Tag Archives: people

A busy smelly Clifton 4th

A busy smelly Clifton 4th
I felt a little bad for first-time visitors to Clifton 4th. It's normally such a pristine beach, but ocean tides were unkind to us and an unusually-large mass of smelly kelp had washed up onto shore.

Even though many were, there was no freegin' way I was getting into that water. I only managed to stay around for half an hour before I decided that it really wasn't fun on that overly-hot, massively-crowded, somewhat-smelly beach. :(

I shall return another day. When the kelp has left our shores. :)

Clifton at peak tourist season

Clifton at peak tourist season
Phew - lots of people hey?! We really love tourists visiting Cape Town. It's fantastic for our economy and, well, the divergent cultures and beautiful people that descend on our little city over this time is spectacularly interesting. It's a pleasure having you!

It is however sad that most tourists never get to see the calm, relaxed, and quiet beaches of Clifton and Camps Bay. I often wonder to myself if crowded and busy beaches are as all they know. It's a shame, because these beaches are spectacular from late February through to April and even May. Next time you visit Cape Town - consider coming a little later in the new year - I pretty much guarantee you'll enjoy it more than the Christmas/New Year period. :)

Clifton sunset surfer

Clifton sunset surfer
I'm quite out of my depth, but I can only guess that that's a longboard. Would I be right?

Anyway, the haze that you see there is from the cold ocean air moving in over the land. The water temperature at the time was only 12°C - which I'm guessing is why that wetsuitless mad surfer person decided to come in to shore.

In case you're wondering, I know it was 12°C because my friend and I (he with his thermometer-watch) hit the waves for all of 4 minutes. It was very unpleasant. Cold-sandy water, with plenty of seaweed constantly wrapping around our legs.

Everybody says Clifton's a great place to enjoy the view, play in the sand, and relax on the beach - but for swimming, she was certainly not made. Now, this is mostly the case, but I have to say that if you catch the tides just right, Clifton's water can actually be reasonably warm... even approaching a swimmable 19°C! ;)

Summer beach days

Summer beach days
Today is, in fact, my birthday - and as those who know me may suspect, we started the day off overlooking Camps Bay beach from Cafe Caprice, where we had breakfast.

While sitting at Caprice I commented to a friend that the bank of mist hovering over the ocean, just off the beach front, reminded me of San Francisco. I remember setting out on a warm and sunny day to take a trip from Santa Cruz up to Half Moon Bay (both towns are a few miles south of San Francisco on the North American west coast).

The weather along that entire coast line was exactly the same as the weather that we had at Camps Bay today - it was hot and sunny 100 meters away from the coast line, but misty with a cold sea breeze on the beach itself.

Volleyball on the beach

Volleyball on the beach
I think I probably suck at volleyball, but still (and even if you do also), don't you think this would be a hell of a lot of fun?

For interest sake, and not that I have any affiliation with them, the Virgin Active health club in Green Point has outdoor beach volleyball courts. Not that the courts are on the beach - they've filled huge sandpits with beach sand and voilĂ , miracled up an awesome addition to their facilities.

Hookah on the beach

Hookah on the beach
I spotted this group while walking along the beach, and happened to comment to a friend "hey, that'll make a cool photo".

I don't normally walk up to strangers and ask to take their photo - which is silly I guess - but this time the friend I was with managed to convince me that they, in fact, wouldn't bite my head off.

And, well, much to my surprise, they were fairly happy to have me take the photo. :)

High tide

High tide
This is Camps Bay beach. If you're familiar with Camps Bay then I think this photo gives a pretty good idea of how high the tide has been. That guy, in the surf, was standing more or less where little kids normally make sand castles and mud pies.

I'm sure the tide's been this high during stormy weather, but I've never seen it quite like this on a sunny beach day!

Photographer

Photographer
I don't know if it's as prevalent in the other suburbs, but these days I'm noticing increasing numbers of photographers doing outdoor photoshoots - particularly of couples.

It seems like there's been a huge increase in the number of people taking an interested in amateur or semi-professional photography; which is a great thing for the man on the street who wouldn't (or couldn't) spend the money on a professional shoot, but in many ways must be worrying to the professional photographer who makes their livelihood from the profession.

A long conversation

A long conversation
While out taking photos on the beach I was aware of this young woman having an extremely long and serious-seeming conversation on her phone. She ambled around, away from everyone else, poking at beach artifacts with her feet, and pausing for long periods of silence. I have no idea what they were talking about, but from her demeanor it seemed a lot like a break-up call. I wanted to walk over and give her a hug - but that would have been awkward, and weird. :)