Tag Archives: Monaco

International Travel regulations: its green for Germany and red for UK and the USA for Tourists to SA, from 1 October 2020!

 

A long list of 60 countries has been red-listed for non-Business Leisure Tourism to South Africa as of tomorrow, a list that the Government will update fortnightly, it was announced by International Relations Minister Naledi Pandor this afternoon.  Sadly for our Tourism industry, Tourists from our larger source markets, namely the UK, USA, France, Holland, India, Portugal, and Switzerland will not be allowed to enter our country currently. Good news for me personally is that Tourists from Germany will be allowed to visit South Africa. All visitors from African countries are welcome to visit South Africa, as are those from Asia, and from Australia and New Zealand.

A number of errors were made in the Government’s list initially, admitted to and apologised for by the Department of Home Affairs!

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Camps Bay celebrates International Coastal Clean Up Day with a Beach Clean Up in Cape Town, in royal company!

 

I heard about International Coastal Clean Up Day on Saturday 19 September, and spontaneously decided to organise a Beach Clean Up in Camps Bay, the Cape Town suburb in which I live and in which I have been picking up litter for the past eighteen months, under the CAMPS BAY CLEAN name. While the turnout was lower than I had hoped for, the twenty volunteer locals managed to fill 25 bags with litter, between Glen Beach and the Tidal Pool in Camps Bay. Continue reading →

Apricus Locanda B&B Sweet Service and The Blacksmith’s House B&B Sour Service Awards!

imageThe Sweet Service Award goes to Apricus Locanda B&B in a tiny village called Apricale in Liguria in Italy, just over the border of France, and its vivacious Dutch owner Jeanette. I was introduced and driven to the establishment by Jan restaurant Owner/Chef Jan-Hendrik van der Westhuizen with his mother, one of his favorite places to get away from his high-pressured lifestyle. On our way there, Chef Jan took us to see the Cours Saleya market in Nice, and stopped at various spots for us to see Nice, St Jean Cap Ferrat, and Monaco. B&B owner Jeanette has a great decor touch, her breakfasts over the five days were excellent, she was informative, her rates are reasonable, she is located in a very quiet area overlooking green hills, and even asked her husband to drive me to the nearest train station in Ventimiglia without accepting payment for it! Continue reading →

Dombeya wines have cellaring potential, good value!

Haskell Chardonnay and Merlot 2013Grant Dodd, Australia-based partner and CEO of Haskell Vineyards in Stellenbosch, hosted a #DombeyaDay on Thursday, a vertical tasting of five vintages each of their Dombeya Chardonnay and Shiraz, proving that their inexpensive wines can be cellared.

Haskell Vineyards belongs to Preston Haskell, who bought Dombeya, which makes wines under the Dombeya and Haskell labels, its winemaker being the highly regarded Rainie Strydom, who celebrates her tenth year with the wine farm this year. The farm was named after the Dombeya pear tree which grows on the farm, and originally produced angora wool.

Dodd related the conversation between Haskell and himself ten years ago, when Haskell bought the farm, about the Dombeya brand name.  Dodd suggested its Continue reading →