Tag Archives: Pick ‘n Pay Camps Bay

Corona Virus: Lockdown Journey Journal, Day 61 of Level 1, 30 April 2021

 

Friday 30 April 2021, Day 61 of Level 1 đŸ˜·

Corona Gratitude 🙏

#Gratitude for a wonderful unplanned day, starting early at 5h00, and surviving the reduced sleep; for it being slightly warmer today, but still with a chilly wind this evening; for getting all my work done this morning; for getting the hacked Instagram account operating again; for a power walk with 36 minutes of Cardio from my home to The Roundhouse, half of it being uphill, earning me 300 Discovery points; for my tea/coffee date with restaurateur Ian Halfon at The Lawns turning into a 7-course 5 hour delight and indulgence at Salsify at The Roundhouse, Camps Bay’s secret best restaurant by far; for the lift back to home, receiving some wine from Ian too; for a quick walk through Bakoven, to catch the sunset; and for being happy, healthy, and free. 🙏💙 Continue reading →

Corona Virus: Lockdown Journey Journal, Day 19 of Level 4, 19 May 2020.

 

Tuesday 19 May 2020, Day 19 of Level 4, after 35 days at Level 5 đŸ˜·

Corona Gratitude 🙏

#Grateful for another beautiful day, without any clouds to block the sun, feeling much warmer than the 20C forecast; for a very long sleep last night; for a warm Exercise Time, slightly busier, walking up to Clifton 2nd Beach, my heart exertion not being as good as on the previous days, as I had to keep picking up litter, there was so much of it en route today; for the luck of being gifted two Maison J croissants, it being their first day of selling them again; for the even greater luck of crossing the road from Maison J to almost bump into #eyecandy, then walking back home together, he living just down the road from me 😳🙃; for finally facing the last filing which I’ve been looking at and ignoring… until today, throwing away old notes and notebooks filled with restaurant reviews, and organizing financial files; for loving dancing to Kfm 💃; for the prospect of being able to first foster and than adopt a little girl kitty Minsky after Lockdown ends, if I am approved đŸ±, with huge thanks to Michele Antelme for seeing this on a DARG post; for rearranging my terrace, a new beginning of sitting and writing outside; for an excellent weekly report by FitBit, with 126000 steps and 90 km, and a new Lockdown record of an average of 18000 steps and 13 km per day this past week; and for feeling happy and healthy. 🙏💙 Continue reading →

Cape Town overwhelmed by one of busiest Festive Seasons ever!

Cape Town Festive Season Cape Town PartnershipCape Town experienced one of its busiest Festive Seasons ever, so much so that the city can be said to have been out of control as far as access to its attractions, beaches, shopping malls, and roads was concerned.  Perfect weather and a weak Rand attracted locals to the Mother City.  Once again the Atlantic Seaboard was the most attractive location for tourists in terms of restaurants, beaches, and accommodation, with resultant chaos in this area in particular at all levels.

The Festive Season period was a very short ten day period, from 27 December – 5 January this year, and almost every accommodation establishment, especially those on the Atlantic Seaboard, was fully booked.  Guests were predominantly from Johannesburg, or living overseas with South African family connections, meeting up in the city.  At Whale Cottage Camps Bay our international visitors were Norwegian, British, and Dutch during this period.

While it felt fantastic that Cape Town was so popular, one felt that the city was doing itself a disservice in that tourists had to experience: 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 →