Cape Town has done it again, being named Best City in the World in the Telegraph Travel Awards 2014 by its readers for the third year in a row! Vancouver and Venice follow in second and third position, respectively, this year. The motivation for Cape Town’s top position is written by Pippa du Bruyn, who is a Cape Town-based local travel writer and ‘destination expert’, including author of a ‘Frommer’s Guide’ to South Africa, and of ‘A Hedonist’s Guide to Cape Town’. De Bruyn surprisingly exaggerates our restaurants as ‘Michelin-rated‘ fare, and in describing Dyer Island near Gansbaai as being in Cape Town. Her laudation for Cape Town follows: Continue reading →
Tag Archives: Dyer Island
Breaching Great White Sharks most likely to be seen in False Bay!
Last night I attended an interesting talk on ‘The Great White Shark: a Global Perspective’, given by shark expert and Apex eco-tour operator Chris Fallows at the One&Only Cape Town. Chris’ talk covered the three key seal areas attracting Great White Sharks in South Africa, as well as other well-known shark areas in the world.
I was invited by Ian Manley, the hotel’s PR consultant, to Chris’ talk, one of two (the second will focus on the relationship between Orca killer whales and Great White Sharks tonight), in a series of Guest Speaker Talks, which include Joanne Lifson on 18 June on ‘Lights Canine Action’, Colin Bell speaking on rhino extinction on 3 July, ‘Africa’s Three Big Cats‘ by Lorne Sulcas on 15 July, and more. One&Only Cape Town ambassador Aubrey Ngcungama introduced Chris, who has documented his shark adventures in his book ‘Great White: The Majesty of Sharks‘, and who has filmed documentaries about the Great White Shark with Discovery Channel, the BBC’s Planet Earth, and National Geographic. In the hotel reception area, a shark cage
with diver, as well as a model of a small shark, were set up to attract attention to the talks programme.
Prior to the start of the talk Chris and I chatted, and he explained that Orcas, known as ‘killer whales‘, are not whales at all, but are members of the dolphin family. Orcas are known to kill whales, by pushing them under water and making them drown. In South Africa Great White Sharks can be found where there are concentrations of seals, in three regions: Continue reading →
Two Cape hotels on Telegraph Top 50 best hotel world list
Two local Cape hotels have made it onto The Telegraph “50 best hotels in the world” list, which the paper published on 31 December. Writers of the Telegraph Travel section selected the top 50 hotels, and divided them into three rates brackets. The two Cape hotels both featured in the £150 – £300 per room per night price range, the mid price range.
La Residence in Franschhoek is a very low key property locally, with little visible advertising. Its business comes from international advertising and word of mouth. Its biggest claim to fame is Elton John, the famous guest who comes to stay whenever he performs in Cape Town, and he always thanks the owners, Liz and Phil Biden, during his concerts. When La Residence moved to its new site in Franschhoek, John was consulted as to what he wanted in terms of decor for “his” room. Surprisingly, “his” room is not any larger than the other rooms that face the dam outside. “His” room has an Indian decor style. Every room is unique in its decor, created by interior decorator Ralph Krall.
The article describes La Residence as follows: “An 11-suite extravagance on the slope of Franschhoek, the Cape Village that is probably South Africa’s prettiest. No expense has been spared. Each of the suites has its own decor theme, from Buddhist retreat to French decadent, while the public areas are a riotous collection of Louis XIV furniture. Persian carpets, plus objets, art and fabrics from India, Indo-China, France and Italy and everywhere else. And it works thanks to the impeccable taste of Liz Biden, the proprietor”.
Grootbos is located outside Hermanus, just beyond Stanford, before one gets to Gansbaai, and is known for its focus on conservation, not only of fynbos, but also of whales at De Kelders close by and other sealife, such as penguins, on Dyer Island. The article writes as follows about Grootbos: “Found on one of the finest whale-watching coastlines, this five-star retreat offers unadulterated luxury without the guilt. Every effort has been made to assimilate these fabulous private lodges – complete with all mod cons, state-of-the-art bathrooms, four-poster beds and unsurpassable views – into the environment. And what an environment: a 1750-hectare reserve that is home to more than 740 different species of plants and the impossibly white sands of Walker Bay”.
Some of the other hotels that made the Telegraph Top 50 list include Mama Shelter in Paris, Mykonos Grace Hotel in Mykonos, Four Seasons Hotel Gresham Place in Budapest, Villa Marie in Saint Tropez, The Taj Mahal Hotel in Mumbai, Four Seasons George V in Paris, Four Seasons New York, Four Seasons Istanbul, The Dorchester in London and The Carlyle in New York.
Chris von Ulmenstein, Whale Cottage Portfolio: www.whalecottage.com Twitter: @WhaleCottage
Whale Cottage accommodates penguins
To celebrate the success of the Whale Cottage Portfolio, it has bought a penguin house on Dyer Island, to provide a safe haven for the penguins to breed in. This project is run by the Dyer Island Conservation Trust from Gansbaai (www.dict.org.za). The African penguins on Dyer Island are vulnerable to extinction, as the guano they used in the past to make their nests has been removed for the production of fertilizer. In 30 years the number of breeding pairs on Dyer island has decreased by 90 %, to about 1 600 pairs. The fibreglass nests have been designed to mimic guano burrows, to protect the penguins against predators and the elements, and to assist the Trust in research and monitoring.
Last month Whale Cottage Hermanus celebrated its 13th anniversary. It was the first Whale Cottage to open.
The Whale Cottage Portfolio is in celebratory mode again, with Whale Cottage Camps Bay celebrating its 11thbirthday this month, and Whale Cottage Franschhoek celebrating its 5th birthday.
It is also the first anniversary of the WhaleTales blog, the first step of the Whale Cottage Portfolio into social media marketing. Blogging, Twittering and Facebooking are very important parts of the daily Whale Cottage marketing communication activities.
Chris von Ulmenstein, Whale Cottage Portfolio: www.whalecottage.com