Search Results for: clifton

Bikinis, beaches, and books

• • Leave a reply

Bikinis, beaches, and books
Clifton 4th, where I took this photo, is one of the most idyllic beaches on our coast. I say "one of the", but that's only to be nice to other beaches. :)

The thing that Kerry-Anne likes most about the beach isn't the sand, or sea water - hell no, she actually doesn't enjoy those much at all. But, hand her a book and an iPad together with a couple of G and Ts, and she can sit on the beach for hours.

We're both working next week, but I'm going to make a plan to leave work a little early (perhaps on Tuesday), pack in a drink or two, our iPads, and head over to one of Clifton's 4 beaches, or perhaps even Camps Bay if the wind isn't blowing. It's gonna be awesome!

Garage with a view

• • 1 Comment

Garage with a view
You have to admit, that's a pretty sweet view for a parking garage to have. I'd so love to live in one of these Clifton apartments - even if only for a couple of months. Hell, even if only for a couple of days! :)

They take flight

• • Leave a reply

They take flight
I took this photo at Sea Point. The beaches aren't the greatest for swimming, or for playing ball games, but there is some kind of appeal, different from that of the white sand-covered beaches of Clifton and Camps Bay.

Beaches, models, and photographers

• • Leave a reply

Beaches, models, and photographers
Clifton's beach is one of the favoured spots for pro, and amateur, photoshoots. I enjoyed a light picnic while watching my favourite series (on my iPad) and keeping an eye on the tail-end of this evening shoot. Several photographers, models, makeup artists, and other assistants were congregated on this section of 4th beach, racing against the setting sun for a few more awesome twilight shots.

This was a great way to spend the evening. :)

Doggies at the beach

• • Leave a reply

Doggies on the beach
It's a pity for dogs and dog-owners that beaches like the blue-flag ones at Clifton and Llandudno have had restrictions imposed that permit dogs on the beach only between 18h00 and 09h00 in the summer months, and then, only if the dogs are on leashes.

Dogs love to run free on the beaches, chasing balls and crashing though waves, but the reality is that there have been incidents where innocent kids have been attacked and where people who are desperately afraid of dogs have been traumatised. Since law enforcement officers aren't able to tell the difference between a dangerous animal and a friendly puppy, and since people who are afraid of dogs couldn't care if the dogs would never attack them, it makes sense to compromise in the way the City has.

For what it's worth, I took this photo after 18h00, so these friendly four-leggeds were allowed on the beach, but since they weren't on a leash I believe the owners were in fact breaking the law - perhaps unbeknownst to them.

Which is your favourite beach?

• • 12 Comments

Misty morning on Clifton 2nd Beach
Clifton is truly my favourite beach in Cape Town. Truth be told, its fine white sand, large round boulders, lack of kelp, absence of wind, and beautiful scenery make it my favourite of all the beaches I've ever visited.

Leave a comment and share the location of your favourite beach. Include a link to a photo and/or a Google map, as well as a short description of why it's your favourite. If you've been unfortunate enough to never have set foot on a beach - leave a comment also, we'll commiserate your great misfortune! :)

Tugboat that tugged the trawler

• • 4 Comments

Tugboat that tugged the trawler
The tugboat to the left is the Smit Amandla, the boat that freed that Japanese trawler from Clifton's beachfront last Friday.

Unless you're South African, you may not appreciate the tugboat's name. The first part of the name is a common South African surname (similar to Smith), and the second part (Amandla) is a Xhosa and Zulu word meaning Power. So together, they mean Smit Power. Awesome name for a tugboat hey?! :)

What's especially memorable about the word amandla is that it's part of a war cry (of sorts) adopted by members of the ANC during the apartheid times. Back then, and now sometimes also, the leader of a group of people would shout out "Amandla!" and the crowd would respond with "Awethu!", which together mean "Power to the people!".

A lifeguard stands watch

• • Leave a reply

Lifeguard stands watch
He stood for some time, watching swimmers enjoy the last half hour in the water before the sun finally set. While watching the lifeguard watch them I wondered what drives volunteers to keep an eye over people who often don't even realise that they're there, nor appreciate the time that these heroes have offered up. Is it the camaraderie, kindness, a sense of duty? Whatever it is, it's awesome that we have people like this around.

