but a general guide is the major roads.

Image courtesy of Creative Commons

Payment system-

Generally, the starting/ending point of a taxi’s route is written on a sign in its windscreen.  As long as your destination is along the way, they will drop you there.  Upon getting on a taxi, state your destination of choice (“Shoprite- Claremont”, “University of Cape Town”, “Cape Town station”) to the guy with the money bag (he is the one hollering out the window).  He will give you a fare (note: it should be between R2 and R15 depending on your distance).  Hand over money to the money collector or, if you are cramped well in the back of the taxi, just hand the money forward to a fellow passenger.   There’s plenty of change available but try to have some reasonably small currency with you.

How to ride-

After you flag down your taxi (or it grabs you), the money collector/destination crier will indicate where to sit.  In many cases, it won’t seem like there is much room.  Squash yourself in where there is space and enjoy the ride and pumping bass.

The taxis run on the main commuter routes.  For visitors, the likely destinations of choice are from Cape Town central through the Southern Suburbs and on to Muizenberg (this involves changing a few taxis), from Wynberg through to Hout Bay, and from Cape Town through to Hout Bay along the Atlantic Seaboard.  Make sure to check that your taxi will take you in your general direction.

While the taxis stop anywhere they want, there are major “stations” in Wynberg (Southern Suburbs) and Cape Town central.

Image courtesey of Creative Commons

A few other tips on riding:

• Be prepared for the route to take longer than by private car- some taxis make frequent stops
• Try to think of the pumping bass, swearing, and video-game style driving as a cultural experience
• Ask locals what the approximate price of a trip should be, drivers have been known to scam tourists
• For destinations further down False Bay, the train is much easier and faster

Etiquitte-

• Do prepare yourself for a snug ride
• Do keep an eye on your bags and valuables
• Don’t get on an empty taxi (for safety and efficiency)
• Do acquaint yourself with the flipping seats in the “aisle” they hurt if they whack you
• Do have an idea or where you want to go and how much the fare should be
• Do give the taxis a try

This Sunday, 22 August, the Athlone cooling towers are coming down.

Photo courtesy of Creative Commons

Some structural integrity issues, and the fact that the towers haven’t been doing much in the last few years, have led to their demolition.  They aren’t particularly tall, large, or attractive but they are a landmark.  Crews have been laying dynamite and cordoning off the towers.  A section of the N2 highway will be shut (affecting those coming/going to the airport) for the action which is scheduled to happen at 12 noon.  Good places to view (and relive childhood lego-demolition days), are Rhodes Memorial, Devil’s Peak, and the University of Cape Town.  Avoid planning any trips that involve the N2 (possibly wine tasting, whale watching trips to Hermanus) though there are alternative routes.

In most parts of the world, whale watching entails boarding a boat and heading to sea.  In Cape Town, all it requires is good timing and a spot on the shore.  From late July through early November, the Southern Rights (and rare humpbacks) frequent the Atlantic coastline from Hout Bay south and into False Bay.  Whales can be seen as close as a few meters from shore and often swim along the Kalk Bay harbour wall.  The best places to spot whales are Hout Bay and the coastal road from Muizenberg to Simonstown.  Generally it’s pretty easy to tell when a whale is around as several cars will be backed up and people will be lining the sidewalk.  On a good day in September or October, it’s easy to spot up to ten whales close to shore.  My best experience was over 50 whales in Hout Bay with many breaching or waving their flukes and tails.  Further afield, Hermanus is known for its great whale watching as is the De Hoop Nature Reserve.  From 24-28 Sept, Hermanus hosts is annual Whale Festival.

As for the flowers; the West Coast flower region, part of the Cape Fynbos kingdom, reaches its height in September.

Heading north out of Cape Town, one reaches the West Coast National Park and small villages such as Darling.  When the sun is out and the winter rains have been just right, the veld is covered with over 1200 species of flowers.  Some of the best places to view this show are the West Coast National Park, the backroads near Darling, the Darling Wildflower show, and, much further north, Namaqualand and the Skilpad Wildflower Reserve.

While you, the knowledgeable Nile traveler, may not need a guide to tell you that lion don’t roam the streets of Cape  Town and that you are unlikely to encounter tribal warriors on the beachfront, these packing tips may help you through some of the unexpected features of the southern cape.

Necessary items

A raincoat.  Unless you are visiting in mid summer (December) but, even then, it can serve as useful protection from the wind.  The combination of pouring rain and Cape Town’s infamous winds make umbrellas impractical rain protection.  A true Cape Tonian storm will render umbrellas useless pieces of broken metal and fabric within minutes.

