Tag Archives: Camps Bay High School

Can Cape Town cope with the full Festive Season?

Camps Bay beach 2The past two days have seen the start of a 10 day period in which Cape Town accommodation is booked out, with resultant chaos on the roads, and is impacting on tourism services, to the frustration of the many visitors, largely South Africans, in Cape Town, as well as its residents!

The positive aspect for the holidaymakers is the magnificent weather we have been blessed with, the South-Easter having stayed away so far, although it may make a vigorous comeback tomorrow.  This has attracted locals as well as tourists to the beautiful beaches of Cape Town, Camps Bay and Clifton being the two most perfect and beautiful Blue Flag beaches in our city.  I have not seen such parking demand as yesterday, when the parking spaces opposite and in front of the Camps Bay High School were full by midday.

The downside is that Cape Town is unlikely to cope with the volume of cars and visitors in the next week:

*   for the first time City of Cape Town traffic services regulated traffic coming down from Signal Hill or up Kloof Road past The Roundhouse this past weekend, a crossing of many near-accidents.   This means that traffic coming up Camps Bay Drive from Camps Bay is badly backed up.

*   even worse was the situation at Table Mountain yesterday.  I had offered to drop two Norwegian guests at Platteklip Gorge, where they wanted to hike up the mountain.  Another set of traffic police helped me get onto Tafelberg Road, only to have a near collision with a bakkie belonging to the Table Mountain Aerial Cableway Company, stopping suddenly in our lane in front of the car, having travelled all the way down the mountain against oncoming traffic.  He shouted at us that we were not allowed up the mountain, as no traffic was moving up or down, yet the Cablecar sign at the circle showed that the Cableway was open.  We had seen cars parked Continue reading →

Social Policy Superdome Party puts Cape Town on the tourism map

A massive dome structure has been erected on the Camps Bay High School sport field near La Med and the Glen Country Club in Clifton, which will be used as a venue today to entertain more than 1500 VIP guests, attending the World Social Security Forum at the Cape Town International Convention Center from today until Friday, reports the Weekend Argus.  The location of the ‘superdome’ is superb, and it will be a valuable tourism marketing exercise for Cape Town.

More than ‘1000 leaders and administrators of social security institutions, policymakers, representatives of international organisations and social policy experts from more than 100 countries’ will attend, according to the newspaper.   President Zuma is said to also be attending.    The dome is 2000 square meters of covered space, 36 meter wide and 80 meter long, and took five days to erect.  It has glass doors on the ocean side, to offer the guests a wonderful view on to the Atlantic Ocean.

Last night the Cape Argus reported that the Superdome has not received the permission from the City of Cape Town to host the event.  A temporary land use departure is required to host an event on schoolgrounds.   An engineering certificate is also required, to show that the structure meets engineering and safety specifications.

POSTSCRIPT 3/12:  The Atlantic Sun reported yesterday that the cost of the Superdome Party is R4million.  The Western Cape Minister for Social Development, Patricia de Lille, declined to attend, saying “it’s a waste of money”.

Chris von Ulmenstein, Whale Cottage Portfolio: www.whalecottage.com  Twitter: @WhaleCottage

Cape Town World Cup fans will be on a roll!

The City of Cape Town has spelt out its public transport plans for the soccer fans attending the World Cup in Cape Town from 11 June to 11 July.

A combination of transport methods, including trains, buses, minibus taxis, and metered taxis will transport guests between the airport, the station, the public viewing areas, and the Cape Town Stadium, reports the Cape Times.

Soccer fans with World Cup tickets will travel for free between the stadium and any one of 25 park-and-ride centres in the city, even stretching out as far as Strand, and also including UCT, Camps Bay High School, and Kronendal Primary in Hout Bay, offering 7000 parking bays in total.   Park-and-ride centers include Century City, GrandWest Casino, Kuilsriver, Oostersee, Fish Hoek, Retreat, Brackenfell and Claremont.

A shuttle bus will run from Hertzog Boulevard at the Civic Centre to the Cape Town Stadium, starting 6 hours before the match starts until 4 hours after each match on match days.  

On match days too, an Atlantic seaboard bus service will run from Hout Bay through Camps Bay and Sea Point, to the Stadium, starting 4 hours before kick-off, until 2h00 the next morning.

Throughout the 31 days of the FIFA World Cup, a shuttle bus will transport soccer fans from Cape Town International airport to Hertzog Boulevard 24 hours of the day, in intervals of 6 – 30 minutes, depending on usage.   The cost is a reasonable R 50 per one-way trip.

A further bus service will operate in the city itself, running 24 hours per day, and leaving every 10 – 30 minutes, connecting Hertzog Boulevard, Table Bay Boulevard, Heerengracht, Coen Steytler Avenue, Long and Loop Streets, Buitensingel Street, Orange Street, Buitenkant Street, Darling Street, Oswald Pirow Avenue and back to Hertzog Boulevard.   This will allow soccer fans, with tickets for the stadia, or just coming to enjoy the fan park outside the City Hall, to obtain easy access to their hotels and to restaurants.  Another shuttle bus route will be to Queens Beach in Sea Point, via the Waterfront, until 2h00 every morning.

Trains will transport the soccer fans to public viewing areas at the Bellville Velodrome, Athlone Civic Centre, OR Tambo Sports Hall in Khayelitscha, and the Swartklip Sport Hall in Mitchell’s Plain.

The city has warned that one will not be able to park close to the stadium, and that disabled soccer fans will have to also make use of public transport, its shuttle stations being wheelchair-friendly.

Further information about the transport connections during the World Cup can be obtained on www.capetown.gov.za, or at tel 0800 656 463.

Chris von Ulmenstein, Whale Cottage Portfolio: www.whalecottage.com

Camps Bay tipped to be 2010 training ground

A 2010 World Cup soccer team is tipped to take over the Twelve Apostles Hotel outside Camps Bay next year, and the sportfield at Camps Bay High School will be the training ground for that team, reports People’s Post.

Team representatives from Spain, Denmark, Brazil, Argentina, France and Japan have paid site visits to the school.   The final announcement about the team that is to stay in Camps Bay will only be made after the final draw takes place in Cape Town in December.

The school’s sportfield will be upgraded to be as close as possible to the quality at the Green Point stadium.

Whale Cottage Portfolio www.whalecottage.com