Moving South again

I always thought of British Airways as the slightly old fashioned, behind the times end of the airline industry but having used their services to Amsterdam and also an internal flight in South Africa last year, my flight to Cape Town was a revelation, the seats were mega-comfortable, the food was actually edible and the cabin crew were helpful and not as geriatric as they used to be. My only complaint would be that the programme of entertainment was not as comprehensive as other carriers but to be honest there was enough to keep me occupied.

So I arrived in Cape Town yesterday morning and after a lengthy queue to get through passport control I was soon acquainted with my hire car for the next five weeks, a VW Vivo, that is the second time in years that I have been given the model I asked for. I fortunately remembered the route to my accommodation for my stay in Cape Town - the same place as last year, it is the ideal location virtually in the centre of town but with a local atmosphere. Bo-Kaap was the old Malay quarter and still has a large Muslim population but the brightly coloured houses really make the area stand out and there always seems to be a film crew or model shoot taking place. 

The crew in Bo-Kaap

Today it was a drippy blond being photographed by a six man crew (an artistic director, two photographers, a gay hairstylist, a wardrobe girl and a catering manager) I still haven't worked out why they were photographing her but I joined it to help you get a feel for the whole thing.













I went out today with the intention of climbing up to the top of Table Mountain or if not that then up Lion's Head but the wind is too strong for the cable cars to run at the moment and I did not fancy climbing up then coming back down again in either case so I drove up to Signal Hill to take some snaps before heading off to the Constantia Valley for some serious wine tasting.

Table Mountain and Lion's Head from Signal Hill

Unfortunately I did not have sufficient cash or a credit card with me to purchase some wine today so I will have to return tomorrow and I may as well taste some other wines whilst I am there.

I did have trouble finding a wine tasting venue with space for me, last year I was here at the end of January and it was quite quiet but this year there are a lot more tourists, maybe it is the time of year but more likely it is the exchange rate, tonight's sirloin steak with two sides, beer wine and pud came to less than £20 and that was in the upmarket and touristy V&A waterfront, an average chain burger or subway is less than £3. it is wonderful for us travellers but the locals are not happy, the collapse of the Rand and the drought over here is causing havoc to the economy and I understand that the current president is even less competent than Gordon Brown and even less knowledgeable than president elect Donald Trump, God help them, maybe I won't look into buying a holiday home over here after all.