Read more about the Clifton Surf Lifesaving Club, whose members watch over this beach, and the non-profit organisation Lifesaving Western Provice. Perhaps once you have you'll even consider becoming a sponsor. :)

Sand castles on the beach

• • Leave a reply

Sand castles on the beach
A friend of ours brought candles and a sand castle mould along to the beach to build something pretty for his daughter (that's her in the middle of the photo) to marvel over. Isn't it awesome?

It's kinda tradition that in summer folk sit on Clifton beach with candles until late in the evening. It's really beautiful and something that you should try to do if you visit Cape Town around this time of the year!

It was really, really, hot at Moonstruck

• • Leave a reply

People at the beach wading into the sea
You would think that after living in Cape Town our entire lives we'd have know that it would still be crazy-hot on the beach after 6pm. Only about 30 minutes before the sun finally set on Clifton 4th beach did it start to cool down - and then only by a few degrees.

Read more about Cape Talk, the NSRI, and Moonstruck in my previous post.

The idyllic Camps Bay beach

• • 1 Comment

The idyllic Camps Bay beach
I've so often posted photos of the Camps Bay and Clifton beaches that I sometimes feel like I'm cheating you out of seeing other beaches around our peninsula. I promise, I'll make this up to you in Summer. :)

Besides for the lovely beaches and trendy restaurants you may be surprised to know that Camps Bay hosts one of the nicest theatres in the Cape Town area, Theatre on the Bay. The venue is fairly small, but the limited seating means that no matter where you sit you're close enough to see the actor's expressions and to, in some way, feel part of the production.

Theatre on the Bay is a great little venue and a must-visit if you're keen on live performances.

Red sky at night, sailor’s delight

• • 4 Comments

Red sky at night, sailor's delight
The ocean that you see here is the one that stretches out before the beaches of Clifton, and the road is Kloof Road. This photo was shot from the same location as yesterday's photo of the Twelve Apostles and Camps Bay.

We really do have beautiful sunsets in Winter.

Winter at the beach

• • 1 Comment

Winter at the beach
We often have beautiful clear weather in winter days, and were it not that on these days the air temperature remained at or below 20°C you'd most likely find this beach cluttered with people.

We do so miss the sun in winter. Even though we have plenty of sunny days, there are still far too many dull and grey days for my liking. Perhaps when I'm rich one day I'll follow summer around the world. Good plan, don't you think? :)

Mussels and sea stars

• • 5 Comments

Mussels rocks sea
Mussels are really hardy creatures. They withstand the relentless pounding of the sea in the stormiest conditions. However - even though they're so hardy, mussels have the unlikeliest predator - the starfish!

The starfish uses its powerful arms to slowly pull the mussel's shell open. Once the gap between the two shells is large enough it turns its stomach inside out and forces it into the shell and digests the mussel right in its own home! Who would have thought the sea star to be such a vicious foe?!

I took this photo at the beautiful and peaceful Clifton 4th beach.

Oystercatcher Way

• • 4 Comments

Oystercatcher Way
Oystercatchers are birds that (to me) look much like a cross between a sea gull and a turtle dove. They're generally completely black, or black on top and white underneath - a little like a camouflaged combat aircraft!

This particular path is a long, narrow, winding set of stairs that lead down to Cape Town's trendy Clifton 4th beach... a buzz of a place in summer but on this clear-yet-cool autumn day, practically deserted.

After descending the many steps to the clean white sand, I decided to leave my shoes in a particular spot in order to collect them on my return. Unfortunately, on my return, they had mysteriously grown legs and walked off. I first though that someone had stolen them, but then later realised that since I'd wandered out of sight, it's completely plausible that someone in need of shoes found them and assumed that the owner had abandoned them... the beach was after all pretty deserted!

I needed new shoes anyway. :)

Cape Town’s beaches

• • Leave a reply

Muizenberg's colourful beach houses
These colourful houses on Muizenberg's West Beach are the subject of thousands of Cape Town photos. Just do a Google image search for "muizenberg colourful houses" to see what I mean!

I've never had the pleasure of swimming at Muizenberg, but it's said to be one of the top beaches to visit. Do you normally swim at Muizenberg? How do you feel that it compares to Camps Bay, Clifton, and Big Bay?

Big Bay beach

• • 3 Comments

Big Bay beach
Ordinarily one would have a perfect view of Table Mountain from the beaches of Big Bay. This photo shows how much sand and dust the wind regularly lifts into the air, reducing visibility somewhat.