A windbreaker.  Although you can reduce your packing by just making sure you bring the raincoat.  In summers, Cape Town is characterized by a strong south-easterly wind that seems to blow all season long.  The south-easter brings about the “tablecloth” on Table Mountain (see pic below).  Fall brings a brief respite though the winter north-westerly is never far behind.  On a recent trip back to the Bay Area, I was amused to hear “strong wind” warnings for what I thought was a mild breeze.  Cape Town’s wind recently blew my large wooden driveway gate into the road, launched a 6 seater wooden table 20 meters across a garden, and took out a neighbors fence.  It gets windy here.

photo courtesy of Iming Lin

A hat.  In summer, the Cape sun is intense.  While I’ve seen many a sun-starved tourist roasting on the beach, I’d generally advise against trying to get your years worth of sun in one go.  A good brim will at least protect your face from a solid burning.  In winter, Cape Town gets surprisingly cold.  While it doesn’t actually reach freezing, the lack of insulation, double-paned glass, and other standard American and European building practices make for very chilly days.  A nice beanie and scarf definitely come in useful in winter.

Totally unnecessary

A medicine chest.  Despite the wind, rain, and cold warnings above, Cape Town has a pretty Mediterranean climate.  While Italy may have had malaria a few centuries back, Cape Town is malaria free.  Oh, and the tap water is safe to drink (well, at least as safe as in the USA).  In fact, unlike most areas of North America, the mountain run-off is also safe to drink.  So feel free to leave the malaria meds, mozzie nets, water purification drops, and filters back home.

photo courtesy of creative commons

Your old boy scouts uniform or any other matching khaki outfit with an excessive number of pockets.  While Cape Town may not compare in size, noise, buildings, or traffic to cities such as New York, Chicago, or London, it’s still a city.  The safari gear is a bit out of place here.  Trade it in for some swimwear, a wine glass, and some running shoes (this city replaces skyscrapers with wine farms, white beaches, and mountains).

Earplugs.  The World Cup is over.  Unless your travel partner snores like a train (or vuvuzela).

Things you might not think to pack….but come in pretty handy

A reusable shopping bag.  A few years back, the South African government decided to try to crack down on litter and excessive plastic by charging for shopping bags.  It has taken awhile but it seems that there’s less shredded plastic along the highways and more locals wandering around with reusable fabric bags.  You might as well join the trend and have a useful bag for packing picnics, gifts, and beach gear.

A kikoi.  Kikois are endlessly useful.  When you’re caught off guard by the cold, they can serve as an extra layer, when a glorious day greets you, it provides the perfect beach throw or picnic blanket, when you’ve forgotten your hat, they can protect from the sun.  I’m sure you could even fold it origami style and substitute it for your reusable bag.  While originally from Kenya, you can also find kikois for sale at a number of markets in Cape Town.  So perhaps it makes more sense to purchase your first souvenir at the start of your trip and break it in on the beaches of Cape Town.

‘The pressure’s on; you feel it; it’s time for Afrika’ – Shakira (you can’t help but love this song when you here 5 times a day for 3 weeks)

I will waka waka with her all day long....

Should’ve stayed that extra week. Really. Flights would’ve cost the same, could’ve taken some work and found a desk in the Cape Town office. And that, Ladies and Gents is my only regret from this last world cup.

Cape Town was amazing, the scenery, the people, so much to do, so much to see.

The trip to Port Elizabeth, with it’s world famous surf, wonderful beaches, and small town feel.

From what I was told, Johannesburg and Durban were just as nice, if a little more sectarian. There is no doubt I will be back. At Christmas, when the sun is out, the days are long, and the parties go all night long.

Just look at the list of things I didn’t do, Wine Country, Hike the rest of Table mountain, stop at any of the national parks, GO ON SAFARI!

So here we have a few reflections on South Afrika that didn’t make it into my other posts.

So much potential, so much to do.

I hope the world cup is an inspiration for the world to continue to keep an eye on South Afrika and help nature it as it grows. It has resources, the talent and so much natural beauty, it would be a shame if it fell back into the same bloody situation as a lot of the rest of Afrika.

Mini bus taxis..…. are ace. You don’t wait for a bus, you stand on a street corners, look both ways twice, and pretty much instantly a min van with a smiley driver throws you and your bags into the back of his truck. And for R5 (50p or 70 cents) you can ride the whole length of his route. No wonder the new bus systems remain relatively unused, they are more expensive and less flexible than the mini bus cabs.

