In South Africa we have a community policing forum. Local residents meet with their police and discuss what the police have been up to and anything residents feel the police should be aware of or monitor.
We get together once a month and do what we call a crime walk. It’s a walking tour of an area. Locals managed to get prostitutes to leave the streets by merely hanging about and making it difficult for the girls to ply their trade. A potential customer is not likely to want to pick up a girl if a group of grannies in fluorescent yellow bibs are chatting to her endlessly.
The yellow bib brigade used passive techniques with great success. Good on them!
We were all set to visit our new urban park and lo … it is a “lock down” area until after Soccer World Cup. How disappointing! Clearly access in and around Green Point is now subject to FIFA regulations. In the picture are the media tents that have gone up on the common. At least some people get to use the common, just not those of us who live here.
Where to eat? I am a very fussy eater. Don’t do meat. Don’t do junk food. And I want good prices. But I manage to eat well and achieve all that.
The three “fast” food chains I support are Simply Asia – stir fries and green curries, Osumo – fresh juices, wraps and salads and Kauai – more fresh juices, wraps and salads. All three have branches all over Cape Town. In the picture, to the left, you can just see Kauai in Green Point.
Giovanni’s Deli in Main Road Green Point have the yummiest food. Balsamic roasted onions, Caprese salad, olive tapenade … And the coffee there is good too.
A 10% tip is customary here and as said in a previous post many waitrons rely on that tip for income. Service is usually good. Not excellent but good.
I have had a bad experince at a trendy spot in Green Point. I wanted a breakfast like my friend but a vegetarian version. They charged me more for less food. The reason? Mine was a “special” meal and they had to ring up my items individually. And that was the owner telling me that.
If you do get ripped off here, go on-line and rant to Hello Peter. It won’t cost you anything and it works. Many large companies keep an eye on what get’s said at Hello Peter.
It’s not all jazz here in Africa. Some of us are partial to a bit of rock too. We don’t get as many of the major tours and shows as they do up north. South Africa is right at the bottom of Africa and for two shows at best, most musicians can’t be bothered to make the trip. But then again some do. As you can see from the poster Deep Purple, Uriah Heep and Wishbone Ash will be here next week.
And yes I am going to see them. Hope they still up to rocking.
We used to have live acts at the old Green Point Stadium. I’ve seen Bon Jovi, U2, Metallica, Crowded House and Lenny Kravitz amongst others there. After the Soccer Cup is over, I’m sure the stadium will be used for a lot more than just soccer. If you keen to take in local shows look up Computicket on-line.
I also went to the Labia theatre and saw – It might get Loud. A rockumentary on Jack White, The Edge and Jimmy Page. Brilliant! There are two Labia’s. One on Orange Street and the other on Kloof Street. You can see what’s on by looking up their web page. It’s usually interesting stuff and nothing like the rubbish on offer at mainstream cinemas.
The night skies here are are different to those up north. In summer, when we have clear skies most of the time we see the southern constellations – Orion, Pandora’s Box, The Southern Cross and more.
When the moon is full, it is so bright, hikers take a night walk up Lion’s Head. The planetarium which is close to The Company Gardens has a display of the night sky and the constellations for visitors. For a list of other local museums Google IZIKO.
The more serious star gazers might want to take a trip out to Sutherland and the observatory. Sutherland is probably the coldest place in South Africa in winter and not a lot goes on there. Which is why the observatory was built there. Sutherland is in The Karoo, which is semi desert and the landscape is totally different to Cape Town.
Picture courtesy of SA Tourism
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.
Someone kindly pointed out to me yesterday that I had not spotted any soccer players here in Cape Town because there aren’t any. Apparently most teams are only arriving next week and they have opted to train inland at higher altitudes or on the eastern coast where they don’t have the winter rainfall we have here. Bit disappointing that!
I do think Green Point is the centre of the world and that Table Mountain, Signal Hill and Lion’s Head are all there is. But I should point out we have loads of mountains. In the picture are the Twelve Apostles in Camps Bay. Although none of them are actually named after any of the apostles. We have the Helderberge, The Hottentots Hollands, Simonsberge and plenty more mountains. Many of us take a drive out in winter to Ceres area where the mountains are often covered in snow. A berg is a mountain in Afrikaans,
