General

Sea Point seas

Sea Point seas
The fence you see to the right of the photo encloses a kid's play area, located right next to the Sea Point public swimming pool. Access to the area appeared to be very closely monitored. The gate was locked and it looked as though one has to negotiate with a gatekeeper to gain entry.

Tables and umbrellas

Tables and umbrellas
This cluster of tables, umbrellas, and chairs are found right next to the Sea Point public swimming pool (map). It's the perfect refuelling spot to use while taking a leisurely walk along the Sea Point promenade. The proprietors sell a variety of food, from traditional soft-serve ice cream, to pan cakes containing both sweet and savoury treats.

You should visit one afternoon - it's a fine place to stop for a late afternoon snack as the sun starts to dip closer to the horizon.

Buitenkant Street

Buitenkant Street
Buitenkant Street is one of the old old streets in Cape Town that leads up from the Castle deep into the city bowl. With tourist spots like the District Six apartheid museum, Perseverance Tavern (one of the oldest pubs in the city), and the Rust en Vreugd museum, I'm guessing that if you're visiting Cape Town and are fascinated with her history that you'll probably end up in this street. It's a safe area in the day, not so safe at night. Ok? :)

The Azzavia mosque

The Azzavia mosque
This name, for some reason, reminds me a little of X-Men - probably because of Professor Xavier. :)

Even though Cape Town has a thriving Muslim population, I can't claim to know an awful lot about Islamic culture. The little that I do know about this building is that construction was started in 1919 by one Muhammad Salih, a shaykh (teacher) originally from the little town of Swellendam. You can read a little more over here.

Ice cream cone

Ice cream cone
Many years ago there used to be a little place that sold ice cream next to the Sea Point public swimming pool. The vendor closed down some time ago, leaving the spot vacant for several years.

Only recently, while walking in the area, did I notice that a small group of vendors have opened shop on the same spot, selling a variety of treats - including this, my favourite. :)

Countries and flags

Countries and flags
If you're wondering why my daily updates have been a little lagging, it's because I've been in the USA for a little while, in Palo Alto (just outside of San Francisco), to be precise. The distance of about 17,000 kilometers from Cape Town, means that this is probably one of the furthest places away from home!

I'll be back in Cape Town soon, but until then I hope that you'll be happy with the photos that I stashed away before I left. :)

Cape Technikon – CPUT

Cape Technikon - CPUT
I visited this building more times than what I care to remember - almost 20 years ago. Back then it was part of Cape Technikon, which subsequently merged with Peninsula Technikon and was renamed to CPUT - the Cape Peninsula University of Technology.

I have many fond memories of this building. :)

Photo frames

Photo frames
Something tells me that the owner of this door is into framing. There were no other signs besides for this arrangement of frame samples - which kinda strange if you ask me. Either they have a fantastic reputation, or perhaps they have portable signage that gets erected during business hours.

3-Road intersection

3-Road intersection
This traffic sign indicates that the particular intersection has 3 roads intersecting - basically that it's a Y-junction. In this particular intersection's case it's a heads-up to warn motorists not to miss the road joining the intersection at an unexpected angle.

Greek Orthodox Cathedral of Saint George

Greek Orthodox Cathedral of Saint George
Cape Town has a pretty large Greek community - in fact, I'd have to take a guess and say that most corner cafes are owned by Greeks... which is probably a good thing - corner cafes seem to be one of the more difficult businesses to keep afloat and the Greeks seem to have it pretty well nailed.

Plans to build this cathedral, in Woodstock, commenced in about 1901 and the building was eventually constructed between 1903 and 1904 at a cost of a mere 2200 GBP. What a bargain hey? ;)

Ali G’s Videos

Ali G's Videos
Don't you just love this? It's a mural painted outside of Ali G's Videos - a small movie rental shop in Walmer Estate.

