South Africa News, Travel and fun Blog

Each year since 2001, local Cape Town radio station 567 Cape Talk have put on this literally star-studded event on Clifton 4th, arguably the most beautiful beach in the Mother City.

While the live band may not consist of household names, their excellent renditions of golden oldies from the 50s, 60s, 70s and 80s were performed with class and energy this past Saturday night. The temperatures soared to the high-30s on the day and the South Easter which had been fanning veld-fires across the Peninsular for the past 2 weeks dropped, creating a balmy evening on the soft sandy beach.

Young and old, black and white, locals and foreigners all congregated en masse from late afternoon to find themselves a space on the sand, enjoy a sunset picnic and cool off in the icy water. Meanwhile, the band got themselves together and ran through a few practice numbers, giving a melodic hint of what was to follow.

The yachts and catamarans of a local marine club dropped anchor in the bay, creating an off-shore event of their own as their lights reflected on the darkening waves below and echoed the emerging stars above.

The event, sponsored by BP Garages, is in aid of the National Sea Rescue Institute (NSRI). One of their helicopters did a fly-by before the entertainment kicked off at 18h00, with the crowd standing to salute the work of the men and women who save numerous lives in Cape Town each year.

The MC for the night, Aiden Thomas, introduced a marimba band to start the night’s entertainment. The group warmed up the crowds with some traditional African tunes before the main band got many dancing on the sand under the stars with hit after hit, beautifully performed and accompanied by stringed, wind, brass and percussion instruments.

The spectacular sunset stole the crowd’s attention for a few breath-taking minutes, then candles and glow sticks (sold by the NSRI) took on the job of lighting up the relaxed revelers. As no alcohol was allowed, the event was extremely mellow, with no unpleasant incidents to mar the family-friendly fun.

The night drew to a close on schedule at 20h30. We left the beach with happy memories, vowing to return to next year’s Moonstruck.

For a relaxed, free evening with fantastic music and a great Cape Town vibe, look out for Moonstruck 2009 which will be, as always, in the month of February, a perfect way to get into the mood for Valentine’s Day.

It is the beginning of February - the shortest month of the year! This specific month gets a double ‘yay’ as it is a Leap Year, and we all get paid a bit earlier this month!

In a Leap Year, the month of February has one extra day added to the usual 28 days. This phenomenon only occurs once every four years, and for many a Leap Year has quite a few connotations and beliefs entwined in it.

Certain beliefs, myths and superstitions have survived through the years and these days some couples still bask in the age-old traditions. One such tradition that has been passed on- originating in Ireland in the 5th century- is that ‘yearning females’ can “pop the question” only on the 29th of February which occurs every 4th year! This decision by St. Patrick was made due to St. Bridget who complained that women were frowned upon if they asked a man’s hand in marriage and had to sit around and wait patiently for a man to propose.

On the flipside, a ‘negative’ superstition that has been passed on about the Leap Year by the Greeks, is that couples who get married during a Leap Year will have bad luck. In this day and age, it is estimated that one out of every five couples will still not plan their wedding, or get married in a Leap Year due to this belief.

Not only is February the month that gets influenced by the Leap Year, it is also the month in which a little chubby angel, armed with a bow and arrow makes his rounds. It is the month of love and the time couples celebrate Valentine’s Day!

The Christmas decorations have come down, and now another transformation of red fills the shops. It doesn’t matter how much you fight against it, the décor, the hearts and all the cute tokens of love for sale will put anyone in the right romantic mood.

Whether you like to go all out, or prefer to keep things low key, there are quite a few romantic ideas and things to do in and around Cape Town! Linked is an article filled with romantic ideas for any time of the year, specifically focused on ideas of things to surprise your loved one with in and around the magical Mother City.

Always wanted to try river rafting but not sure you’re up to the whole ‘white water / extreme adrenalin-pumping version - yet?

I took a one day river rafting trip this past Sunday along a tranquil section of the
Breede River in the Western Cape of South Africa, a convenient one-hour’s drive from the city of Cape Town near the picturesque vine-clad town of Worcester.

A relaxed drive through scenic countryside early Sunday morning brought our little group to the starting point where our friendly guides met us. Coffee and rusks were served on the grassy bank as we enjoyed the site of the river flowing past and the incredible, Tolkienesque mountains surrounding us.

An entertaining but informative brief on how to use the 2-man inflatable “crocodile’s” – the only variety on the Breede we were assured – and some basic health and safety tips followed. Then each pair of rowers got to decide who was to be the ‘engine’ (front seat) and who was to be the ‘rudder’ (back seat) and have a practice run in the wide section of river just in front of the camp.

It was initially harder (well, for me anyhow) than it looked. This could be due to the fact that I have very few co-ordination skills. But I soon got the hang of my rudder-role and could steer our craft around the calm waters without too much difficulty with my sister rowing upfront.

So we set off on our waterways adventure. The river narrowed steadily and flowed more swiftly while we enjoyed the serenity of the wind in the rushes whispering all around, the sweet notes of birdsong, the dip and splash of oar in water. As we were near the back I got to observe how the guide in the craft in front of us was not, as we were, rowing with a great deal of effort at all, but simply sitting back, letting the river do the work and every now and then using her oar to keep going straight. We followed her example and found we were using much less energy and able to relax and enjoy the ride more.

Our first ‘rapid’ was quite an experience. All of a sudden the river narrowed, the trees grew lower overhead and we were in a kind of natural tunnel, going at some speed. All method went out the window as, shrieking with laughter we spun around and around, in our boat, careened into the bank several times and yet kept going. We were laughing too much and trying too hard to avoid getting our hair tangled in the multitude of branches above to exercise any control over the boat, but just as it became a bit frightening it was over and we pulled up onto a small beach.

The Nappy-Run was next – our guide showed us how to wear our life jackets as nappies and we waddled bemusedly down to a very narrow, swift-flowing side branch of the river. Here we jumped in and got carried, floating on our backs with feet in the air thanks to the buoyancy of the life jackets, at high speed down this natural supertube. Many of us chose to repeat the experience – it was a lot of fun.
Later, after continuing down the river via a second rapid to a bridge where we were met by a bus, we were driven back to the camp site for a delicious buffet picnic lunch served with wine, and coffee and chocolates to end.

The bug has bitten – next I will be attempting the far more frothy waters of the Orange River, and hopefully will survive to tell the tale!