The water on this coastline is generally pretty cold, however (in my experience) not quite as cold as the waters of Clifton, Camps Bay and Llandudno. Big Bay and Blouberg Beach are extremely popular with kite-fliers and kite-surfers, but fortunately these guys tend to keep well clear of the more populated parts of the beach.

When I was youn my parents use to bring my brother, sister and I to this area to swim. Although the riptide can be quite strong, the area has a number of fairly well-protected pools surrounded by annoyingly-jagged rocks (which I remember navigating slowly without shoes).

Cape Town’s little heat wave

• • Leave a reply

Lying on the beach
I think somehow things got confused and all the heat destined Europe got misplaced and routed to Cape Town. It's swelteringly hot down here with temperatures to remain high until the end of the week - cooling over the weekend.

I checked my car's external thermometer and it's reading was 38°C in Cape Town, with the temperature increasing as one travels more inland towards Stellenbosch and Paarl. If it were possible to package and ship heat, we'd be making a small fortune.

You may be wondering why the beach isn't as packed with bodies as one would expect on such a warm day. There wasn't much opportunity for me to get to the beach - so I grabbed this photo from my December archive. I can however pretty much guarantee you that Clifton is *far* more crowded than this on days like today!

Washed out to sea

• • 2 Comments

Out at sea
However much fun relaxing on a small inflatable may seem, be sure to learn a little about the ocean currents and keep your wits about you - we've heard many stories of people on inflatables drifting out to sea, never to be seen again.

I think what some times happens is that people find the feeling of bobbing about on the water so relaxing that they shut their eyes for a little while and don't pay attention to how far away from the shore they are - until it's too late. Clifton's beach is very protected from the wind, but once you drift a little further out there's sharp change and the wind is easily able to drag you far away from the beach - too far for the average person to swim back.

Fortunately, the Clifton and Camps Bay beaches normally have lifeguards on duty who would probably warn you when you drift too far out. That said, it's not worth the risk, so be careful and keep your wits about you!

A beautiful view

• • 9 Comments

CampBay
If you saw yesterday's photo then you'll no doubt have realised that this photo was taken from the same location. From here the beaches of Clifton, Camps Bay and Llandudno stretch into the distance from this vantage point.

During summer months the roads in this area get choked with traffic and available parking spots become about as scarce as hen's teeth. I've often considered how awesome it would be to live here, but then when I get stuck in single-lane stop-start traffic on sweltering hot days - I'm not too sad that I live where the roads are wide and congestion is at a minimum.

Click here to participate in my quick poll.

We must take a boat ride!

• • 2 Comments

Waterfront boats
It's a shame that us Capetonians leave the pleasures of boat rides into Table Bay to those visiting our city. We should really take time from our day-to-day lives to enjoy these pleasures that tourists more often get to enjoy.

I think we'll soon have to take a clear winter-morning trip out into the bay and then, perhaps in February next year, enjoy a warm sunset trip over to Clifton 4th beach. Take another look at the photo - doesn't that just sound perfect?

Charter a boat in beautiful luxury

• • 2 Comments

A beautiful boat

Of all the things that you could do in Cape Town, chartering a yacht must be one of the most luxurious experiences. I guess something even more luxurious would be to charter a yacht overnight and invite a few friends for a party while moored off Clifton 4th beach.

I'm not sure of the name of the vessel in this photo, but while trying to find out, I discovered that the large boat in the photo in this previous post appears to be the Princess Emma, one of the most luxurious charters available at the Cape Town Waterfront.

Given the overnight rate of approximately R40 000, I assume that it would most often be companies that would charter the vessel to either treat their employees (most likely the directors ;) ), or to impress prospective clients. Nevertheless, if you have a mere R40 000 to spend on a night's entertainment, and if you'd like to be super-popular with your friends, this sure is the way to go. :D

And sometimes it’s the big things :)

• • 4 Comments

Table Mountain after sunset

There are so many fantastic sunset spots in Cape Town: Clifton 4th Beach, Summerville in Camps Bay, Signal Hill, Table Mountain itself, Scarborough, upstairs at Wakame in Mouille Point, Blouberg Beach (which is where today's photo was taken), the top of Tygerberg Hill, Lovers' Lane... if you live in the city, or have been here, which is your favourite? And yes, I know, that's like asking you to name your favourite dessert - but give it a try anyway.

