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Dear All
Well here we are in beautiful Cape Town which has proved to exceed our expectations. The city is amazing and the people very warm and welcoming.
Both flights over were good although unfortunately we have found Emirates service which in the past has been excellent was rather lacking this time around. On the Manchester to Dubai leg they had run out of tonic for my G&T's (Ann you would not have been happy!) so I had to go for rum and coke instead. Barry wanted brandy and dry ginger......again they had run out of ginger. Also he wanted the lamb curry option on the menu and initially they said they had run out but when Barry suggested they went upstairs (to first/business class) to get one they miraculously arrived back with his curry!
The second leg from Dubai to Cape Town started badly. Normally Emirates take you on board by way of bridges from the departure lounge but on this occasion we were bussed out to the aircraft which took a good 10 mins drive then we were kept on the bus waiting for the doors to open for 15 mins which at 4:00 am in the morning, pitch dark outside is not good! Still at least both flights were on time.
We are staying in a beautiful apartment on West Quay in Cape Town. This is part of the Waterfront development which is fairly new to the city. From our apartment it is just a short walk along to all the shops and restaurants along the quays. We would recommend anyone visiting the city to stay here. All the meals here have been excellent and very reasonable! Since our arrival the weather has been glorious although last night when we ventured out it turned chilly so we ate inside the restaurant.
Yesterday was a half day excursion to Table Mountain, museum and diamond centre. We were ferried around by minibus and the passengers consisted of 2 Aussie couples who were very entertaining, a couple from Northern Ireland and a guy from the Philippines who had been attending a conference.
First stop was the drive up to the cable car then up to the top of Table Mountain which was amazing. The cable cars take 64 people and the floor gradually rotates so everyone can get a view of the the area. Fortunately while we were on the top the cloud dispersed so the views were spectacular.
Once back down again we were taken along to the Museum of South Africa and then onto the Diamond Centre where they demonstrated the cutting, polishing of diamonds, the various quality and colour, then along to the sales area, at which point Barry amazingly vanished along with his credit card........so no diamond ring for me on this trip!
Today is a free day hence writing our blog. Our balcony overlooks one of the canals which link all the apartments. All this area has been reclaimed from the sea built from the rock from Table Mountain.
During our excursion yesterday our tour guide gave us an insight into the time of apartheid. Unlike the U.K where we cannot call a person 'coloured', here in South Africa the population are split into 3 races, the whites, coloured and blacks. The coloured are those who came over from Malaysia, the Far East and India. During apartheid the blacks were considered the lowest and their rights were non-existent. To clarify the difference between a black person and a coloured the authorities would use 2 tests, one being the 'pencil test' whereby they would put a pencil in their hair, if it stuck there they were black but if the pencil slid out they were coloured! The other test entailed sticking a needle up their bum. According to our tour guide people divert to their mother tongue when in pain so the authorities were able to identify what nationality they were when the needle went in!
Tomorrow will be our last day in Cape Town and we are going on a full day's excursion around the coast, so we will send another blog before heading for the train.
Love to you all
Mary & Barry xx
- comments
Tony Lowe Haha - Barry disappeared at the vital moment! Sounds like another wonderful trip. Looking forward to further bulletins... We will try and call round before you head off for Tenerife.
Georgia Gascoyne Sounds amazing! You haven't mentioned the wine....... I had some of the rest reds of my life in SA.
Chrissie Brilliant blog very entertaining and informative. Have fun xx Shame about the diamond ring. he he