Tab; Seriously. It tastes of nothing. It come sin a can with no description of what it should taste of, and the contents reflect the ambiguity of the label.

Literally tastes of nothing.

Electric fences. It’s quite intimidating living in an apartment surrounded by one of these bad boys. Sadly my friend’ first experience in Cape Town was getting robbed, so they are seen as a necessary evil. Shame really, they give parts of the city the impression it is a high security penitentiary. Oh yeah, they’re often mounted just above 6 foot above the pavement too, which means i was almost shocked in the face a few times I was distracted by the mountain above.

Awesome awesomeness.

The football,

Well I would say we were equally cursed and blessed. The first round of matches was disappointing, the rest of the group game provided at least one classic per group. The first two rounds of the knock out stages were without doubt, some of the best in recent memory. The England –  Germany game, although it resulted in the disappointing elimination of my home nation, was a classic for the ages. The goal not given, Germany providing a master class in scoring on the break, a great great game.  Ghana’s progress kept a continent engaged, and the way the Dutch swept aside Brazil, then Uruguay, only made their performance in the final all the more disappointing.

Thank you Afrika, it was your time to shine, and you did. You have found a friend here, and I will be back.

I only have one more thing to say, ‘Waka Waka, it’s time for Afrika.’

1. Biltong aka dried meat of some animal.  Some people prefer it to jerky, others find it too tough.  Variations on the theme include droewors and biltong strips.  Popular animals are kudu, beef, ostrich, springbok.  Don’t know how it tastes, I’m a vegetarian.

photo courtesy of creative commons

2. Koeksisters- the Afrikaans variety is best described and twisted pieces of fried dough in a rich honey/syrupy sauce.  The Cape Malay is more like a soft doughnut without the hole in a syrupy sauce and flaked coconut.  Yum!

photo courtesy of creative commons

3. Milk Tart- a custardy “pie” with a milk based filling.  Sort of similar to a Portuguese or Chinese egg tart.

photo courtesy of creative commons

4. Polony- hot pink unidentified meat in a plastic wrapper tube.  Think SPAM.  Often popularly served on bread with hot chips (fries) and other versions of “gatsbys.”  Eight years on and I still shudder.

5. Chips/crisps- okay, so these aren’t particularly South African but they are all over the place.  Simba brand has horrific sounding very South African flavours such as “Snoek and Atchar,” “Vetkoek and Chips.”  The incredibly healthy make a meal out of chips by shoving a handful in a white hamburger roll for the (ever creatively titled) “chip roll.”  The even healthier version of hot chips (fries) in a roll is also called a chip roll.  And you thought Americans were unhealthy.

6. Samoosas, half moons, and mini pies- the Cape Malay influence is present in many Cape Town communities; you can usually find these finger snacks available in most supermarkets and corner cafes.

7. Wine- yup, you’re in wine country.  Good, cheap wine accompanied by fresh bread and cheese.  Classy snacking.

For the first time in my life I actually felt like I was on top of the world – Andrew J. Rhodes

Jesus Christ Man, I saw the clouds and thought I had killed you all over again. – Paul D. Cosgrove

So, back in Cape Town after the nice relaxing trip to PE, what’s a boy to do. Well, for the first 4 days it was drink, eat, football, kayak, eat, football. Which was great but it had meant I hadn’t seen all the things you were supposed to see when you were in Cape Town, so, here we go.

Victoria and Albert Waterfront. Mostly regenerated waterfront containing Shop, cinemas and hotels. And for the world cup, 2 huge beer tents showing the football. I didn’t hang around long because this day wasn’t sposed to be about eating, drinking and football. The waterfront is very nice though, and is apparently the template around which the majority of waterfront / canal basins are modelled.

Oh my gosh I can't believe it, I've never been this far away from home.

Robben Island. Via the V&A Waterfront.

It is widely known throughout the western world that I think the finest tourist attraction in the world is the Alcatraz museum tour. Frankly the Robben island tour comes close.

Where it has Alcatraz beat is in that the Alcatraz tour is a self guided audio tour on earphones. Here on Robben Island the tour guides are the former political prisoners themselves.

The amount of information available on the tour is immense. Whether you are an apartheid rookie, or on a pilgrimage of the knowledgeable, you will come across details of the incarceration you didn’t know. Like Alcatraz, the island is being held in a state of stasis. While items are being restored, it is to their working condition, rather than shiny new.

Dave finds out 'first hand' how Morgan Freeman must have felt

The bus tour tasks you round the island to see the mines where the prisoners worked, the 2^nd world war installations that were built (completed in 1947, take from that what you will) and the isolation wings where prisoners were kept for years and years without charge.

