One of a kind

Carmen van der Walt

You never know what you are missing if you have never had it. That is how it goes, supposedly. But what do you do when you miss something that was once a part of your life, which unfortunately you only begin to appreciate when it is gone.

Something that is priceless. Something right in front of you. Something you never took advantage of.

That happened to me.

After being away from home for four years I realised that the benefits of living at the coast, Cape Town to be specific, which I had taken for granted whilst living here, was what I missed most. This city is definitely one of a kind with its eventful nightlife, having lunch along the beaches, the lively promenade in Seapoint, the V&A Waterfront and most importantly, Table Mountain to name a few.

I realised this when I was driving along the Camps Bay beach road the other day, and all I could see was hundreds of umbrellas scattered over the beach. It was already 17:30, but time is never a concern for ‘Capetonians’ enjoying a warm summer day. With a bright orange-pink sunset layered over the sea I appreciated once again what a beautiful city Cape Town really is.

The greatest part of it all is the atmosphere that has been created due to the FIFA World Cup, and it has been the most exciting build up the country has experienced since South Africa was announced as the host. The recent count down started at 100 days to go and as we get closer to the first kickoff the climax is only growing larger to one of the greatest events for South Africans.

Over the past three years there have been many developments and changes in Cape Town and the rest of South Africa to make the FIFA World Cup a successful memory. As the time gets closer to this world-wide event the finishing touches on our valuable transport system, roads and final tests are being implemented on the stadiums.

The first match will be played with teams from Group A, South Africa vs. Mexico on 11 June 2010 and we will be a proud nation supporting Bafana Bafana, and cheering on all those who have prepared South Africa for the FIFA World Cup.

After being back in the Mother City for three weeks, it is evident that the ‘Capetonians’ are waiting in anticipation for that first whistle to blow in the second match, which is to be played at the inventive Cape Town stadium.

I must say, it is great to be home. I love this city!

Thanks to Carmen van der Walt for this guest post.

Practising safe football!

After spending the last three years on transport and accommodation upgrades and changes, South Africa is ready and prepared for the FIFA 2010 World Cup. With less than three months to go, the final touches and preparation is being implemented and the results are successful.

If safety is a question on your mind when travelling to and around South Africa, then let me reassure you that many precautionary measures have been implemented in the last three years to keep you safe and secure.

The government has spent millions of Rand on security for the FIFA World Cup on escorting the teams to games, hotel rooms and airports, as well as on tourists and fans by placing more police officers on patrol around the country. This system will be put into place for the event and security will be tighter in the future to ensure a friendly and safe environment for the citizens and tourists.

A survey was released on 25 March 2010 by the British Foreign and Commonwealth Office and announced that British tourists are safer in South Africa than they were in any other host country of the previous FIFA World Cup.

The survey revealed that British visitors were at twice as much risk of danger in Germany in 2006 than they are in South Africa in 2010.

It has been recorded by SouthAfrica.info that the International travel to South Africa has grown drastically over the past fifteen years. Come and experience this opportunity of travelling a unique and diverse country that is full of rich culture, surrounded by national game parks; the gorgeous Table Mountain, the well known coastal Garden Route and wine routes to say the least.

There is nothing stopping you!

Image source: Safarinow

This is a guest post by Carmen van der Walt

OUR 2010: one step closer to raising R100 000 in 100 days

I stumbled across this great initiative, literally taking place in the shadow of the Cape Town stadium, and wanted to share it with you. If you aren’t familiar with Cape Town, the CIDs are doing a great job at keeping the neighbourhoods around the stadium complex safe and clean. I am sure they are busy gearing up for very busy World Cup season.

This initiative is a great plan to get local companies to get involved in their communities via football. It looks like it’s being very well supported, but I sure they can do with as much additional help as they can get.

Enjoy! And if you are a local company – donate!

With less than 100 days to go until the 2010 FIFA World Cup, the Green Point (GP) and Orange-Kloof (OK) City Improvement Districts (CIDs) launched the OUR 2010 campaign to activate businesses to invest in the sustainable development of our communities through football.

