Tag Archives: Golden Arrow

WhaleTales Tourism, Food, and Wine news headlines: 21 October

WhaleTalesTourism, Food, and Wine news headlines

*   FlySafair took off for the first time last week, offering permanent low-cost flights between Johannesburg, Cape Town, George, and Port Elizabeth.  Extras are charged, including meals, luggage in addition to two pieces of hand luggage, pre-booked seats, travel insurance, and extra-space seats. Base airfares between Cape Town and Johannesburg cost R 499 per direction.

*   The City of Cape Town has launched a Mobile Transport TCT App.  Developed by ‘Where is my Transport’, it is unique in Africa, and will guide commuters as to which form of transport they can use to get to their destination, incorporating the MyCiTi Bus, Golden Arrow Bus, Jammie Shuttle bus, city sightseeing buses, and Metrorail trains.  In addition information relating to shops close by, and directions in getting there, is also provided.  The app can also guide users of private transport, providing travel times, as well as informing them about traffic hold-ups such as accidents, roadworks, and more.  Locals can use the app to report potholes, faulty traffic lights, and bad driving to the City.

*   Award-winning wine blog Terroirist sings the praises of the ‘Swartland‘ generally, and of the wines Continue reading →

WhaleTales Tourism, Food, and Wine news headlines: 21 – 23 March

WhaleTalesTourism, Food, and Wine news headlines

*   American wine economist Mike Veseth writes that South Africa has a large production of wine, and should therefore be better known in the USA, given that our country’s wine production is 10% less than that of Chile, and 4 times larger than that of New Zealand.  Part of the reason is that Americans do not know about our country and where it is, and therefore he describes our wines as ‘the invisible wine’!  Lack of awareness of our country plus the re-emergence of our country’s wines at the same that the New World countries launched their wines internationally made it more difficult for South African wines to be noticed in the USA.  Initially, our wine exporters suffered logistical problems, in a market ‘which is structurally difficult to penetrate‘ and faces strong competition, which added to the lower visibility in the USA.

*   The MyCiTi Bus service has increased passenger numbers by 89% in the past four months, the City of Cape Town claims.  More than 400000 ‘passenger journeys‘ in November 2013 increased to over 700000 by February this year, when the Hout Bay, Oranjezicht, Sea Point, Camps Bay, Dunoon, Melkbosstrand, and Century City routes were added.   However, the growth in passenger numbers has not been without its problems, with applications to have the service stopped by the Golden Arrow bus company having been dismissed in court;  and complaints have been received about overcrowding, timetable inaccuracy in the afternoons especially, and the MyConnect card.  The timetable problems may have led to the City firing Lumen Technologies, the company which was contracted to control scheduling.  The Atlantis, Khayelitsha, and Mitchell’s Plain routes will open this year in the next four months.  The City has spent close to R5 billion on the service to date.

*   South Africa has become a backdrop for music videos shot for some very well-known music stars.  The most famous Continue reading →

WhaleTales Tourism, Food, and Wine news headlines: 24 February!

WhaleTalesTourism, Food, and Wine news headlines

*   The V&A Waterfront appears to be getting the go-ahead from the City of Cape Town for its new development in Granger Bay, which will include parking, residential accommodation, and a coastal walkway connecting it to Sea Point, reports People’s Post.

*   Africa Travel Week, a triple travel and tourism exhibition, will be held in Cape Town from 28 April to 3 May, the first time a tourism exhibition will be held on such a large scale in Cape Town.   International travel brand names such as TripAdvisor, Hilton Worldwide, Starwood, and Carlson Rezidor Hotel Group (with brands Radisson Blu, Park Inn by Radisson, and Hotel Missoni)  will be present at the inaugural World Travel Market (WTM) Africa.   Africa is regarded as the ‘next key region for international travel brands’, making the continent attractive to global airlines, hotel groups, and technology companies, WTM Africa Event Manager Polly Magraw said.

*   Cape Town International is experiencing a shortage of jet fuel, Chevron has announced, saying it is working with Shell and other ‘colleagues’ to solve the problem, proudly stating that no flights were affected today.  On Kfm news however a Cape Town International spokesperson said that two flights were delayed by an hour each today as a result of the fuel problem.

*   A week ago the MyCiTi Bus introduced new routes (108 and 109) from Hout Bay, through Continue reading →

Chaotic Cape Town lacks infrastructure for Festive frenzy in Camps Bay!

Camps Bay beach 2Yesterday was the most chaotic day I have seen in Camps Bay in 20 years of living in the suburb.  We know that New Year’s Day is busy, and is a stay-away zone, due to the thousands of Cape Town residents who come from other areas and take ownership of the beach in the suburb, without the City of Cape Town sending any reinforcements to secure the suburb.  What was experienced in Camps Bay yesterday may be the deathknell for tourism in Camps Bay and Cape Town.

We warn our guests to stay away from the Camps Bay beach on 26 December and 1 January, but nothing could have prepared us for yesterday.  One should have known that chaos was coming, when all the restaurants on the street level of the whole beachfront strip, with the exception of health food franchise Kauai, were closed for business!  When I was advising my guests about alternatives of things to do and places to eat, I had to admit to them that most restaurants in Cape Town are closed on New Year’s Day, despite the city teeming with tourists!   I drove down Kloof Street, and was pleasantly surprised that about half the restaurants on this popular restaurant street were open for business, a few proudly Tweeting that they would be open until about 22h00 last night, which is a whole lot better than last year, when only the franchise restaurants were operating.   Manna Epicure, Da Vinci’s, Arnold’s on Kloof, Vovo Telo, Hudson on Kloof, Knead, Mozzarella Bar, and newly opened The Black Sheep are some of the restaurants that were operating, and should be commended for feeding the many tourists in Cape Town.  The restaurants in the city centre were all closed.

In Camps Bay I needed Bay Response at my guest house, but they had to cut short theirCAMPS BAY BEACH 1 JAN 2014 CAPE ARGUS service when they were called to assist Pick ‘n Pay Camps Bay, of which the front door was being broken down by unruly beachgoers!  We heard sirens throughout the day, especially early afternoon, when there was a near-drowning on Camps Bay beach, despite lifeguard services offered.  The beach is just too full, and often inexperienced bathers and unsafe rip tides can lead to loss of life.

I had driven to town for a quick coffee break in the early afternoon, and it took 15 minutes to travel 250 meters from Hussar Grill Continue reading →