All recreational fishers in South Africa are required by law to buy recreational fishing permits with the implication of such a permit being that the fish caught under it may not be sold.
The recreational permit imposes daily fishing limits (as far as quantity is concerned) and limits fishers to certain periods of the year. This ruling was put in place to protect the marine life during breeding periods as well as limit conflict between commercial and recreational fishing.
If you're planning a fishing trip to Cape Town, just take note that there are areas where fishing is prohibited. I'm not familiar with the specific areas, but I know (for example) that the Boulders area in False Bay forms part of a conservation area where even thinking of fishing is subject to a hefty fine. ;)
No trip to the False Bay coast (or any fishing town, for that matter) is complete without a lunch of fish and chips. Kalky's is, as the name indicates, located on Kalk Bay harbour, which means that you can expect to be served really, really fresh fish here - so fresh that an hour or two before it was still somebody's cousin or aunt, in fact.
A friend suggested that this is the place to go if you really just want to eat fish and chips - it's unpretentious, and the food is straightforward, tasty and filling.
Kalk Bay is a small sea-side suburb of Cape Town, situated on the False Bay coast, and known mostly for its harbour and small fishing boats - the Amber-Rose being just one of many.
It was a cool and windy day today, so walking out on the pier was a somewhat chilly experience. Nevertheless, we saw hardy fishermen casting their lines, taking their boats out to sea, and gutting their catch along the water's edge. I truly think that fishermen must be a special breed.
General Electric is one of the hugely pervasive brands that made its way to South Africa many years ago, in 1894. The company left our shores in 1985 in a stand against apartheid, returning only in 1995 after apartheid had been abolished.
I'm not sure how old this radio is. Some of you might remember it from the days of your youth. If you click on the photo you'll see a larger version with a list of countries and cities like Moscow, France and Norway. Surely it's not possible that a radio in South Africa could actually receive a signal from as far away as Moscow?
We visited the Cheetah Outreach Project at Spier wine estate today. The facility is a cheetah conservation project that serves mostly as a conservation education facility and fund-raising initiative.
So, on your next trip to Cape Town be sure to visit the Cheetahs at Spier. If you bring a little extra money along you'll have an opportunity to visit the cheetahs inside their enclosure, and even stroke them - if you're brave enough!
Being able to reach a speed of 120km/h makes the Cheetah the fastest land animal around. They are reportedly able to accelerate from 0 to 110km/h in only 3 seconds... which is more than twice as fast as my 6-cylinder BMW!
Longmarket Street and Shortmarket Street run parallel and extend from the traditional Cape Malay area (Bo-Kaap) down to Greenmarket Square. For many years these roads were used to transport slaves and later vegetables to and from Greenmarket Square.
Fortunately slave trading was banned way back in South Africa's history and today all that you will find to trade are African curios, clothes and perhaps other items you would expect to find at a flea or craft market.
I came upon these two signs in the V&A Waterfront but really don't know what they mean. I'd have to assume that they're related to some route (like a green route or a blue route) that takes tourists past points of interest in the Waterfront area. I'd imagine that there would also be some kind of a map detailing what can be found along the route.
This could however all be utter nonsense and so it would be awesome if someone could shed some light on this matter - either confirming my suspicions or pointing out their true meaning.
Have you seen these arrows before? Do you know for sure what they mean? Can you help?
We often have such lovely weather in April. It's generally a little to cool to go swimming, but warm enough to be outdoors. The air is clear and the sun is bright - only without February's bite. It's a great time of the year to stroll about at the Cape Town Waterfront, watching the activities and having a drink or two.
Just remember that whether you're going for a walk on the slopes of our beautiful mountain, or simply visiting the Waterfront, be sure to bring something warm along - April evenings tend to turn unpredictably chilly.
I guess it's not that nice to label people "creepy"... but seriously, contortionists creep me out - just a little. I know that they don't feel pain doing what they do, but I can't help feeling a sense of the pain that they should be feeling.
This chap has been at the V&A Waterfront in Cape Town for quite some time. The photo sees him making his way out of the remains of a 25 gallon metal drum. I couldn't find any information about him, but interestingly enough, based on his accent I realised that he wasn't from South Africa... in fact, I don't think he's from Africa at all. For some reason I had the idea that he may even be American... can it be?
Peak-time traffic into and out of the city is just awful - and this photo doesn't do it justice at all. I guess it's not unlike any other large city though. The problem with Cape Town is that really big mountain backing onto the city; it seriously hampers the development of additional roads into and out of Cape Town. Though, to be honest, this isn't the real reason for our congestion.
It's rumoured that the City is looking at converting part of our rail network into an underground system. Perhaps this will lead to some kind of underground Metro. I'm not sure exactly what the plans are, but a general upgrade of our rail system would help tremendously to alleviate congestion.
