Tag Archives: whales

Cape2Rio Yacht Race 2014: on the ball, putting Cape Town on the map!

Cape2Rio Yacht Race Logo Whale Cottage PortfolioI couldn’t have wished for a better birthday yesterday, having been invited to join a media sail from the Royal Cape Yacht Club, to generate publicity for the Cape2Rio 2014 Yacht Race, which starts in Cape Town on 4 January.  The 14th 3000 mile Cape2Rio Yacht Race is the ‘PR opportunity of the Year’ for Cape Town, and links to the 2014 Soccer World Cup taking place in Brazil, each of the 36 yachts taking a soccer ball.

Despite my uncertainty as to whether my guest house duties would allow me to participate, my staff gave me off, and the day could not have been more perfect for a sail, with no wind, and the temperature around 30°C.  I had been invited by Wesgro’s Chief Marketing Officer Judy Lain, and she was waiting for me with a bunch of flowers!  I thanked her for choosing such a perfect day and date for the sail!  A number of media representatives were invited, and we gathered in the ‘galley‘ at the yacht club to hear more details about the race and its participants from the Race Marketer Toni Mainprize.  The pioneering spirit and human struggle in making a yacht crossing was saluted, and it was said that Cape Town seems to have turned its back on the sea, despite it surrounding us.  I personally had not sailed in years, having been a regular weekend sailor twenty years ago.  We were encouraged to come to the Yacht Club on a Wednesday afternoon, and volunteer to crew on the yachts going out to sea.  Teams from Angola, the UK, Australia, Italy, and Germany have entered the Race.

A number of representatives of the participating boats were  present, and the idea was that we interview them on the water, the owners of Isla having madeCape2Rio Race Isla Whale Cottage Portfolio their catamaran available for the media outing.  The response had been so great that Judy and other PR executives stayed on land, as the Hendersons, owners of Isla, were very strict about the total number of persons allowed on the yacht.

The 14,8 m catamaran Isla was built by its owner Ian Henderson, and sleeps eight.  He will be putting his business interests on hold for the next year, taking his wife Elskeand their two daughters of 4 and 7 years with them on the race, and they plan to travel along the east coast of South and North America thereafter. Cape2Rio Isla Elske Whale Cottage Portfolio Elske told me that they rarely get seasick now, regularly doing outings along the coast, and sleeping on the boat when they do trips away.  Elske said she volunteers to helm, as it makes her less likely to become sea sick.   She laughed, saying she is quick to delegate the food preparation when she feels queasy.  She has found homeopathic medication to counter the sea Continue reading →

WhaleTales Tourism, Food, and Wine news headlines: 7/8 December

WhaleTalesTourism, Food, and Wine news headlines

*  Thirteen venues linked to the late Nelson Mandela  in Johannesburg and Pretoria are paying homage to the great leader.  They include his house in Alexandra; his house in Soweto; Nelson Mandela Bridge; the Nelson Mandela statue in Nelson Mandela Square; the Nelson Mandela Centre of Memory; Liliesleaf Farm; Constitution Hill; the Apartheid Museum; Freedom Park in Pretoria; the Union Buildings; the Workers’ Museum; the Palace of Justice in Church Square, and Chancellor House.

*   The Sydney Morning Herald lists 20 reasons to visit Cape Town today, clearly out of date as it recommends seeing whales from land (they have left for the Antarctic already), and there is no reference to Nelson Mandela’s passing!  It oddly refers to the longest wine route in the world between Cape Town and Port Elizabeth (the latter city is not associated with wines), and referring to indigenous fynbos as ‘native flowers’ is a ‘lost in translation’ reference!   It does highlight Clifton and Camps Bay as top beaches. The writer received information from SA Tourism, which makes the incorrect information unforgivable.

*   In the twenty years since the late Mr Mandela’s release and subsequent Presidency of the country tourist arrivals grew by 10 million!

*   Announced prior to the passing of Madiba, SAA and SA Tourism shared plans to tie in with the release of the movie ‘Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom‘ in the United Kingdom, to promote our country as a tourism destination.

*   An American publication recommends three South African wines out of Continue reading →

WhaleTales Tourism, Food, and Wine news headlines: 31 October

WhaleTalesTourism, Food, and Wine news headlines

*   The Washington Post recommends Mullineux Chenin Blanc and AA Badenhorst Secateurs as two of five good food pairing wines.

*   SAA is discounting flights between Johannesburg and New York or Washington to $855 for the dates 10 – 30 November, in a promotion called ‘November to Remember’.

*   The SA Vodka Festival, which was scheduled to be held at The Lookout in the V&A Waterfront from 30 October – 1 November, was cancelled a few hours before the doors were to open!  No explanation has been provided to exhibitors and to the public to date.

*   South Africa’s first Mzansi Latino Festival will be held at the River Continue reading →

WhaleTales Tourism, Food, and Wine news headlines: 10 September

WhaleTalesTourism, Food, and Wine news headlines

*   The Earth’s magnetic pole is slowly shifting, from North to South, and vice versa, and may mean that the Northern Lights will no loner be seen in the Northern Hemisphere, and that mammals such as whales which navigate via the magnetic poles may change their migration pattern.

*   Western Cape Tourism Minister Alan Winde dived with gentle cow-sharks off Simonstown yesterday, to showcase a little known experience, and to create awareness for the province’s ‘Water Connects us’ theme for Tourism Month. The Minister said that the province’s water-themed experiences enhanced its position as one of the country’s most popular destinations, more than 1 million tourists having visited the Western Cape last year.  Provincial marketing agency Wesgro will showcase a variety of the province’s unique and family fun water-based experiences, including its 20 (out of a total Continue reading →