The initiative is a collaboration with African Brothers Football Academy (ABFA) and former Bafana Bafana striker George Dearnaley and kicked off with a R6 000 donation from the CIDs. This donation will be used for membership fees for underprivileged children to attend ABFA.

Harley-Davidson Cape Town has made a generous donation of R10 000. Part of this donation will be used to ensure that these children can continue to play football at ABFA on an ongoing basis, and the rest will be used for soccer balls.

Says ABFA founder Craig Hepburn, “In support of OUR 2010, ABFA will cover the ongoing membership fees of every second child who joins the academy leading up to the World Cup.”

The children attending ABFA are from the OK and GP CID areas as well as from other areas around Cape Town. Says GP CID CEO, Marc Truss: “The CIDs decided not to limit the campaign to children within the boundaries of the GP and OK CID areas, but rather to open it up and help as many children as possible to play football in a safe environment, where they can develop their skills under the guidance of experienced coaches and interact with children from different cultures.”

Two of the children directly benefiting from OUR 2010 sponsorship are Thobani Morris, a 15 year old from Orange-Kloof and Giggs Dungi, a 13 year old from Woodstock.

Originally from the Eastern Cape, Morris now lives in Oranje-Kloof with his aunt and brother, and takes the train to school in Gugulethu each day. He attends ABFA as many days a week as he can after school, and has been going to the Academy for over 8 months now. Says Morris, “I like coming to African Brothers, because of the soccer and because all of my friends are here.” He also commented on the fact that he feels very safe within the environment at ABFA and that his dream is to become the goal keeper of the ABFA team.

Giggs Dungi is a newcomer to ABFA. He only started a week ago, but so far really enjoys spending time at the Academy and will definitely make it a daily activity. His father taught him soccer when he was 8 years old and since then he has been playing soccer at his school, Prestwich. He says he prefers coming to African Brothers Football Academy, because he can play soccer for longer hours and is around his friends. Giggs also feels 100% safe at the Academy. His dream is to become a professional soccer player like his hero Marco Borriello from AC Milan.

OUR 2010 is running for another 78 days [now 76 days!]. Visit the website, www.cid2010.com to find out more or contribute towards the campaign.

All about Bafana Bafana – the South African football team

The South African national football team, Bafana Bafana (The boys), is the host team for the 19th FIFA World Cup in June 2010. However, they currently only rank 85th in the world, and having qualified by virtue of being the host nation, look like they are in for a challenging World Cup.

However, FIFA is quietly confident about Bafana’s chances, and according to their site: “Recent years have brought ample disappointments, but Bafana Bafana have also shown, albeit in patches, that – given motivation and purpose – they can be a potent threat.”

A unified South African football team, soon dubbed Bafana Bafana by its fans, entered world football in 1992, two years before the first democratic elections in South Africa. The team stormed in to the CAF Africa Cup of Nations in 1996 and went on the win the tournament by beating Tunisia 2-0.

Since then Bafana has qualified for two World Cups (France 1998 and Japan/Korea 2002) but has failed to make it past the group stages in either.

Last year it made it through to the semi-finals in the Confederations Cup where the team lost to Brazil, which went on to win the tournament. Bafana then subsequently lost to Spain (3-2) in the third-place play-offs, pushing the game into extra time.

Commentators say that although the team played well, they struggled to convert clever moves into goals.

The run up to the 2010 World Cup has seen some controversy over the replacement of Brazilian coach, Joel Santana by fellow Brazilian Carlos Alberto Parreira – who Santana had originally replaced in 2008. The South African Football Association (SAFA) are adamant that sticking with the Brazilian style of playing is going to bring success.

2009 also saw the controversial return of 32-year-old Benni McCarthy to the national squad as striker. Previously, according to reports, Benni had exiled himself from the South African team by prioritising Blackburn Rover games, where he plays in the England Premiership. Fans were relieved to see Benni looking slimmer and in better shape than before.

Benni is still the top goal scorer for Bafana, with 32 goals in 77 games, while captain Aaron Makoena also of Portsmouth is the most capped Bafana player, with 94 caps in his career.

Bafana’s last match ended in a 0-0 draw in a friendly against Jamaica in Bloemfontein on 17 November 2009. Upcoming games include a friendly against Chile in Santiago on 3 March 2010 and another friendly against Jamaica in Kingston on 17 March.

