Tag Archives: lifeguards

Corona Virus: Lockdown Journey Journal, Day 45 of Level 1, 14 November 2021

 

Sunday 15 November 2021, Day 45 of Level 1 😷

Corona Gratitude 🙏

#grateful for a peaceful stay-at-home day, working, writing, and cleaning out my fridge; for being able to assist two diners to book at Utopia; for Minsky returning home this morning after a night out on the town, so worried about her 😻; for a power nap this afternoon; for not really wanting to go for a walk after the nap, but I knew there was litter waiting to be cleaned up when I heard the children screeching for joy and the lifeguards blowing their whistles at the Tidal Continue reading →

WhaleTales Tourism, Food, and Wine news headlines: 8 December

WhaleTalesTourism, Food, and Wine news headlines

*   Etihad Airways has been named as World’s Leading Airline for the sixth consecutive year.   Ecuador was named as the World’s Leading Green Destination.

*   The Robben Island ferry Sikhululekile has experienced regular damage in the Island’s harbour at low tide from an ‘underwater rocky outcrop’, a survey conducted by the Council for Geoscience has found.  Purchased at a cost of R26 million, the ferry was not tested for suitability inside the harbour prior to purchase!  Now the Robben Island Museum is looking to sell the ferry.

*   The Stellenbosch American Express Wine Routes has launched a Wine Tourism Visitor Centre at 47 Church Street, offering Continue reading →

WhaleTales Tourism, Food, and Wine news headlines: 18/19 January

WhaleTalesTourism, Food, and Wine news headlines

*   Lifeguard duty at most Cape Town beaches will be curtailed to weekends only now that schools have re-opened.  The lifeguard services will continue to be offered daily at the city’s Blue Flag beaches (including Camps Bay), from 10h00 – 18h00, until 31 March.

*   UK singer Cheryl Cole is said to be looking to buy a holiday home in Cape Town, and in Camps Bay specifically.

*   SAA has been given a 4-star rating of its service for the 12th year running by independent airline evaluation agency Skytrax.   More than 800 aspects of service are evaluated. SAA is the only African airline to achieve the 4-star rating.

*   Collecting shells on the beach whilst on holiday may be harmful to the environment, including to some animal and plant life.

*   The Winnipeg Free Press wine writer Ben MacPhee-Sigurdson vows in his New Year’s resolution to try more South African 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 →