• West Coast (Cape Town):

Suburbs in the greater Blouberg/Tableview area are prime examples of a growing opportunity for cape town property. Complexes are rapidly being developed along the scenic West Coast, which offers staggering views of Table Mountain, and all at a fraction of the costs. The area is highly developed, with lots of shopping facilities, schools, churches and entertainment. It is also within close proximity to the city, allowing for complete convenience when travelling. Should you want a holiday home, you should consider travelling further up the coast where there are properties in upcoming towns that are being sold at a steal.

• South Johannesburg:

An area like Glenvista is one example of the new money coming into the south of Johannesburg and bryanston property. The large rural spaces are slowly turning into wilderness estates, while shopping facilities, schools and churches are also widely available. This scenic part of the woods remains close to the city centre, but takes you away from the hustle and bustle of the business-orientated northern suburbs. A quiet and relaxed family life awaits in these growing areas.

• Garden Route (Eastern Cape):

A superb choice, the Eastern Cape has become a popular destination for retirement, and for good reason. Whether you are in the tourist hotspot that is Knysna, or watching life slow down in George, the options here are endless. Most suburbs are really well established, ensuring that you will retain your investment, as well as have it increase as space becomes limited. A solid choice for coastal property.

• Centurion (near Pretoria):

With the ever-expanding Midrand getting closer to this area, you can expect a growth, and with this some excellent property opportunities will arise. Centurion is nestled beautifully between Midrand and Pretoria, allowing you complete convenience. The area boasts stunning, warm weather and is equipped with all the necessary amenities, including top-class shopping and sports facilities. Centurion is quite a distance from the Johannesburg CBD, but due to the extensive highway system, it is not a problem to travel there.

• SAB’s World of Beer – Johannesburg

Oh yes! Let’s get this party started off right. The World of Beer in Johannesburg is an amazing day out for beer connoisseurs. The tour offered by the establishment is informative and thirst quenching. You get to taste your favourite ales plus many others, and you can cap it off with even more golden delight in the superb bar once the tour is over.

• The Sterkfontein Caves – Gauteng

Sterkfontein is renowned as being the home of the famous Mrs. Ples, the first complete Australopithecus skull, and more recently the 4.17 million-year-old Little Foot – an almost complete ape-man. I remember my visit year as a school boy with an extremely funny guide who had a Jamaican accent and commented on how the cavemen would probably use the chutes in the canyon as a “lekker foofy sliiiiiiiiiiiide”.

• Gansbaai – Western Cape

Everybody is always going on and on about the Big Five, but let me tell you that seeing a Great White Shark face-to-face is amazingly terrifying. Gansbaai is the Great White Shark capital of the world and with a number of reputable shark cage diving companies available, you have no excuses. Also, I would not recommend surfing in Shark Alley as the muggers here aren’t interested in your wallet…

• Bloukrans Bridge – Garden Route

A mere 40km from the party town that is Plettenberg Bay, you will find the highest commercial bungee jump in the world. The jump point is 216 metres above the Bloukrans River and definitely not something for the faint-hearted. Plunge into the gorge head first and for a moment you’ll believe you can fly – before pure adrenaline and exhilaration take over as you rocket toward the river, only to bounce back up at the last moment.

• Big Rush Urban Adrenaline – Durban

The Moses Mabida Stadium may be famous for being one of the most spectacular venues during the FIFA 2010 World Cup in South Africa, but the Durbanites have come up with a pretty good way to make use of the stadium when football isn’t on offer. Basically, you plunge 60 metres while swinging over the pristine pitch – the views, the heart-pounding excitement… it’s awesome.

• Long Street:

This vibrant and bustling city street has too many interesting places to single out just one. After the hustle during business hours, Long Street comes to life at night. A wide range of bars, cars and clubs are all on offer. Enjoy drinks with friends at the Dubliner Irish Pub, listen to a variety of live music at the Zulu Sound Bar or stomp your feet to the latest house tunes at Chrome. Better yet, stroll down the street and pop into any one of the many hotels on Long Street after a good night out.

• Greenmarket Square:

Nestled in the heart of the CBD, Greenmarket Square is the perfect place for lazy afternoons out. Browse the fleamarket stalls to find a wide range of African crafts, or alternatively grab a seat at one of the surrounding cafes or restaurants to fill your belly while soaking up the vibrant atmosphere.

• Bo Kaap:

At the edge of the city lies the colourful and cultural Bo Kaap area. Try some traditional Cape Malay cuisine at the Bo Kaap Kombuis or visit the Monkeybiz shop to pick up a unique souvenir.

• Somerset Road:

Geared toward younger visitors and party animals, this road is packed with top quality nightlife. Get into the mood at Cubana with some cocktails before exploring the wide variety of bars and clubs on the strip.

