I have posted three other pieces about my time in Cape Town. This one fills in the gaps.

Flight from Singapore

I flew from Singapore on Qatar Air. They along with Emirates are the ‘go to’ airline for the cheapskate traveller heading east from SE Asia.

My neighbours on the flight to Doha were a middle aged couple for from Kent.  He was in the trucking business and they had just been on a cruise that took them from “Singapore and back to Singapore”.  They “got off in Penang, but didn’t get off in Thailand”.

I asked them what they thought what would happen in the ‘Brexit referendum’.  He told me that England was “going to the dogs because of the all the migrants”.  I said that it was a “big issue in Australia”.   He told me that he “heard about Tony Abbott”.  I said “he was an immigrant having been born in England”.  I also noted that Rupert Murdoch was a “serial migrant, having migrated to the UK and then to the USA”.

Curiously the bloke decided that the film was more interesting than talking to me.

Keeping on Walking

I bought a FitBit in Brisbane at the beginning of January.  It has made me aware of moving and not moving.  It is sometimes difficult to walk the recommended 10K steps per day.  During the layover in Doha, I walked around as much as possible.

BIG Hostel

I had made a reservation with the BIG Hostel in Green Point.  It was very highly rated on the booking site I use.

The staff at the hostel recommended a ‘backpacker’ shuttle service from the airport into the city.  There was a bit of a mix up finding other people that had booked the service.  Being a bit delayed is not an issue for a retiree.  The Rand 200 fare was very reasonable.

The hostel turned out to be really good.  It was in two houses that had been converted into a hostel with a mixture of dormitory and private rooms.  The staff were very helpful.

Green Point is one of the better suburbs in Cape Town.  It is where the World Cup soccer stadium was built and is only a couple of kilometres from the Waterfront area.

Notwithstanding that Green Point is a good area, the staff advised that it is not safe to walk around the streets after 8 p.m. at night.  This probably being a bit risk adverse, but it is an indication of what it is like in Cape Town.

All the houses in the area have security fences and alarm systems.  Many of the fences have razor wire.  Over the days that I was there, I noticed that it was usual to find broken glass in the street in the mornings.  This was caused by cars being broken into.

Restaurants and Craft beer

The hostel was less than 800 metres from ‘Main Road’ that leads from the CBD along the coast to the beach side suburbs to the east.

There are a lot of restaurants and some bars of the road.  There was one bar that served some really good craft beer.  It is disappointing that it is not recommended to walk the short distance from this area to the hostel after dark.

Walking to Waterfront

Notwithstanding the security issues after dark, it is safe to walk around this part of Cape Town during the day.  This seems to be true for all people including single women and older people.

I often walked from the hostel to the Waterfront area.  It is a really great area, will lots of restaurants, bars, cafes and shops.

On my second day, I had lunch at a great fish restaurant in the Waterfront.  I got a Messenger call from an old school mate who had recently travelled from Nairobi to Cape Town.  It was great to chat with him.  The internet connect was very good and the restaurant was quiet.  As it turned out, that was one of the few times where I had good internet and the place was quiet.

It would appear that good internet speeds are rare in South Africa.  Where the speeds are good, e.g. in an up market restaurant, the place is often noisy.  This has made Skype and Messenger calls problematic.

Comedy Club

My mate suggested that I check out the Comedy Club for “good beer, good food and a laugh”.  It was good tip.  I had a great night.  There were four acts and a very amusing Afrikaans compere.

Rugby at Newlands

On the first Saturday, that I was in town, I went to see the Stormers play the Bulls at Newlands.  The game was ‘sold out’, but I managed to buy a ticket at half time.

It is a good stadium to watch rugby.  The stands are very steep and you are close to the action.  There was a good mix of people in the crowd. I was under the impression that rugby was still the preserve of the whites.  It was encouraging to see lots of other faces in the crowd. There are also a lot on non-white players, however this seems to be to taking time to find its way into the national team.

It was strongly recommended by the staff at the hostel that I take a taxi to and from the ground.  There is a train, but this is “not for people like you”.

Long Walks

When I was in Cape Town I took and number of long walks along the coast to the east.  This took me to Camps Bay and other up market suburbs.   The people living there live very well.  I noticed that a lot of the houses and apartments being advertised in the real estate windows featured ‘staff quarters’.  That says a lot.

I was amazed by the number of really up market cars in Cape Town.  These included Bentleys, Maseratis as well as the usual Mercedes and Range Rovers.

I took the occasion Citi Bus.  I was typically the only white adult on the bus.  There the occasional white school children, but most the passengers were non-white.

Flick Link

https://www.flickr.com/gp/twwilko_photos/N1Yam4