Walmer Estate is a community comprised largely of orthodox religious folk (ref). As my reference indicated, the owner of Ali G's Videos is a pretty orthodox Muslim woman - which I find interesting. I can't quite correlate an orthodox Muslim woman with Ali G's Videos. I guess this again proves you can't box people according to your perception of who are. :)

Iron Brew

Walmer Estate
In yesterday's post I mentioned Rocky, Jive's ginger beer flavour. This painting depicts one of their other flavours, Iron Brew. To be honest, I have no idea what Iron Brew tastes like - not that I haven't tried it before, but I just can't recall ever thinking "oh, yeah, this tastes like root beer" or "man, this tastes like cranberry sauce with a dash or lime and a smattering of honey". :)

Do you know what Iron Brew tastes like? Can you liken it to anything familiar?

Jive!

Jive Rocky soda
Jive a popular fizzy drink created in 1989 and produced by Quality Beverages in Cape Town. This particular wall painting of if the flavour Rocky - which is actually ginger beer, and a competitor to Stoney (produced by Coca-Cola). While not inferior, Jive is generally a few rands cheaper than internationally-popular drinks like Coca-Cola or Fanta, which makes it popular among those who drink large quantities of fizzy drinks.

Devil’s Peak from Obs

Devil's Peak from Obs
I took this pic of Devil's Peak from a street in one of Observatory's business areas. An interesting factoid about Devil's Peak (which I'm sure I've mentioned before) is that at exactly 1000 meters high, it's only 87 meters shy of Table Mountain's 1087 meters!

Devil’s Peak

Devil's Peak
That blurry mountain in the background is actually Devil's Peak. The popular belief about the origin of the peak's name revolves around a tale of a guy (Jan van Hunks) who entered a smoking competition with the Devil.

There's however another belief that suggests that original name was Duifespiek (a Dutch word meaning "Dove's Peak") and that since it sounds very similar to the Dutch word Duiwelspiek ("Devil's Peak") over time people confused the original name with the latter, leading to the English naming it Devil's Peak.

Tunnel-bridge

Tunnel-bridge
I found this bridge at either Maitland, or Salt River station. To be honest, I never quite paid attention to exactly where I was. :)

The cool thing about this bridge is that it's impossible for anyone to fall from it. The question that comes to mind is whether many people have, in the past, fallen from other pedestrian bridges - and how they managed to do that. I guess the reality is that many kids commute to and from school via this kind of bridge, and kids will be kids - they tend to do dangerous things.

Sunshine, then rain

Cloudy Camps Bay
So, after yesterday's beautifully sunny (and almost warm) day, we awoke this morning to thick cloud cover that progressed into torrential rains in the late afternoon.

This photo, with Camps Bay in the distance, was taken from Kloof Road, just above the well-known (and delightfully expensive, though very scenic) Round House Restaurant.

A one-day reprieve

Sunset
After the weekend's torrential downpours, we had a lovely, sunny, and slightly warm Monday. But, this is not set to continue - I just checked WeatherSA's site and they have an alert posted for the Western Cape: "Very rough seas, gale force wind, very cold, and snow". Not a comforting thought my friends, not comforting in the least.

Rough seas, cold winds

Rough seas, cold winds
A pretty nasty cold front hit Cape Town this weekend - emergency services have been on high alert, anticipating flooded roads and homes. I decided that it would be a grand idea to visit the Sea Point for an impromptu photo walk, so I dressed as warmly as I could and left home feeling a little like the Michelin Man.

I arrived at Three Anchor Bay at about noon. Even though it wasn't raining, the high winds and crashing waves were sending plenty of spray into the air. I parked in one of the available parking bays, and as I did a wave broke against the breakwater, sending a torrent of water cascading over my car (not the most ideal thing, given how salt water aids corrosion). So, learning my lesson, I reversed and parked somewhat further from where the breakwater.

Extracting myself from the warm car, into the icy wind and wet sea spray, was far from the most pleasurable experience I've had. I took a careful walk to the edge of the promenade, snapped a few photos and dashed back into my car before the next large wave broke. I spent the next hour a little further along towards Mouille Point, walking along the promenade taking photos while the cold wind howled, waves crashed, and people stared (at this silly photographer wondering about in the cold).