• Restaurants:

Cape Town is a culinary hot spot with a wide range of tantalising tastes available on each corner. Visit places such as Kloof Street with its boutique shops and endless range of cafes or explore the streets of the CBD to find those hidden gems that are normally only known to local residents.

There is so much on offer in this beautiful and vibrant city, so chat with the locals at any of the boutique hotels you choose and get the scoop on the best places to visit in Cape Town.

Food is an instantaneous and fleeting type of gratification and dining, when taken out of its immediate context, is an indulgent exercise very far removed from its original intention, namely sustenance. Knowing all of this, you would assume that I would be able to restrain myself. After all, we are in the midst of a much publicised economic recession, are we not? We should be scrimping and saving, buying in bulk, pickling, preserving and living by our wits. And yet, none of this is quite sufficient to keep me in line.

So off we went, Rouve and I, last Thursday evening to Fork Restaurant in Long Street. I would advise that anyone who ventures to that part of town after dark go in pairs. The inner-city has a whole bunch of nooks and crannies that are as threatening in darkness as they are quaint in daylight and you can never be too cautious. That aside, the restaurant is lovely. Situated in a narrow, upright building with a Victorian facade, the smoking section is located on the ground floor with a rickety staircase that leads to non-smoking area on the first floor.

The restaurant is unique in the sense that it ONLY serves tapas. If you are a one solid plate of food type of diner, rather give it a skip and save both the waiter and yourself a whole lot of hassle. Everything on the menu, from prime rib to ostrich Carpaccio and malva pudding comes in the shape of four bite-sized pieces. This means that, ideally, your dining party should consist of either two or four people, to avoid first fights over the last unclaimed morsel. Almost all of the wines on the wine list are available per glass, since you may want to switch between cultivars as you enjoy different courses.

I don’t want to go into too much detail where the food is concerned, since I will only end up sounding like a gushing gastronome. Seriously, everything was simply divine, darling *insert overt inflection and flapping hand gestures*. The interior is comfortable and expertly styled, nothing is overt and every element works together with the next to create a warm, yet unfettered ambience. If you book beforehand I would recommend that you reserve one of the upstairs booths; there is something decidedly romantic and intellectual about dining in an oak-lined nook.

The evening will end up being expensive, take my word for it. No matter how good your intentions, you will give your wallet (and conscience) a serious knock. Just to illustrate to keep ourselves from over-indulging Rouve and I both had supper at home before going to Fork. We were merely going to see what all the fuss was about and maybe to have ONE plate of tapas and a glass of wine each. Wishful thinking. Our bill came to over R500 and we basically waddled home, which is testament to both the diversity of the menu and the quiet instigation of our knowledgeable waitress.

So, if you have a special occasion coming up or some cash to spare, make your way down to Fork for a gastronomical experience bar none. It really is worth it. No Cape Town tour would be complete without exploring the Mother City’s temptations, after all.

Cape Town is a vibrant city, which is full of colour, history and of course its diverse population. The best way to see the city bowl and some of the suburbs is the hop-on hop-off bus that goes all the way to Kirstenbosch Botanical gardens and takes you to the Cable-Car station for the Table Mountain Cable way. It’s a very cheap way to get out and about, and the bus makes regular stops all over the city.

Additionally you can catch any number of taxis to take you where you want to go. The private taxis can charge basically whatever they want, but most of them offer competitive rates. A word of warning on the minibus taxis, however. Although the taxis here in Cape Town are better than in the rest of the country (a variety of people catch them here, and are relatively safe on board), they do drive like absolute idiots. Idiots that are blind and deaf with only one hand and a foot that can only slam on either peddle (slam on gas, slam on brake, and no in-between). Additionally, although they are cheap, they are also very intimidating. It’s recommended that young women alone do not catch them and to avoid them at night. Although it’s a great way to tour Cape Town, it does have its risks. The taxi industry is constantly at loggerheads with pretty much every authority going, and these protests usually turn violent. It’s the unwary traveller that gets caught up in one of the riots.

Cape Town tours are the recommended way to see our city, but do your research before booking a trip on public or private transport.

Sightseeing.

Cape Town’s tourist industry has always been a vibrant economy-booster. With Cape Town tours and sightseeing trips making up a big part of the tourist’s to-do list, the industry must protect the image of Cape Town as a fun, vibrant and safe place to visit. However, we all know that the economy is said to be slowing down across the world, but is it true for Cape Town? Will this city join the hundreds of others worldwide that have suffered the beck-and-call of the share-marked slow down?

Thanks to the FIFA World Cup in 2010, Cape Town’s tourist industry has never looked brighter! We have a brand new international airport (no more hectic traffic for a start) and our roads are being upgraded so much that all locals see nowadays are big concrete pillars and trucks carrying the world of dirt and rubble. Great for those Cape Town tours and tour buses!

