Tag Archives: wifi

WhaleTales Tourism, Food, and Wine news headlines: 26 November

WhaleTalesTourism, Food, and Wine news headlines

*   Sir Richard Branson is said to have bought the Mont Rochelle wine estate and hotel in Franschhoek.

*  Tsogo Sun has announced that it plans to bid for a gambling licence for Cape Town, should a second casino be allowed.   The hotel group already has casinos at Club Mykonos, on the Garden Route,  and in Caledon.

*   A new reality TV cooking show called ‘Chopped South Africa’ , based on an American counterpart, is to be screened on local TV, and will feature chef judges Jenny Morris,  Siba Mtongana, Rebecca Hurst, and Lindsay Venn. Four contestants will feature in each episode, out of a total of 30 chefs.

*   Buitenverwachting’s Bayten Sauvignon Blanc 2012 has been recommended as one of ten wines for Thanksgiving dinner or to bring as a gift, the only South African wine on the list.

*   Tourism to South Africa is estimated to grow by 86% Continue reading →

WhaleTales Tourism, Food, and Wine news headlines: 20 November

WhaleTalesTourism, Food, and Wine news headlines

*   Prince Harry arrived in Cape Town yesterday, on his way to the Antarctic, where he will accompany the British team in the Walk with the Wounded charity trek, on a 200 mile trek over 18 days, competing against Australian, Canadian and American teams.  Poor weather has delayed Prince Harry’s flight to the Antarctic.

*  Free wifi is now available at the Sea Point Pavilion, a service offered by the City of Cape Town as part of Cape Town’s status as World Design Capital 2014.

*   The Naspers building is more than 50 years old, and once was Africa’s tallest building.  One of the Cape Town World Design Capital 2014 projects is a competition to redesign the building, with a prize tag of R200000, as well as the implementation of the transformation, with a R15 million budget. (received via WDC Cape Town newsletter from the Cape Town Design NPC)

*   Catharina’s lunch guests will be entertained by band Blacksmith on Sunday 24 November. (received via media release from Communication Services Africa)

*   Nose blog carries a controversial blogpost about an article written by James Conaway, which is extremely critical of Wine Spectator‘s Robert Parker’s 100 point wine evaluation scale, which he describes as a  ‘dying’ system.  The retirement of Parker, announced last year, has opened for a host of wine judges to evaluate wines, including Joe Roberts (1 Wine Dude), Jancis Robinson, Stephen Tanzer,  and Eric Asimov of the New York Times.  Conaway is quoted Continue reading →

WhaleTales Tourism, Food, and Wine news headlines: 9/10 November

WhaleTalesTourism, Food, and Wine news headlines

*   Distell has handed over a whale disentanglement kit to the NSRI in Hermanus, funded by monies raised at the Whale Festival.

*   Fewer flights leaving the UK are delayed.

*   Cape Town has a new ambassador in Katie Holmes, Tweeting from Table Mountain with a photograph yesterday: ‘Beautiful day in Cape Town’.

*  The SA Brandy Foundation has recognised the contribution of a number of its product drinkers, and has inducted them into the Brandy Guild of SA: Elana Afrika-Bredenkamp, Warren Haefele, Schalk Burger, Wini Bowman, Peter Pitsiladi, Mike Meyers, and Amaro Fernandes. (received via Manley Communications)

*   Carlos Santana will be performing at the Grand Arena in Cape Town on 25, 26 and 27 February, his first Cape Town appearance ever.

*   About 41000 visitors from around the world attended the World Travel Market (WTM) in London earlier this week.

*   World Travel Market (WTM) is massive, offers poor quality Continue reading →

WhaleTales Tourism, Food, and Wine news headlines: 7 November

WhaleTalesTourism, Food, and Wine news headlines

*   Humpback whales are off the endangered list, and are estimated at a population of 80000.  Right whales may be extinct by the end of the century.

*   Well known Cybele Forest Lodge will close down on 17 November due to a land claim by the local community.

*   Fashion designer Gavin Rajah has been announced as the South African Tourism Designer of the Year by SA Tourism.

*   Tour operators are blaming poor management and cost control for SAA’s Buenos Aires route being unprofitable, and have urged the airline to reconsider its decision.  They have also requested the connection to Argentina to be via Cape Town, and not Johannesburg.

*   Trailblazing Chicago chef Charlie Trotter passed away this week, Continue reading →