In March Parreira will also be taking his team to Brazil for a pre-tournament training camp.

And then, on 11 June 2010, Bafana Bafana kick off the 2010 FIFA World Cup in a match against Mexico in Johannesburg’s Soccer City Stadium. Bafana isn’t playing in Cape Town in the group rounds unfortunately, but we hope to see their signature green and yellow kit in the Cape Town Stadium after group stage.

Sources:

Wikipedia , The Times , Fifa , South Africa.info

Image: My Sport’s Blog

Getting around Cape Town during the 2010 World Cup

Unlike many European or American cities, Cape Town is not always that easy to navigate using public transport. As a rule, South Africans who can afford to be, are pretty addicted to their cars.

However things are changing and a variety of public transport initiatives are being put in place prior to the 2010 FIFA World Cup, specifically to help get visitors to town from the airport, and then to the Cape Town Stadium in time for the football matches, and then home again.

To help you plan your trip to Cape Town during the World Cup, here are some options for you to consider:

1. Car hire

If you are planning on doing some exploring while you are in Cape Town, you should consider hiring a car for excursions to the winelands, Cape Point, Chapman’s Peak, the West Coast and so on.

The usual range of rental car companies are available in the Cape Town and at the Cape Town International Airport, including, Avis, Hertz, Budget and Europcar.

Or perhaps you want something a bit out of the ordinary? Scoot around Cape Town in a classic car from Motor Classic Rentals.

Travelsupermarket has a handy car rental comparison tool here.

Finally, remember to always read the fine print, take out comprehensive insurance, and don’t underestimate how many kilometres you could potentially clock up – South Africa is a big country!

2. Trains

Trains are an affordable option for getting from Highstead Houses into the city centre (and then from there to the Stadium using the city of Cape Town’s new integrated transport system). Or proceed by foot for a walking tour of the city centre, or by taxi or bus.

For a scenic trip along the False Bay coast take a train south to Muizenberg, St James, Kalk Bay and Simon’s Town.

You can read the Metrorail timetables and routes here.

3. Taxis

There are two types of taxies in South Africa. Private metered taxis are booked by phone or at a taxi rank. The cars are clearly marked as taxis, have meters and clearly mark the rate per kilometre. One of our favourites is Rikkis Taxis – look out for the yellox Rikkis phone in many pubs and clubs.

Minibus taxis are cheaper, travel specific routes and can be crowded and unsafe, depending on where you are. For short distances in busy main roads these are ideal though and a great local experience.

You won’t need to look for a minibus taxi – they will find you and whistle or hoot. Confirm the destination and cost before getting on board, and also try to have the right change available.

4. Integrated Rapid Transport

One of the most immediate and most needed side effect of hosting the World Cup in South Africa has been the fast tracking (forgive the pun) of Cape Town’s Integrated Rapid Transport system. This aims to pull together public transport in the city to create a sustainable and balanced transport system.

It takes rail + buses + minibuses + taxis + park n ride + cycle ways + bike parking + pedestrian ways and makes them all work together. This is a 10 – 15 year project, as you might imagine, but World Cup routes have been prioritised: airport – city; city – stadium; west coast route.

5. Hop on, hop off sightseeing tours

A must-do while you are in Cape Town. Get the details at Citysightseeing Cape Town.

Gourmet backpackers? Don’t you mean gourmet burgers…

With all this talk of gourmet backpackers on the Highstead Houses site, we’re starting to feel a bit hungry. And you would be forgiven for thinking we are a teeny bit obsessed with gourmet burgers – why else would we have coined the phrase “gourmet backpackers” to describe our unique range of accommodation available in Cape Town for the 2010 Football World Cup.

So in honour of the fabulous gourmet burger, we thought we would share with you Cape Town’s top burger restaurants. We couldn’t choose our favourite, so we’ve listed them alphabetically.

