Search Results for: city
Telephone poles – far too many wires
Telephone wires in most older suburbs and parts of the city still lie above ground, mounted on poles like this one. Several years ago Telkom, our (often regarded as infamous) land telecommunications provider, started using underground cables to in new development areas. I'm guessing that they're more durable and serviceable. Some day telephone poles like these, with their busy nest of wires, will be a distant part of history - much like candle-powered lamp posts.
Windhoek Lager
Oh, and by the way, nope, that wasn't my bottle! :)
Ugly barbed wire
Perhaps government should introduce a new public holiday called Clean City Day, a day when everybody is compelled to spend at least two hours cleaning litter from public places.
See this article about last year's Clean Up day in Johannesburg, organised by Pickitup. Imagine this on a national scale!
Parked cars and narrow roads
Fortunately Kerry-Anne and I live in a suburb that was built when 1000 square metre plots and super-wide roads were the norm. I'd hate to live in modern security estates with their narrow roads and uniform housing.
Glencoe Quarry
The quarry was super-quiet inside and surrounded by sheer rockfaces - there were huge boulders on the ground, patches of neat grass, and a handful of rock climbers practicing their skill quite high up against the rockface. It was quite different to the hiking trail that we'd just been on!
When we arrived this time I discovered a large metal door in my path and this slightly-defaced sign indicating that the quarry had been closed to the public. I also happened to notice a small pathway leading up and around the quarry to a spot that rock climbers (including the one I spotted descending from the pathway) seem still to make use of.
It's sad that the area had to be restricted. I'm guessing that it could have been closed off because the quarry was so secluded that it may have been dangerous for people to spend time inside. It's sad, but the unfortunate reality of having that kind of area near on the perimeter of a large city.
The largest sailing catamaran in Africa?
If you're not sure what a catamaran is - well, it's quite simple. A catamaran is a boat with more than one hull (generally two hulls). What makes this kind of boat perfect as ferries, or sunset cruises, is that the double-hull design makes this class of boat faster and far more stable than its single-hull sister.
African statue art
I wasn't sure if the grim-looking proprietor was happy for us to take photos so I moved our party along leaving him to assume that we were foreign tourists. :)
Monkey Falls baby!
Click on a few of the photos below tho see what I mean.
The crackling of power lines
Most of Cape Town's electricity is supplied by the two nuclear reactors at Eskom's Koeberg power station (map), located just outside of the coastal town of Melkbos. One of the reactors was shut down on 28 October for repairs - which effectively halved the station's power output causing the Western Cape to rely more heavily on power from the coal-based power from the Johannesburg area. After being down for more than a month Eskom recently announced that it had fired up the second reactor after successfully concluding repairs.
The use of nuclear power has been hotly contested for many years, and the recent disaster in Japan gave rise to even more concern over the proximity of the nuclear power station to Cape Town. I'm sure that in the possibly-unlikely event a disaster at the plant we'd all regret not getting rid of the nuclear power station years ago, but on the other hand I can't help but wonder of the amount of pollution released by coal-based power-plants warrants the relatively small risk. What do you think?
Five strange horses of the Sea Point Promenade
Each of the five horses has a trumpet-like piece of aluminum protruding from their mouths and from beneath their tails (see the pics below). What the photos don't show is that the five horses are interconnected by underground tubes that help convey sound. The idea is for pairs of people to work out which trumpet is linked to which other trumpet by speaking and listening.
These strange horses reminded me of another strange horse whom you may like to follow on Twitter.
Tall buildings, many stairs
Personally, I think it's pretty smart of the company to encourage their staff to work off the extra kilojoules added by the overtime-pizza run. :)
Shuttle from Cape Town International Airport
While kids below the age of 4 travel free of charge the 2011 fare for adults is R53 and R25.50 for kids up to the age of 11.
Note that the site's menu system is broken and currently doesn't work in Chrome - but fortunately does in Firefox and probably most other browsers.
Is that building on fire?
If you're unfamiliar with Cape Town, then for reference, that's the V&A Waterfront in the top left corner; the colourful houses on the left (towards the bottom) are in an area known as Bo Kaap; and the CBD is slightly larger than the lower right quarter of the photo.
MARVEL – it’s a bar, not a comic
I've never visited Marvel, but I think that I'll make a concerted effort to do so in the not too distant future. :)
View from the top
If you know Cape Town, you'd recognise Lion's Head on the left, Signal Hill in the middle, and Robben Island in the ocean above. Besides for the upper cable station, the three remaining photos below are of Devil's Peak, Table Bay, and the Twelve Apostles mountain range.
We're so lucky to have such a large mountain bordering on our City Center - becoming part of normal city life.
Fez Club
The Fez Club, as you may know, is a super-popular restaurant and live entertainment venue in Cape Town, similar to that of the legendary Madame Zingara (the portable restaurant that's located at Century City, just outside of the city center, until the end of 2011).
Now, thinking of Madame Zingara; we haven't seen her in a long long while - I think we'll have to pay her visit as soon as Kerry-Anne's recovered from her hip op.
Seesaws and playparks
If you're ever in the area, stop for a moment to check it out - it has the most beautiful, huge trees - and in some way reminds me of Paris. It's not quite the Tuileries or Jardin du Luxembourg, but still, it's a very pretty part of the city.