Cape Town remains an authentic value for money destination, despite the economic downturn, and British Airways predicts that Cape Town will be its top long haul destination for 2009. The popularity of South Africa’s Mother City is due to a number of factors. For start, the weakness of our Rand to many other currencies makes it the perfect destination for foreign travellers looking for a cheap yet luxurious holiday. Secondly, the increased publicity of the city (such as the 2010 world cup, the British Lions tour, our win at the rugby world cup) shows off our strong points and our beautiful views. When last did you see an advert that doesn’t show the view from Blouberg or Table Mountain? Or a view from a helicopter over the city bowl?

However, just because the tourism industry is blooming in the Mother City, we can’t afford to rest on our laurels. So why not book a ride on one of the many Cape Town tours today and come see the fantastic sights of South Africa’s most charming city?

Happy unimaginative, consumerist-orientated, entirely arbitrary, manipulative and shallow interpretation of a romantic day.

Funny how the truest things are often the most hilarious isn’t it? Valentine’s Day. Have you ever really stopped to think about the actual concept behind this arbitrary day that we are supposed to shower our loved ones with kitsch approximations of romantic tokens? And did anybody else notice that as soon as most commercial stores took down the plastic Christmas trees and headache inducing tinsel, they brought out the red Styrofoam hearts? Jeez, you’d think that all this talk of an economic recession was just a vicious rumor.

Let’s take a step back and see how all of this actually came about. As with all our sterile traditions, the origin of Valentine’s Day is quite a bit bloodier than expected. Back in the day when Emperor Claudius II was ruling Rome, they were involved in a few very unpopular military campaigns that resulted in large numbers of casualties. Understandably, the young men of Rome were not queuing up to enlist, instead pleading family responsibilities.

To remedy this atrocious situation, good emperor Claudius naturally outlawed all marriages and engagements in Rome. It was then that two men of the cloth, Saint Valentine and Saint Marius stepped in and helped couples to marry in secret. BIG MISTAKE. Saint Valentine was caught, imprisoned and later executed by means of beating and decapitation. Guess what the date was on this auspicious day in history? None other than the 14th of February.

Around this time, it was also the custom to celebrate the Feast of Lupercalia during the month of February. One of the traditions inherent to the Feast of Lupercalia was the “love lottery”. According to history, the lives of young girls and boys of the time were strictly separate and the festival represented an opportunity for interaction. The names of all the young girls would be placed in a receptacle, from which the young men would then draw the names of their companions for the duration of the festival. These pairings often lead to long term relationships and marriage.

In a bid to do away with what they considered sinful pagan holidays, the Christian church stepped in a little while later and renamed all the festivals to commemorate their own saints (because if you change something’s name you alter the nature thereof, obviously). Since Saint Valentine was tapped around the time that the festival normally commenced, he had the dubious honour of having a primitive mating ritual named after him. The End.

So, if you are into arranged marriages, decapitation and governmental stupidity by all means buy into the hype and run off to purchase some plush toys and candy. Me? I’m having lunch at a wine farm as part of a Cape Town tour. And the fact that they’re having a Valentine’s Day menu and a jazz band has NOTHING to do with it.

Down here in Cape Town, it seems that the infamous February heat is here to stay. It is this time of the year that I give up on pretending that being female means you that don’t sweat. Not the best time for a Cape Town tour. You want the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth? We delicate little creatures, we well-brought up ladies, we do sweat, a LOT.

Which is why leaving the house on a day when the mercury is set to rise to 42 degrees centigrade is not at the top of my list of priorities. There are only a few select reasons why I would even think of crossing the threshold on a day like this – natural disasters, an inviting swimming pool and family members in mortal peril number amongst these; as does registering to vote in the upcoming election.

I had foolishly left my registration for (possibly) the hottest day of the year. Not going was obviously not an option, so I was forced to get up from in front of my industrial strength fan and make my way down to the relevant registration station with the rest of the fools that didn’t yet have that reassuring little bar-coded sticker on the inside of their green identity documents.

I believe in giving credit where it is due and I have to applaud the Electoral Commission for making registration as easy and painless as it was. No queues, no unnecessary paperwork – just polite efficiency. (Granted, when I got outside my car had been decorated with a few COPE stickers but since these came off with relatively little effort I wasn’t too upset.) So now I am officially registered to vote in the upcoming election, which gives me the full right to criticize any halfwit decisions our government may make in the next four years.

Those of you who didn’t register, however, won’t have that luxury. You will have to sit quietly in your little corner keeping mum about corruption, mismanagement and general apathy at the hands of our future leaders. The only way that we will ever get our beautiful country to function to its full potential is to get involved, and registering to vote is the first little baby step in the right direction (even if you run the risk of getting vicarious sunburn just by heading out the door).

The time has come to stop moaning and get actively involved. Stand up and be counted – if we don’t care enough to make this country work, why should anyone else bother?

