South Africa 2006 – Weekend

The firm I’m working for moved us to a hotel that is closer to the city and quite near the V&A Waterfront. Not as close as I’d hoped, so it’s unlikely that we’ll be walking there – we did try it on Friday evening, but gave up after we got fed up of being constantly harangued by beggars. It’s not as though they just ask you once – they follow you for a hundred yards down the road. We’d walked the best part of a mile when we decided that we would rather not do this and returned back to the hotel, on the way being accosted by a young boy whose performance should win him an Oscar.

So, I returned to my room and ordered room service, getting the maps of the area out to try and work out how to drive to the Waterfront.

I then discovered, hidden in a drawer, the list of the services that the hotel provides and one of them is a shuttle to the Waterfront. It costs R30 return (less than £3) so we decided to use that today (Saturday).

So, off we went after breakfast and booked up to go out on a boat Whale-Watching and we put our name down to do a “Combat Mission” in a Huey helicopter, which had been recommended to us as a “must-do.”

The Huey needed a minimum of six people to fly so they said they would call us when they had another four people booked.

After wandering around the Waterfront for a while, we went to an Italian restaurant for lunch and then joined the boat for the Whale-watching trip. It wasn’t long before we came across a couple of Southern Right Whales close into the shore. It was great to see these huge creatures in the wild. The boat kept a good distance from the animals to avoid disturbing them. Shortly after, we saw another on the other side of the boat that briefly surfaced, giving us all a great view of how large and majestic it was.



On the way back into the harbour, the Huey people rang to ask if we wanted to go on a flight, which we did, but unfortunately, by the time we got there, one of the people had dropped out, bringing the numbers down to five. We put our name down for one of the flights for Sunday which now had its full quota of people, so hopefully it’ll be okay.

We then went did some more shopping before going to an Indian restaurant for our evening dinner and then catching the shuttle back to the hotel.

I had a bit of a lie-in on Sunday and caught the 11am shuttle to the Waterfront in preparation for the 1pm Huey ride we were booked on. At around 12.30 we were put on the mini-bus and driven to the base where we were to begin our flight. Apparently the company has around twenty Huey helicopters.



There were eleven of us on the flight and after a brief safety briefing (basically – don’t take any loose objects and this is how you put your seatbelt on) we climbed onto the helicopter to begin the flight.

I sat on one of the outward facing seats towards the rear of the helicopter and was strapped in. The seatbelt was a simple lap belt, about two inches wide. These, we were assured were military issue and worked just fine in Vietnam. The End by the Doors began to play (nice touch) and we took off. After initially feeling a little uncomfortable with the fact that there was nothing between me and the outside world (oh yeah, did I mention that this Huey “Combat Ride” was done with all the doors open) I settled back to enjoy the ride, and the stunning views.

After about 5 minutes flying over the sea the helicopter started spiralling downwards towards the water. It then pulled up sharply and swooped towards the land about five or ten feet above the waves. It was superb. The trip continued with low-level high speed runs over the dunes and the scrub punctuated with sharp turns and dives all accompanied by a rock soundtrack.

Unfortunately all this was a bit too much for one girl on the trip who went very pale and spent the rest of the trip with her head in her hands and a handkerchief in front of her mouth.

After about twenty minutes the helicopter headed back towards the Waterfront and 5 minutes or so later it was all over. It was a great experience and one I’d recommend to anyone who visits Cape Town.

From there we went for a late lunch at Cantina Tequila and from there we went to the Two Oceans Aquarium and arrived just in time to watch the shark-feeding. The sharks are fed by divers who drop into the tank and hold out dead fish on sticks which the sharks eat as they swim past. Unfortunately (although this depends on your point of view I guess) the sharks didn’t appear to be hungry and only one bothered to take the fish.

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The rest of the aquarium was pretty good with some great exhibits of crustaceans, some of which looked like something out of a sci-fi film.

From the aquarium we wandered around the craft market and then watched some of the performers at the amphitheatre before catching the shuttle back to the hotel.

South Africa 2006 - Tired

It’s Wednesday, or “hump day” as Paul calls it. I think it’s because it’s the middle of the week, but maybe there is some other reason.

It was another long day at work and we were all supposed to be going out to a Mexican with the clients tonight. I was going to go, however, the client has decided not to go and as I’m really tired and still full from the last few meals I think I’ll have a bit of a rest tonight. I was only going to go along in the interest of business relations (honest) so I’m quite pleased to be able to have a relaxing evening in the hotel room and maybe get a takeaway. I think the others, with the exception of Ian are going to go.

Because of the security issues in SA, only certain delivery drivers are allowed to the hotel. There is a brochure from a company called Mr Delivery in my room. It has the menus of around ten different takeaway companies in it. The idea is that you phone the central contact and they then gather your order from the different restaurants and deliver to you. So I’ve ordered a pizza.

The pizza turned up after about an hour – it was okay, a bit soggy but tasty enough. The rest of the evening I spent watching a couple of films on the tv before falling asleep.

South Africa 2006 - Settling In

I’ve now been here a couple of days now and I’m gradually settling in. Yesterday (Monday) started with breakfast – cereal followed by an omelette before heading off to work.

