The Cape coast is notorious for washing ships ashore and the Seli 1 is yet another casualty. She went aground on 18th September 2009. You can see in the photo she lies just off Blouberg beach. What tends to happen with wrecks is the crew and insurers abandon them and they become our problem. The coal cargo, which was bound for Europe was, thankfully, safely removed. As was the crude oil fuel. The ship is slowly being broken up as, I’m sure you will agree, it is a bit of an eyesore on our beautiful beach.
The causes of wrecks off our coastline are combination of weather, mechanical problems and insufficient knowledge of our local coastline. If you are into mysteries of the deep, you might be interested in the killer, superimposed or rogue wave phenomenon that exists off the east coast of South Africa. Ships vanish, sometimes never to be seen again. Google – Death Waves – and – Rogue Waves – to find out more.
We have a lovely chart which was purchased at the Bredasdorp Maritime Museum, which shows the locations of 379 marine casualties in Southern African waters that occurred between 1914 and 1945. Make a point of visiting the museum if you are in the area. See the link for Bredasdorp shipwreck museum for more. And for wiki’s more recent list of wrecks click Wiki list of shipwrecks in Southern Africa. I wrote about how the wreck of the HMS Athens ended up in Mouille Point in this post – RMS Athens wreck. If you are driving our coastlines and keep an eye open, you are highly likely to spot a wreck or three.
Go to – My Holidays and Trips – at the top of this page to read about other places we have visited. Or just click on – this link.
The My CiTi bus service is now well under way. The first route to get going was from the the airport to the city centre. At R50 for the trip, it’s a bargain. We’ve used the bus a few times now, and I can see no reason to spend, what in comparison is a fortune, on one of the shuttle bus services or taxis. A shuttle bus or taxi costs around R250 to R300 for the same trip. The embarking process is designed so that you can roll a wheelie suitcase right into the bus. Perfect!
More good news is that the next route which is from Table View to central Cape Town is about to open. Interim fares are also excellent value at R10 per trip.
The My CiTi bus is based on a similar concept that has been in effect in Brazil for a while. The buses will ultimately run in and around the city and to Hout Bay. Can’t wait.
For more on what the Cape Town City Council have planned and plenty of useful information for visitors or potential investors, visit their website Cape Town City Council. Train timetables, news, a map of all green services such as public parks, farmers markets and more can be found on their website. Very handy!
Golden Arrow bus
Lastly you could also take one of the Golden Arrow buses to get around. Visit the – Golden Arrow Bus – website for timetables. I don’t find the website particularly user friendly but maybe it’s just me.
Find the link at the top of this page for travel tips relating to Cape Town in particular and travel in general.
Go to – My Holidays and Trips – at the top of this page to read about other places we have visited. Or just click on – this link.
Photo of My CiTi bus c/o City of Cape Town website
Cape Town has such great weather that outdoor activities are almost the norm. But then that is the case for most of South Africa. Our temperatures are neither too hot, nor too cold. Cape Town has dry summers which gives us perfect days to pursue outdoor activities.
If you are in SA and want to participate in something active, you could visit one of these websites for the latest news and events – Entrytime or Magnetic South. For more information on hikes and national parks follow this link SAN Parks or this one Table Mountain walks. Or simply join the locals for a walk at the end of the day along Sea Point Promenade.
The Atlantic Ocean, I will concede is cool. Too cool for me. But that doesn’t stop people swimming to Robben Island most weekends. Without wetsuits! Brrr. It might be more your style to languish on one of our Blue Flag beaches. We have 14 here in the Western Cape, find them here – Blue Flag beaches.
Perhaps you are taking a drive around Cape Point or going up Table Mountain. Pack a picnic basket and enjoy your food al fresco. The best deli for yummy foods to fill your picnic basket is Giovanni’s Deli in Green Point. Find them here – Giovanni’s Deli world. Why don’t the other supermarkets stock such great food? If you are stuck for a bottle of wine and it’s after hours, Harleys in Wale Street doesn’t seem to ever close. Find Harleys Liquors here.