1. Gourmet Burger

Yes, it calls a spade a spade According to their website:

At Gourmet Burger, we do things to burgers nobody would have thought possible. We’ve tossed out the old onion rings and yellow mustard in favour of a veritable spectrum of unexpected delights. Where else could you select a Prawn, Avo and Garlic Burger, a Vegetarian Field Mushroom Burger or a Chicken Roulade Burger? And the innovation doesn’t stop there – from our outrageous Lindt milkshakes to the finest Paul Cluver wines, it’s all in the name.

Location: Long Street, Cape Town and Cavendish Connect, Claremont

Menu: Check it out here

2. Hudsons

This is the new kid on the block brought to you by the cool kids of Cafe Caprice in Camps Bay fame.

They say:

Our concept is to introduce a completely unique, simple, more direct burger bar, offering the highest quality burgers you can get in Cape Town. Our burgers will comprise of freshly ground beef, made in-house, every morning. No soya proteins, limited fat (from the regular 20% down to Hudson’s 5%), and no offal, just whole grain meat! What else makes Hudson’s so unique from the rest? Double crunch fries, sour dough buns, a chickpea and lentil veggie burger, vanilla lemonade, and other innovative toppings to top off the menu.

Location: Kloof Street, Cape Town

Menu: find it on their site here

Special mention: Stocks Jack Black beer

3. Protea Hotel Fire n Ice!

In the first instance famous for their toilets (don’t ask, just go check them out) Fire n Ice! also has a pretty mean burger and milkshake menu. Jump straight to their burger menu here.

Location: Upper Bree Street, Cape Town.

4. Royale Eatery

The Grande Dame of Cape Town burger joints, this is straight out of Pulp Fiction. Strangely they don’t seem to have a website (???) but you can find them here:

273 Long Street
021 422 4536

Have we left something off? Drop us a line in the comments as we’d LOVE to discover new burger places.

Image source: Gourmet Burger

The Cape Town Stadium – everything you wanted to know but were too afraid to ask :)

With the official launch of the Cape Town Stadium last week, and the announcement of the “rehearsal” games that will be played here to test out the stadium in advance of the 2010 World Cup, I thought it would be a good idea to find out a bit more about the Mother City stadium.

Fast facts about the Cape Town Stadium:

1. It used to be called the Green Point Stadium after the previous stadium that stood in this location. It was recently renamed the Cape Town Stadium, but a lot of people still use the old name.
2. It cost R4.4 billion / US$ 600 million to build.
3. It has 68,000 seats plus another 13,000 temporary seats that will be removed after the Football World Cup.
4. The roof is unique, with glass panels to keep out wind and rain, built in lighting, and great acoustics.
5. It takes 15 minutes to evacute.
6. A moat prevents pitch invasions.
7. 95% of the old Green Point Stadium was recycled and reused in the building of the new facility.
8. The water from the roof and pitch drainage is used to irrigate the neighbouring Green Point common.
9. 96,000 m3 of concrete were used to build the Cape Town Stadium.
10. The roof weighs 4 700 tons.
11. 9,000 glass panels were used to cover 37 000m2 of roof.
12. There are 500 toilets and 360 urinals.
13. The stadium has 115 entry turnstiles.
14. There are 16 lifts in the building.
15. More than 2,500 workers were employed on site during construction, and almost 1,200 artisans received training from the contractors.

During the 2010 World Cup, the Cape Town Stadium will host the following matches:

In the World Cup, it will host five first round matches, one second round, one quarter-final and one semi-final.

11 June: Uruguay v France
14 June: Italy v Paraguay
18 June: England v Algeria
21 June: Portugal v Korea DPR
24 June: Cameroon v Netherlands
29 June: Round of 16: Winners of Group H vs Runners-up of Group G
3 July: Quarter-final: Winners of Match 52 vs Winners of Match 51
6 July: Semi-final: Winners of Match 58 v Winners of Match 57

The stadium is organised as follows:

• Level 0 Sports team rooms, VVIP and VIP reception, lowest parking level, medical and police facilities, waste collection and compaction.

• Level 1 Media areas, TV and radio studios, FIFA offices and sports event staff offices, and upper parking level.

• Level 2: Public Plaza Main concourse pedestrian access down to lowest tier and up to second tier, disabled person’s seating, fan shop, VIP welcome zone, concession stands.

• Level 3 Lower level of business club, multi-purpose hall, security and police offices, operators’ storage spaces, smaller food kitchens.