Amstel is one of the more popular brands of beer in South Africa. I haven't made a clinical study of the facts, but I'd guess the four most popular (in alphabetical order) would have to be Amstel, Black Label, Castle and Windhoek.
Amstel beer was first produced in 1870 by the Amstel Brewery in Amsterdam, the Netherlands. According to a Wikipedia article, and to my surprise, it was taken over by Heineken International in 1968.
Although I find the beer a little bitter for my taste I do have many friends whose drink of choice it is. Perhaps my friends simply have a more sophisticated palate than I do...
Okay, the Cape Sparrow isn't really known as Captain Jack, but after Johnny Depp's portrayal of Captain Jack Sparrow in the movie Pirates of the Caribbean, perhaps it should be.
As many of our readers already know, Kerry-Anne and I recently moved into a "new" house in an old established area, where the trees are large and the birds are plentiful. Just how plentiful I did not realise - until today. We've been seeing large Guineafowl on front lawns, geese on chimneys, and earlier today I watched as several birds hopped from branch to branch just above and just out of reach of our cats, taunting them. It was delightful to watch. Birds can be so cruel. ;-)
I think this rugby field is part of St. George's Grammar School in Mowbray. By the way the poles are positioned I wonder if it's part of their advanced rugby programme. From the photo it appears as though opposing teams' rugby poles are perpendicular to each other. This and the angle that the poles are positioned makes it somewhat more difficult for one of the teams to land a drop-kick or successfully convert a try.
When visiting Cape Town you should be aware that customs officials don't allow people over 1.9 metres tall to enter... :-) No, that's not true of course. We love tall people.
These signs are generally found before a lower-than-normal bridge or overhang, or at the entrance to a parking garage; and as a tourist, unless you're actually driving a bus, these height restrictions shouldn't be of any concern to you.
Although, perhaps you should take note of how high those red double-decker topless Hop-on Hop-off tourist buses are - just in case you see one of these signs while out sightseeing on the top deck. ;-)
In the foreground you can see the Bo-Kaap, in the middle the city centre, and in the background the lower slopes of Table Mountain.
The quaint and colourful houses of the Bo-Kaap make an interesting contrast with the city office blocks in the centre of the shot. We have quite an eclectic range of buildings in Cape Town, and in the city centre you will see tall modern office blocks located next door to renovated 18th- and 19th-century buildings in a few places.
After a particularly hectic week Krige's Pub is the place where I'll be likely to track down a few colleagues for Friday lunch-time drinks. Ah, Krige's, I've heard such interesting stories here - alcohol really is like butter on the tongue.
Apart from this outside section, Krige's has a traditional bar on the inside (with a cosy fire-place for those cold winter days) and a slightly more formal (yet casual) restaurant attached to its side. The bar is known for its easy-going and relaxed feel and the restaurant for its traditional South African meals and pretty decent hand-pressed pure-beef-patty burgers.
On another note, I'm now back from my trip to Las Vegas - a colleague and I attended an IBM conference in this rather over-the-top-24x7-party city. It sure was interesting and although it certainly was a great experience, I'm glad to be back on home soil. Hello Cape Town!
I took my parents our for a late lunch yesterday. We opted for sushi at the Blowfish restaurant in Milnerton, which turned out to be a good choice - great food, excellent service and a perfect location.
It was a fairly windy afternoon, so there were plenty of kite-surfers for us to watch out in the bay; and the sky was absolutely clear, giving us a perfect view of Table Mountain from our table.
If you've been following our blog, then you might recall reading that we recently moved house. We moved twice, actually - once at the end of March, and again at the end of April (we're all done now :-)). We've moved to a much nicer neighbourhood than the one we lived in before, and here's the evidence.
Every morning these guinea fowl (I counted at least forty adults in the group - obviously the rest are not in the picture) make their way along one of the streets in the area, foraging for worms and bugs in the grass. They're wonderful to watch, particularly now that they have a few babies tagging along with them.
These are not what you would call clever birds, and flying is not really something they do, unless it is absolutely imperative. They might occasionally flap their way up to the top of a wall, and then jump off the other side, but that's really about it.
I was surprised to discover that this set of buildings, which houses the Stellenbosch Council Chambers, amongst other things, was only built in 1941. Stellenbosch was founded by Governor Simon van der Stel in 1679, making it the second European settlement in South Africa (Cape Town itself was the first, of course).
To the left of this building is the Town Hall (not in the picture), which won its architects a design medal in 1941. I'm not quite as enthusiastic about it though, and think this section of the municipal complex is far prettier.
Raadsaal is Afrikaans for "council hall", by the way.
Another shot from Zevenwacht Wine Estate... Scenes like this always give the impression that life on a farm is so placid and relaxed - until you consider getting up at 5am to tend the vineyards, working round the clock during grape harvesting season, walking the vineyards in the heat of the midday sun and dealing with all the logistics that go into keeping a farm running profitably. What do you think? Keen to swap your fast-paced city life for a simple life in the country?