Should you want to view the city from the bay then head to the Waterfront. There you will find all sorts of boats to take you out. You could sail on an old pirate style boat or enjoy your evening meal on a sunset cruise.
There are also plenty of bicycle and even sidecar tours you can take. Try this link for more – bike tours. I could go on and on but I’m going to stop here. My advice? Hire a scooter from Big Boys in Sea Point and make your way around the city unhindered by traffic and free from parking restraints. Read more on Big Boys on this link Big Boys scooters. We use them to service our bikes. Lastly I had to share this great video of Cape Town from their tourism home page – Cape Town video.
The king of kitch, Vladimir Tretchikoff, lived and died in Cape Town. His reproductions are apparently so popular that they only come second to Picasso. Who knew? Although born in Russia and a sometime resident in Malaysia, Tretchikoff made South Africa his home. As have many others.
Cape Town is a haven for swallows. People who follow the sun. They live in Europe for the European summers and return to South Africa for our summers. How about this company that recruits German immigrants in Cape Town Arbeiten in Kapstadt? They have billboards in German dotted around the city.
This has had an impact on Cape Town. German butchers are a dime a dozen. We have French schools and American schools to name just two. We also have plenty North African immigrants. They tend to be looking for a new life rather than a sunnier life. Here is an interesting link to the history and role of Jewish immigrants in South Africa – Jewish history in South Africa. The Jewish, Chinese and Portuguese immigrants go back many decades. Newer immigrants are German, Congolese and Somalis.
Cape Town in particular has less of an African feel and demographic make-up than the rest of South Africa. It’s a lot more cosmopolitan. Our yoga class for example has a few Brits, two French nationals, plenty of Germans, an Angolan, a Swede, a Belgian, a new bloke with an accent called Anatoli and us. A whole two South Africans. Even the running club socials require a German end of the table and a South African end so we don’t shout in different languages over each other.
Another interesting facet to Cape Town is the political scenario. The rest of South Africa is run by the ANC which is predominantly black and African. Cape Town is run by the DA which has a white, Jewish female leader. Even black townships such as Langa vote DA. It’s a lot less black and white here. I love the dynamic and open minded mix of people that inhabit our city. We are known as the hippy city. The San Francisco of South Africa. We are also the pink capital of Africa.
I spoke in a previous post about who South Africans are in terms of history and culture. I thought in this post I would share some statistics. I love Nationmaster for stats. They have all sorts of data, like who drinks the most beer or who lives the longest. So here are a few stats you might find interesting.
1. South Africa is the 25th most populated country out of a list of 241 countries. We have around 50 million people. Bottom of the list are the Pitcairn Islands with a whole 48 folk and top of the list is China with a lot of people. Germany comes in at number 16 and Canada is in 38th position.
2. We are 98th on the list for our ability to reproduce with 2.43 children per woman. Compare that to Mali where the average woman has 7.34 children in her lifetime and the Netherlands where she will have 1.98 children.
3. Only 2.33% of our population are immigrants versus 12.31% in Germany and 100% in the Vatican City.
4. France is the most visited country in the world with 67 310 000 arrivals recorded in the Nationmaster stats. Rwanda is the last place people want to visit with only 1000 visitors in the same time period and is at 152nd place. South Africa comes in at 22nd place with 5 557 000 visitors. Compare that to Thailand with 7 356 000 tourists and India with 2 374 000 arrivals in the same period. Monaco got 259 000 and Seychelles had 130 000 visitors. I suspect Soccer Cup will bump SA up a little when the next lot of number crunching happens.
5. We are not the world’s best drivers but we’re certainly not the worst. Statistics are measured in numbers pro rata per million people. The top four countries where you are most likely to die in a car accident are Belize, El Salvador, South Korea and Kuwait. South Africa clocks in at position 24 after the USA and Mexico. The UK, Hungary and Peru are the safest places to drive or be a pedestrian. Worth remembering next time a taxi swerves in front of you and you get the mutters.