• Level 4 Upper level of business club, larger food preparation kitchens, stadium administration (operator’s) offices.

• Level 5 VIP lounges and private corporate boxes.

• Level 6 Upper concourse, concession stands and access onto third tier of seats.

• The roof is located above the highest level of seats, and contains an accessible roof including the ‘Ring of Fire’ lighting and media zone, with catwalk access into and through the roof structure.

Information sources: Wikipedia and www.capetown.travel

Image source: www.capetown.travel

Football vs soccer?

The Highstead Houses team were pondering why some people say football and others say soccer. For instance, when I was at school in Cape Town, we always referred to soccer, as did most South Africans. However, when I went over to England, the beautiful game is most often referred to as football.

So which one is it?

After a bit of searching on Google and Wikipedia, it turns out that both are right. The football we know that is played during the FIFA World Cups, is strictly speaking called Association Football. Football itself refers to all types of sport involving kicking a ball (such as rugby, American football, Australian rules etc).

The word soccer emerged in the 1880s, as a slang abbreviation of “association”.

The rule of thumb for whether people refer to football or soccer seems to be that if Association Football is the main type of football played in the country, it is referred to as simply “football”. However if, as in South Africa (particularly historically), another type of football sport is more popular, for instance rugby, then football is called soccer. Did you follow that?

Whatever you call it though, the 2010 Football World Cup is lining up to be an exciting tournament. Don’t miss out!

Image source: stock.xchng

Dive with the Seven-gill Cowshark in Cape Town

While South Africa is well known for its Great White shark cage diving, did you know that you can also scuba dive with the Seven-gill Cowshark in False Bay, Cape Town?

The Seven Gill Cowshark, or Spotted Cowshark, is a prehistoric apex predator which local dive outfit Pisces Divers has been fortunate to see regularly enough at one location to be able to confidently guide dives there with an 85% chance of viewing success. The Cowshark is a social feeder and can be observed in large groups of up to 18 individuals. Pisces Divers has seen females of three metres in length, while males are slightly smaller. Distinctive features include their seven gill slits and the absence of the front dorsal fin.

Mike Nortje, owner of Pisces Divers, says: “We position the boat in a channel approximately 12m deep where we descend on to a sandy bottom and wait for the Cowsharks to approach us. They swim slowly up and down the channel, which runs roughly north/south and they pass at arm’s length from the divers as we kneel on the sandy bottom to observe them. It’s a great opportunity for underwater photographers and by the end of the dive, you will recognise the individuals by distinctive bites, scrapes or colouration.”

It is quite common to see Spotted Gully sharks in the water at the same time – they have a large dorsal fin and completely different swimming pattern to the Cowsharks, so one can’t confuse the two species. The Gullys are more “frisky” in comparison to the more lazy Cowshark style of movement.

If you would like to take advantage of this amazing opportunity while you are in Cape Town, please contact the Highstead Houses team to arrange a booking. Also take a look at some of our other “side orders”.

Take a look at these amazing photos:

Food, glorious food!

Cape Town is a bit of a foodie mecca, so we won’t even begin to start describing and listing the choices you have when you get a bit peckish during your stay. From seafood, to fusion, to traditional South African and African cuisine – Cape Town has it all.

Instead, here are the links to some of our favourite dining-out listing and review sites, so you can make up your own minds:

Relax with Dax – our favourite: relaxed, chilled, but knows what he wants

Rossouw’s Restaurants – frank and demanding reviews from JP Rossouw

Eat Out – listings and reviews

Dining Out – useful search function and listings galore

But, because we know you are going to want to try out some traditional South African and African fare, here are a few suggestions for African cuisine:

Africa Cafe, Heritage Square, Cape Town – a round-the-continent gourmet extravaganza

Moyo, Spier wine estate, Stellenbosch – food, music, extraordinary surrounds, and eating in a tree house!

Mama Africa, Long Street, Cape Town – food, drink and marimba music

Quarter, Long Street, Cape Town – the latest offering from Bruce Robertson: gourmet street food. What more could you want!

Bon appetito! Please let us know where you ended up and what your verdict was.

Image source: Dining Out