This is complimented by a tour of the maximum security facility, in which you get a feel for living conditions, but not to the extent that the Alcatraz tour immerses you in prison life. 

There was an almost concentration camp feel to the maximum security prison

Table Mountain

The other essential trip while in Cape Town is to the top of Table mountain. I was running out of light, and the weather forecast for the following day was (correctly) terrible, so I took a taxi to the bottom of the gorge and off I went. Paul correctly told me it was about an hour and 15 mins up the mountain.

Table Mountain towering over KaapStad, on the boat back from Robben Island

 What he didn’t mention was how freaking steep it was, and how the weather was going to close in around me. Passing an almost dead Korean woman, I finally made it to the top and was rewarded for my efforts. Up above the clouds the views, a mixture of land, cloud and sea were breathtaking. Cape town was tiny and silhouetted as the sun set, and the winds howling around only added to the majesty and power of it all.  All these clouds looked even more ominous from beneath the ‘table cloth’, and again apon returning home my friends were amazed I had survived unscathed.

'And the waves were clouds, and the clouds were waves'

Eat, drink and Football.

Ok, well the world cup was still on, so I went down to Rafiki’s, and excellent Dutch / Jamaican themed bar packed to the rafters of punters who saw Brazil down Chile. Thanks to Cameron for keeping me company, and helping me see off that collection of 20 year old’s trying to out drinking game us.

So I ended the day, slightly tipsy, not dead, and frankly on top of the world.

ps off to Spain Portugal now. Shame it’s raining but God I love my life.

pps Jsut found R800 in my shoe!

Cont….

The next two days consisted of exploring the coast around PE. Unfortunately I explored it a little too closely for my liking. The others guys on the trip were keen surfers, or keen to be keen surfers, so when they saw the swell was up in the bay outside our B&B we headed for some surfing action. Having only surfed once, I was excited to try again. A complete battering by 8 foot waves on the swim to the backline had me thinking otherwise. By the time I tried to catch a wave (which I’m told were awesome, but to me looked deadly) my arms were tired and things were going horribly wrong. 15 mins of wave battering action later things weren’t looking much better. I had half caught a couple of waves, but they were really out of my league.

Death Wave rock surfer matic

My friends had surfed into the bay, but I could only assume they were struggling to get back out, so I decided to try to get back to our spillway alone. Sadly, this was surrounded by rocks and the waves were crashing into them with speed and height. Every so often there was a break in the waves, so I could inch closer without the fear of being ripped to pieces, but this calm was soon interrupted by more waves and a growing fear of death on my part.

Then, as if by magic, appeared my guardian angel, a kid of no more than 15 on his way out to surf the fury. No doubt hearing the desperation in my voice, he kindly guided me back into the slipway, I was safe.

I was met on the beach by my friends who had by now, stopped wondering about whether I was ok, and had started to contemplate what they would write in the letter to my Mother about my death.

So, I was done surfing for, well, ever, but at least there was more football to be watched. Italy, Slovakia was as good a game as you could hope to watch, Chile vs Spain too. Saturday morning we returned to PE to watch South Korea vs Uruguay. We’d already decided we were going to support Korea, but were really struggling for a way to express it.

Not much Korean fancy dress in Port Elizabeth. We found some flags though, and some doggy hats (yes Doggy not dodgy) and when we arrived at the stadium, made a bee line for the Korean fans. They welcomed us with open arms and we had a great time singing and dancing with them throughout the whole game. It was electric when they scored their equaliser in front of us. This made the Uruguayans’ winning goal all the more bitter. It was nice to see the Korean team come over after the game to thank their fans and offer a humble bow. Fat chance the England team would ever do that.

The boyz support the Koreans in PE. Doggy style.

We were again disappointed by the lack of variety in PEs night life, and found ourselves watching the USA Ghana game with some Americans in a pizza restaurant. They were not interested in singing. At all. Never mind, there were enough teapots full of odd coloured cocktails to keep me going. NOTE: When drinking cocktails from teapots, be sure to keep a finger over the spout, lest the cocktail will pour on your trousers.

Drinking from a teapot short and stout.Forgot that when you pour it drink comes out.

Sunday, after saying our goodbyes to Monica and St Francis bay, we bombed back to close to Cape Town to watch the England Germany game. We stopped briefly to watch crazies throw themselves off the world’s highest bungee jump. I was tempted but not in the right state of mind.

This baboon was trying his best to break into this cabin near the bungee jump. Most South Afrikans have baboon insurance appparently.

