South Africa has 11 official languages. America has none. You really won’t need to start learning to speak Tsonga, Nedebele or Venda to get by. English is readily spoken by most people. In rural areas you may find some locals only speak their mother tongue.
Road signs are in English and some are also in Afrikaans which is very similar to Dutch or Flemish. The local language in Cape Town is Xhosa. Xhosa has distinct click sounds when you see an X or a Q written. It’s really hard to do if you haven’t grown up speaking Xhosa.
Search You Tube for Xhosa clicks to hear the sound or find Miriam Makeba’s click song
You can also learn some basic lingo for free on-line by going to this link – free on-line African language
The Cape Peninsula is flanked by the Indian Ocean on the one side and the Atlantic Ocean on the other side. We call them the warm and the cool oceans but in truth there is only about a 2 – 5’C variance between them.
They are both cold. Well to me that’s cold.
Temperatures range between 10’C and 17’C. On a stinking hot summers day one can possible brave a quick dip and risk getting an “ice cream headache”.
Most people who enjoy ocean sports use a wetsuit, although I do know some who don’t.
Guess who is in town? Cunard’s luxury cruise liner, the Queen Mary 2, is in port. With the increase in pirate activity off the east coast of Africa and Indonesia, more and more cruise liners are popping in here, the southernmost tip of Africa. They share the harbour with oil rigs, fishing boats, pilot boats and container ships.
The Waterfront complex is a shopping come dining experience right in the middle of a working harbour. Look out for big fat seals that lounge in the sun on the jetties.
What to do in Cape Town? I think enough has been said about the usual physical activities. Although we also have some novel adventures such as dune boarding, mountain abseiling and shark cage diving.
Eating out is usually very good value and local wines are exceptionally well priced. Service is mostly good.
Try visiting the local food and eco markets such as The Neighbourgoods Market or Wellness Warehouse.
With such great weather we have live music al fresco at the Kirstenbosch Botanical Gardens. Pack a picnic basket and get there early. We also have the outdoor Shakespeare festival at Maynardville. Same thing, pack a bottle of wine and some snacks to enjoy before the show. And if you are here around about full moon, then a full moon hike up Lion’s Head is a must. Again, pack a picnic backpack and get there early or you won’t get parking.
Since I live in Green Point, it is the centre of the world. Well my world anyway. And since the stadium is so close, all that happens there is right in my face. Yesterday was the 3rd attempt to place an even bigger crowd into the stadium. It was a spiritual festival of sorts. I could hear voices and music throughout the course of the day. A kind of backdrop to the other usual noises.
But later in the day when I tried to go to the gym the traffic was bumper to bumper. But then with most of the roads “under construction” – I suppose that is to be expected.
On the other side of the mountain is the centre of another life. This picture of penguins wandering about Boulders Beach in Simonstown. Traffic jam! What’s that?
Photo courtesy of Jemma Fletcher