A few years ago we were guests at a wedding that took place in front of the Cape Dutch farmhouse in this photo. You can only imagine how beautiful that was. This is part of Zevenwacht Wine Estate in Kuils River (which is in the northern suburbs - about 30 minutes from Cape Town city centre). In addition to wine, a really good selection of cheeses is produced on the farm.
On any given day you're likely to see a few of these Jammie Shuttles driving along the M3 near the University of Cape Town. This free shuttle service is reserved for staff and students of the university, and transports them between residences, campuses and certain public transport facilities and parking areas in the vicinity.
What I didn't know is that these buses are also available for hire to outside organisations in Cape Town. I wonder how many people we'd need to get together to qualify as an "organisation"? Could be fun transport for a day at the beach... ;-)
Long Street is one of my favourite streets in Cape Town. It's filled with restaurants, bars, backpackers' hostels, eclectic shops and charming architecture; and no matter what time of day or day of the week you're in town, you'll always find life and activity here.
If you look carefully at the parked cars in the photograph, you might notice that it's a one-way street; Long Street stretches for more than 20 city blocks (3.8km), and is one of the oldest roads in Cape Town. If you're interested, read more about the residents and landmarks of Long Street.
Today, a panoramic view of the city and harbour, taken from the slopes of Signal Hill... isn't it lovely?
There's been a decided chill in the air the last few evenings, and I suspect that summer is about to take its leave. Temperatures are still in the mid to high 20s, but I think in around two to three weeks' time we can expect them to start dropping a little.
I went to a Standard Bank Pro20 cricket match in Paarl today (I was going to be live-blogging the game) - unfortunately we had some rain in Cape Town this morning, and so the field was too wet for any play to take place. This is the Pro20 mascot, Hardy, who was driven round and round the field in his blue buggy, while the crowd waited to hear whether there'd be a game or not. Isn't he too cute for words?
While I was there, I bumped into one of our legendary cricketers, Jonty Rhodes, who is now the fielding coach for the SA team; but I was so distracted by my thoughts that I didn't realise why he looked so familiar until AFTER he'd walked past. Have you ever had one of those "duh" moments? Um, Jonty, if you're reading this, next time I see you I'll say hello like I mean it. :-)
Rick's Cafe Americain is one of the most delightfully decorated establishments around Cape Town, full of eclectic light fittings, comfy couches, old-style movie posters and brightly-coloured cushions.
I haven't actually had a meal at Rick's yet, only drinks, but I hope to rectify that soon - they specialise in tapas, gourmet burgers and Moroccan dishes. You can see a few photos of the interior here.
About a week ago we posted a photo of a street in the Bo-Kaap. Here's another part of the Bo-Kaap, with even more colourful houses than those in the previous post.
Many of the current residents of this area are descended from the Indonesians, Malaysians, Sri Lankans and Indians who were brought to the Cape as slaves in the 1700s. The Bo-Kaap is also known as the "Malay Quarter".
That's Table Mountain's famous table-cloth - often formed on summer days by thick white cloud spilling over the top and down the front of the mountain. It might be a gorgeous day in the city, but trust me, when that cloud comes over, it gets bitterly cold on top of the mountain. The other thing to remember is that when the cloud comes over, it becomes very difficult (nearly impossible, in fact) to find your way around on top of the mountain. Visitors are always warned: take warm clothing if you're going up the mountain, no matter how hot it is when you start up from the bottom - that way, if you do get lost on top of the mountain, at least you'll be able to keep warm until the cloud lifts.
In case you missed it, read our story of how not to climb the mountain here.
Thank you! Yes, you! We were awarded the title of Best South African Travel Blog at the SA Blog Awards ceremony this evening - and we couldn't have done it without your support. We were up against some *real* journalists in this category too, so we're very pleased to have won, as you can imagine. :)
Thanks to the organisers for all the behind-the-scenes effort, to the sponsors Warwick Wine and Stodels Nurseries for our prizes, and to Butlers Pizza for the great food. Congratulations to all the winners!
Again, thank you - for reading, for commenting, for supporting, and for voting.
It may not be a Kreepy, but it's still crawly. This odd-looking creature of the deep is in fact a Baracuda, and we discovered it in the swimming pool at our new house (which we finally moved into today).
The first automated pool cleaner, the Kreepy Krauly, was invented in South Africa in 1974, by Ferdinand Chauvier, a hydraulics engineer from the then Belgian Congo. Since then, a number of other brands have been developed, of course - one of which is the Baracuda, pictured here doing its job gobbling up all the sediment in our pool. (If you're interested, you can read the whole Kreepy Krauly story here.)
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