We watched the England game in a rather odd little bar in the middle of a small town called Calendon. It was just what I thought a pub in an outback town in Austrailia would look like, apart from with Flat screen TVs and all the Carling Black Label you could drink.

this really was the only bar in Calendon. It had the stickiest floor ever.

Thoroughly unimpressed by England’s performance. Whether Lampard’s goal was given or not, we were well off the pass for all but 15 mins of the game. Even if we had squeaked through past Germany, the Argentineans would have destroyed us, so perhaps best to go home now, with a decent excuse in hand and our tails between our legs.

All in all an excellent road trip. Lots of footy lots of boozing. Downsides included almost dying and losing to German, but like I said before, they were the best of times, they were the worst of times.

The second part of my World Cup experience consisted of a road trip to Port Elizabeth with 4 guys I’d never met and 1 I had, for 5 days of surfing, golf and football football football. It was ace.

PE is 8 hours good driving from PE so we set off around 4ish on Tuesday and after an hour or so of driving pulled over to watch the end of the Bafana Bafana game (a well deserved victory over the pathetic French). After losing a wedge of cash fairly quickly at the blackjack table, we continued on to our overnight venue in Wildernis.

Which was great, we had our own Rotunda, unfortunately this venue held up the strange South Afrikan denial that it ever gets cold. And it was freezing. It’s winter! Even with the house literally next to the place burning to the ground as we slept. Youth Hostel. Buy some blankets!

The next day we quickly arrived at our place of rest. Quite possibly the best Bed and Breakfast ever conceived.

34 Lovemore Crescent, St Francais Bay, South Africa. You will never ever regret it if you take my advice and go to stay with lovely Monica and her dedicated staff of amazing Breakfast producing wonder women.

Shortly after arriving we were collected by our driver in his Hyundai van. These were everywhere in South Afrika performing all manner of duties from group taxi to goat delivery.

Boys on tour 2010

We took the hour long drive into PE and were soon immersed in England fans. They were everywhere on PEs waterfront, which unfortunately turned out to be the only place to drink and eat in PE. Songs were sung, calamari and ships were devoured, nervous looking South Afrikan TV reporters were swamped by ‘Lads on Tour 2010’.

We had a few halves and then the van took us back to the game. Everyone was in high spirits, as a better performance was expected (and required) to keep England in the tournament.

We found the girls in hospitality were more than happy for us to sit in the expensive seats, as long as we partied with them.

And well, frankly, they did enough. The 1- 0 win wasn’t beautiful by any means, but Jermaine Defoe took his goal nicely, and it meant we were through. To face the old enemy Germany.

We headed back down to the waterfront after the game and had a great time. Everywhere was rammed full of England fans trying to satisfy their thirst and hunger.

Fortunately we didn’t let this distract us from having fun. First, we rushed the stage at a mini concert in the casino plaza area. Initially it felt like the guards were going to try and move us on, but once they’d seen how badly we were dancing and how much the crowd was enjoying the show, they started egging us on.

Even Dave interrupting the child prodigies performance of the Jackson5s I want you back brought a smile from the director, although I fear the kids music career may have been derailed by an anglo-algerian-koreo-scando lion before it had begun.

Moving on from this, we found sanctity in the lobby area of the fanciest Fish restaurant in Morgan Freeman Bay. There they had set up two opposing stands infront of a plasma screen and we cheered and sang our hearts out as Germany beat Ghana.

Our Stand (the south) were most creative with our chants including;

Gha-nan-nan-nana-na-na-na (to the tune of the Beatles Hey Jude)

Waitress give us a wave, waitress waitress give us a wave (particularly useful when trying to get served), and;

Walter is our driver, Walter is our driver, nah nah nah nah (Walter wasn’t our driver, but he was somebody’s driver)

'South stand in reception of posh fish restuarant, what's the scoe? South Stand South Stand what's the score?'

We eventually got a table at the restaurant and enjoyed a variety of great fish dishes. Apart from Tom. We ate his Sushi main as a starter. Sorry Tom. The restaurant was called 34degrees FYI FISHY.

Saki (van driver) collected us around 11 o’clock, which is just as well because we had almost crossed the point from being merry to being idiots. Well we had just crossed it. I had to pull Paul down from the tree he was climbing before the army of parking attendants he was annoying were joined by members of the ‘World Cup Special Forces’.

All in all the atmosphere was electric, and there was no real trouble.

Sadly what could’ve been South Africa Argentina for our game on Saturday turned out to be Paraguay vs South Korea. But more on that later.