As much as I love all the other spots, I'd have to say that the two most spectacular sunsets I've ever experienced were the two I watched from the top of Table Mountain. Clifton 4th Beach is a close second, though, and a bit more accessible, to be fair. :)

Any day for a picnic

• • 3 Comments

Sea Point Picnic

Cape Town has plenty of outdoor spots where you can just sit down and enjoy a simple picnic assembled from the shelves of Pick 'n Pay, Spar, and Woolworths. This couple found a spot near the ocean at Sea Point, but other good picnic spots include the top of Signal Hill, the beach at Woodbridge Island, Camps Bay or Clifton, Rhodes Memorial, Kirstenbosch Botanical Gardens, Cape Town Company Gardens, and many more.

The evenings have started cooling down a little and I seem to have developed a cold, so I suspect that unless the weather warms up again soon, the only picnicking I'll be doing is during the day, not in the evening. I'm finding it hard to believe that summer has started to show signs of fading already...

The best beach in Cape Town

• • 5 Comments

Clifton 4th beach

I think by now you probably know that we're quite fond of the beaches along the Atlantic Seaboard (Camps Bay, Clifton, Llandudno). Our favourite of these is definitely Clifton 4th Beach. I don't think I need to say any more really - just take a look at the photo. Doesn't it look idyllic?

After the sun has set

• • 1 Comment

Dusk at Clifton 4th beach

We went down to Clifton 4th Beach this evening with a few friends. I wanted to do something to mark the one-year anniversary of my brother's death, but I wanted it to be happy and special, rather than sad and melancholy. So we took a picnic and spent a couple of hours watching the sky change colour after the sun had set.

The weather was sublime, and I even went for a swim (on my own, since no-one else had brought their costumes) just before it got completely dark. This is an experience I can totally recommend - if you live in Cape Town, you should do this at least once in your life.

It turned out to be a truly beautiful evening, spent with people I love - which is just what I'd wanted.

Girls, lifeguards and blue flags

• • 7 Comments

Girls and lifeguards on Clifton beach

If you've been following this blog it will be no surprise to you which beach is being featured today. Clifton 4th beach, obviously. :)

The guy and girl sitting on the unusually high chairs are lifeguards watching over bathers. We watched for some time as about 10 people practised their lifesaving skills by dragging a "victim" from the ocean; and unlike my brief description here, watching this mock-rescue was actually fairly entertaining.

Clifton 4th is classified as a Blue Flag beach, meaning that it complies with certain quality requirements set forward by the Foundation for Environmental Education.

In this case "quality" doesn't refer to how beautiful the people on the beach are (though if it did, Clifton would retain its status, no doubt). Instead it refers to a number of criteria in the following categories:

  • Bather environmental education and information
  • Water quality
  • Environmental management
  • Safety and services

You can read the full list of measurement criteria on the Blue Flag website.

All alone again

• • Leave a reply

All alone again

After two weeks of having guests in our home we're all alone again. The house seems strangely quiet. Nobody splashes us with cold pool water or tries to wrestle our lilos from under us. There's nobody to drink beer with and nobody to punch, pinch or scratch me - affectionately, of course :). There's nobody for us to show around the sights of Cape Town or to lie on Clifton beach with. There's no-one for us to hike up warm mountain rivers with and nobody to get sunburned with. There's nobody around to join us in these and all the other fun things that we've done in the last two weeks.

Truth be told, I guess I'm exaggerating a little. While we don't have visitors in our home anymore we know plenty of people who are really keen to get out and do stuff. I guess this is a pre-Christmas resolution then to tear ourselves away from our work, get out there and enjoy our city, the surrounding sea and the mountains in the new year.

Let's see if we can make it happen. Watch this space. :)

The rich and famous

• • Leave a reply

The rich and famous
Well, perhaps not famous, but having a good deal of money, certainly. I've seen this boat parked just off the beach at Clifton a few times. On this particular afternoon I watched for several minutes as a rubber dinghy towed a rather unsteady skier backwards and forwards. The beach is relatively well sheltered from the wind, so I guess it makes a pretty good place to learn to ski.

I remember that I tried skiing once many years ago. I did reasonably well until I ended up with a ski on either side of the boat's wake. I quickly had to make a decision - either let go of the ski rope or learn the splits in a hurry. I still can't do the splits. ;)