Table Mountain National Park | WhaleTales Blog by Chris von Ulmenstein

Tourism, Food, and Wine news headlines

* Table Mountain National Park is offering South African residents free entry to its Silvermine, Oudekraal, Perdekloof, and Newlands Forest picnic spots today, in celebration of its 16th anniversary.

* SAA has announced that its three weekly flights to Beijing are departing at a more passenger-friendly time of 20h35 from today, four hours earlier than in the past, for the 15 hour flight from Johannesburg to China.

* Only 40% of British men would order a bottle of wine in a pub, compared to 90% of them enjoying wine in their homes, for fear of being ridiculed by their mates. Half of male drinkers would order wine in a restaurant. Male hosts to dinner parties at home would be more likely to choose a wine that could be a talking point to serve their guests, while women hosts are very unlikely to choose such a wine.

* Chef Chantel Dartnall of Restaurant Mosaic at The Orient up north is a magnificent plater and creative Continue reading →

Yesterday Western Cape Tourism Minister Alan Winde welcomed tourists to Cape Town and the province, and issued a safety warning to tourists, a surprise in its communication that our region may not be safe.

The timing of the Minister’s media statement is odd, being late in welcoming tourists, who have been in the city and province since the start of the summer season beginning in October. The safety warning would make it appear that Cape Town and the Western Cape are really dangerous destinations, a shame if this is how tourists would interpret the Minister’s safety guidelines. Perhaps the Minister forgets that any crime hotspots (and they are really only Signal Hill at night and hiking tracks in the Table Mountain National Park) will be pointed out to guests of hotels and guest houses, when they discuss their plans for the day, and probably are pointed out in guide books and on websites too. Advising tourists to call 10111 is a bad call, as they would show up the emergency number as the most inefficient service, especially if the tourist were to be Continue reading →