Fountains in Paarl
This really is a beautiful town, but if you travel the 60 kilometers from the city, don't expect to be wowed by the main parts of town. Rather look to the pretty places off the main road and on the outskirts of town. :)
A checkered perspective
Today's theme is "perspective", so take a little time to tour the world by visiting our fellow City Daily Photo sites. Click here to view thumbnails for all participants
For interest - I took this photo outside a lovely little coffee shop called Kikka in the town of Paarl - some 60 kilometers outside of Cape Town.
A field of pylons
Before taking up photography I probably wouldn't have considered the possibility that electricity pylons, a symbol of the destruction of nature, could in some way be beautiful.
Power outages and load-shedding
Seeing this picture reminded me how load-shedding seems to (at least for now) be a thing of the past. This year I recall having only a single outage lasting a couple of hours - but then, I suspect that was an unplanned outage. :) Our friends up north may not have been so lucky unfortunately.
Although I haven't heard confirmed news of load-shedding in Gauteng I've heard rumblings of outages and found these load-shedding schedules on Eskom's site.
High-speed stroller
I'm only kidding of course, she's great to be teaching her baby about the importance of exercise at such a young age, but I did find it amusing to see her speeding over the signs posted in my previous post. Imagine a police office ticketing her for racing around with her stroller (normally called a pram in South Africa). :D
On a side-note: I was in Las Vegas about a year or two ago and was confused for about 5 minutes over a sign at the entrance to the Wynn casino resort. It read "No strollers allowed". At the time I wondered if I would be allowed to enter the building since my intent certainly was to stroll around inside! I felt a little silly inside when I realised they meant prams. :)
Culoe and the drums of Africa at J&B’s Start a Party
Don't be confused by the photo - that's not Culoe - this is Culoe. The man in the photo was one of two drummers who added the distinctive African sound to Culoe's electronic music. I'm not sure if this applies only to us who've grown up in Africa, but African drums always seem to awaken the spirit of African in us, it's like we're drawn to the sound, to the beat, by some innate force. They're awesome. :)
Culoe's set was by earwitness accounts brilliant - and I guess that's to be expected. He's about 20 years old now, but at the age of 18 he was selected to attend the Red Bull Music Academy in Barcelona, and subsequent to that was asked to submit a mix Resident Advisor - the world's premier online electronic music magazine. Isn't that something - especially for an 18-year-old?!
Through the fence
Thinking about the large amount of granite that we'd have to excavate and the huge amounts of ground water that we'd have to contend with I guess it would cost far too much money to build one, and our best bet would be a monorail (like one that we traveled on in Sydney).
Forests to walk in
However, don't walk alone - for many reasons it's just not safe. The first is in the event that you injure yourself (which likely if you suffer from dyspraxia :P ) you'll have a buddy to help you, and the second reason is that (although the chance is remote) you may come across someone with ill intent.
Don't go overboard now, I walk the trails without ever worrying about this problem, but Cape Town is a city with it's bad elements - so best be safe and not ruin your vacation.
I took this photo on the slopes of Lion's Head, just above the Round House restaurant that overlooks the Atlantic Ocean and Camps Bay. If you drive there, you'll find a few places to stop and park your car so that you can take a short walk amidst the smell of fresh pines.
Table Mountain trip : Devil’s Peak (9#10)
When viewing Table Mountain from it's post-card perspective, Devil's Peak (the subject of today's photo) is the tall pointy mountain located on the left side of Table Mountain. Based on this photo, you may be surprised to find out that even though it doesn't look that way, at 1000m above sea level, Devil's Peak is a mere 87 meters shorter than Table Mountain!
Just like Table Mountain, one is able to hike to the top of Devil's Peak. However, apparently it's only really safe to hike up the peak from it's western front - from the saddle between it and Table Mountain... and then only by experienced hikers, not casual walkers. :)
Table Mountain trip : Lion’s Head (7#10)
Kerry-Anne and I once spent a chilly new year's eve on top of Table Mountain - it really does get pretty cold up there at night. If you ever have the opportunity to go up the mountain at night, I'd highly recommend it. Only, try to get up before the sun sets and bargain on spending about two or three hours up top... with a warm jacket!
The city lights look absolutely beautiful from the top of the mountain at night. Take a look at this 360° photo taken by Lee Casalena from the top of Lion's Head (which you can see in this photo). Isn't it awesome? Imagine seeing this in real life!
Protect our trees
Governments around the world regularly meet to discuss desertification and formulate policy and law to protect the natural environment. South Africa isn't any different, our government have put in place various pans and policies to protect our fragile environment. Some would argue that they're not doing enough, and other would argue that they're doing the best that they can with the available funding.
Take a look at this pamphlet that deals with the conservation of plant life, produced for last year's Arbour Day by our local government.
This photo was taken in our leafy suburb of Tokai on the slopes of Table Mountain.
Hiking on Table Mountain
Each year we hear of people getting lost on the mountain, having narrow escapes from tragedy, and some times regrettably not escaping unscathed.
If you're new to Cape Town, consider joining an experienced group when venturing out onto the mountain, and take care to follow these safety guidelines. And, just to be safe, keep the emergency telephone number handy on your cell phone: 086 110 6417.