It was a long day, punctuated only by half an hour at lunchtime while we wandered around a couple of supermarkets in the local mall unsuccessfully trying to find some sandwiches. I ended up with a pasta salad. We finished work at around 6.45ish and we decided to head out into Cape Town and get some refreshment somewhere in the Waterfront. After some discussion three of us decided to get a taxi and the hotel reception ordered one for us.

The others drove into Cape Town and we waited for the taxi. Eventually a clapped out Mercedes turned up with the fattest guy you ever saw behind the wheel. We all piled in and he dropped us at the Waterfront, leaving us with his number so we could call him later. He was a chatty guy and a Manchester United supporter (aren’t all overseas football fans?) and very proud of his city.

We met up with the others in Mitchell’s a pub that brews its own beer and had a couple of drinks. Then, after some discussion, we headed for a fish restaurant called the Ocean Basket. We quizzed the maitre de about the possibility of a veggie meal and he said they would do a halloumi cheese stir fry.

We started with a few olives, fried halloumi and some feta accompanied by some tasting of the various chilli sauces on the table (one of which was very hot) while we waited for the mains to turn up. When they did, the fish meals were huge and my halloumi stir fry was pretty good. It was served in a large frying pan along with some chips.

I was planning on having dessert, but the main meal was so filling that I decided not too.

Once we had paid our bill we went back to Mitchell’s for a drink – I had an 18yr Glenfiddich and we phoned the taxi. Once he arrived, three of us went back to the hotel, but the others decided they’d stop off at the club down the road for a couple more drinks.

Today started with another omelette for breakfast before heading off once again to the office. Despite planning to leave around 5.30pm we still ended up leaving around 6.30pm although we did go out for lunch to a place called Casablanca in the local mall. It was pretty much a burger joint and I ended up with a salad, which was okay, but not particularly exciting.

After arriving back at the hotel, I spent a couple of hours catching up on some work before meeting the some of the others for a late dinner in the Wild Fig.

The dinner was quite spectacular. I started with the fried camembert again and then followed it with a Thai vegetable curry which was lovely. I managed to pick a nice white wine which accompanied the meal nicely. For dessert I had chilli nut ice cream with chocolate sauce – wow! It was lovely. After the meal, despite the bar being closed, the waiter got us some whiskies and brandy to finish the meal off. I had a very pleasing 21yr old Speyburn. They have quite an extensive collection of single malts so I reckon I’ll be back there before the end of the week.

South Africa 2006 - Arrival

So, here I am on my first day in South Africa. The flight was relatively painless except for the traffic jam at the airport, but I met up with Ben, Paul, Mark and Ian and managed to make arrangements to meet with Ian in SA, as he was on a different flight to the rest of us. Paul and Mark had already booked in when I arrived – Ben had waited so that we could get seats together on the plane.

We had a quick meal in the airport before boarding the plane. Ben and I were at opposite ends of a row, but negotiated with the two girls in the middle to move. This annoyed the air-steward when he brought my veggie meal, but no matter.

The flight took off around a half hour late, but caught up on-route and landed on time. It was fairly smooth, the food was okay (macaroni cheese for dinner, scrambled eggs with mushroom and hash browns for breakfast) and I managed to get a few hours sleep.

Once we’d landed we all made our way through customs and picked up the hire cars. I then followed Paul to the hotel – the Courtyard which is about 10 mins from the airport and about 15mins from the V&A Waterfront. The hotel is quite nice – it has more of a “motel” setup with two storey blocks of rooms around a central courtyard. The rooms each have a small “kitchen” area with a sink, microwave and fridge which might be handy.

After booking in and freshening up we drove in one car to the V&A and had something to eat at Cantina Tequila, a Mexican restaurant. They had a varied veggie selection which surprised me as SA is very meat oriented in its eating. I had a vegetarian combo which consisted of stuffed burritos, tortilla, wrap, peppers and beans and corn in a barbecue sauce all delivered on a huge plate.

While we were there two guys dressed as kangaroos “bounced” along the waterfront where we were sitting, performing a comedy routine, the highlight of which was one of the bouncing along with a large breasted girl while the other one shouted “Don’t look at the headlights!”
“I can’t help it,” replied the first kangaroo.
“No,” shouted back the other guy pointing up the road to an on coming vehicle. “The van!” The timing was perfect.

After finishing the meal, drinks and coffees (which for four of us came to less than £10 each) we made our way back to the airport to meet Ian, who had had to connect flights in Jo’burg.

After returning to the hotel, Ian booked in and I went back to the room for a rest before we all planned to meet up again for the evening.

Around 6.20pm Ben phoned me to say that he and Mark were going to go down to the club that was just down the road. We walked down there, passing the mental hospital that is next to the hotel and had a couple of beers, before making our way back to the hotel and its adjoining restaurant, the Wild Fig, where we were going to eat.

The menu at the Wild Fig has a couple of veggie options and I started with deep fried camembert served with a fig chutney followed by dolmades stuffed with pureed aubergine, rice and mushroom served with a pesto sauce. For pudding I had crème brulee – about a 7 on the scale. The whole meal was very pleasant – the others sampled springbok and ostrich – and it was all presented very well. For five three course meals, two bottles of wine and coffees the total bill came to around R800 (around £75) which is quite amazing. We then tried to get a nightcap in the restaurant and hotel bars, but they were closed up for the night (it was only 11pm) so we all retired to our rooms.