It’s hot. I’m not talking slightly balmy, I’m talking start sweating when you wake up and don’t stop until ten o’clock tonight-hot. Jip, the dreaded February heat is upon us and there is not much we can do about it except hide inside air-conditioned buildings.

On the plus side, it’s good for the grapes. At this very moment, every single winery, cellar and distillery in the Cape Winelands is abuzz with activity. Cellar lackeys are running around, dragging great big pressure pumps, stacking French Oak vats and scrubbing sorting tables to within an inch of their lives. Winemakers and administrators, on the other hand, are nervously stomping around the cellar, barking orders and generally being aggressively nervous about the state of the grapes. If they come in too slowly it means that there is something wrong with the harvest, it they come in too fast the cellar’s infrastructure won’t be able to handle it – and God forbid they come in at exactly the right tempo, then it’s just the calm before the storm and something BIG is about to go wrong.

Such is the life of a winemaker in the South African wine industry. As we all gear up for the big showdown that is the harvest, winemakers around the country are getting ready for 16 hour workdays. My father loses an average of 10kg’s each year during harvest time (which he gleefully gains back throughout the rest of the year, of course). Whether this is due to working such long hours or because he’s nervous about the state of the grapes or simply because he has to deal with the divergent opinions of 12 obstinate wine farmers, I don’t really know – suffice it to say I’m getting ready to only see my dad again in April.

But I digress. Back to the heat and why it is good for the grapes. See, the thing is, a grape’s ‘skin’ is porous, which means it can absorb things (especially water). Thus, if it should start raining now, all those lovely bunches of sun-ripened grapes that have been hard at work photosynthesizing the whole bloody summer will absorb the water through their skins and burst – which makes it effectively useless for human consumption OR winemaking. A sad state of affairs really.

So, today’s lesson is: embrace the heat. If it weren’t this hot now, then the harvest would be a disaster and in two years’ time you would have been paying through your ears for lackluster wine. Next time you go on a Cape Town tour or book accommodation in the Winelands for a weekend away, take the time to look around you. Those vineyards don’t just happen to trellis, prune and irrigate themselves; those tidy little rows of grape-bearing plants are the result of backbreaking work at the hands of viticulturists, soil scientists, farmers and farm workers. So uncork a bottle of lovely Chenin Blanc (I recommend the Riebeek Cellars Reserve Chenin, of course) and propose a toast to all the hardworking people that are the cogs in the great South African winemaking machine. Tjorts!

try climbing that.

The first time I arrived at the mother city, I went on many Cape Town tours around the city. First on my list was to see the renowned table cloth hanging over the illustrious pride of Cape Town…Table Mountain. Those in the know…scientists to be precise, explain the table cloth that often hangs over the mountain as the result due to the moisture-laden south-Easter that blows against Table Mountain from over False Bay. At a height of approximately 900 meters, the winds reach the colder layers of air and then thick clouds form. These clouds roll over the mountain and down towards the City Bowl. When the clouds reach the warmer, lower air layers and dissolve once more, the unmistakable table cloth forms. I sat and marveled in silence at the magical sight before me. Some minutes later, I ventured over to view the lions face on the equally popular Lion’s Head.

My definition of frustration was redefined because as intent as I was on seeing the proverbial lion on the other portion of the mountain, I just could not see it!

Let it also be known that as a youngster in the company of other youngsters who constantly oohed and aahed at the 3D pictures that came free with moms purchase of the YOU magazine, I was similarly vexed when I could not see the “flower” or whatever object that I was meant to see. To this very day, I still cannot see the “dolphins swimming in a circle” in that chain email picture of a man and a woman hugging affectionately. Nor can I see the image of the young lady within the image of an aging woman. Despite my friend/tour guide’s mild insistence, patient and then impatient directions of “Just relax, close your eyes and then open them again, you’ll see it”. I scratched off Lion’s Head as one of those things because I simply could not see it.
A few weeks later as a Capetonian and no longer a tourist, I was flat hunting in a suburb alongside Lions Head. Walking up towards the address of the flat, it formed before my eyes in a way only fitting of unexpected things. I, all of a sudden, saw the face of the lion on Lions Head! It was crouched up in all its glory, just as everyone else had described it. My delight in finally seeing it came out in the form of a chuckle and then a squeal that must have surely been interpreted as either drunk or high behavior, judging by the look the madam driving into her drive way, shot at me.

I am now a resident at the said flat. Elsewhere in South Africa, many others will drive off from their Tuscan villa inspired townhouse/flat , facing hundreds of rows of other “villas” that stretch as far as the eye can see. I on the other hand, will delight in the beauty and splendour of Cape Town’s most famous landmarks (Table Mountain, Lion’s Head and Signal Hill) that are situated practically at my door step.