Tours in Cape Town

Nine children killed in a Minibus accident in Cape Town.

Geoff — Thu, 26 Aug 2010 21:41:16 +0000

This is one accident that should not have happened and is the accident in my mind that should turn Cape Town’s traffic cops into dragons who bring drivers who do not care about the lives of others to book.

Most people who live in Cape Town and for that matter in the larger cities of South Africa know that normal road users are being abused by minibus taxi drivers and yet they don’t do a thing about it.

The taxi drivers are a law unto themselves and do exactly what they want wherever and however. There is only one car on the road as far as they are concerned and that is their vehicle and they will drive it as fast and as dangerously as they can no matter who they cut off, stop in front of or cause to brake heavily to avoid an accident. If somehow they are caught they take the fine get back into their vehicle and continue driving as they were before being pulled over.

Over the past few years many of my younger family members have come of driving age and have gone to take their tests to get their drivers licences. In most cases they have been properly prepared for their tests but have been failed for reversing into a pole, or supposedly letting the vehicle run back, or for not doing some check before getting into their vehicles in the traffic department’s yard .

Each time they have failed they have been forced to pay for more driving lessons and for another test. In most instances two or three tests. I would hazard to say that any of these young drivers who have been failed for mistakes made are better drivers than the most experienced taxi driver on the roads in Cape Town today.

Driving along the N2 into Cape Town recently a taxi driver in the middle lane in front of me had one of his back wheels fall off with a full load of people (in his case about fifteen people on board). This driver swung his vehicle over to the left from the middle lane and cut off a vehicle that was next to him forcing him to take evasive action or become a wreck. Did this driver do any of the checks the youngsters are required to do for their drivers licences before taking out his vehicle and overloading it.

I doubt it very much.

When a wheel falls off the wheelnuts must have been lose to start with and a cursory check would have shown the driver that. In many instances the taxi drivers don’t have licences so don’t know about the checks they should make before climbing into a vehicle and driving it and especially when they are transporting passengers.

Another trick of their trade is to drive along Voortrekker Road (which is a double carriageway in both directions) with their “Kaartjie” (so called conductor) hanging out of the window looking for passengers. Not only is this person hanging out of the window but his driver is driving with his hand on the hooter as though he were an ambulance or emergency vehicle in a big hurry.

When a passenger is spotted they simply cut across traffic to their left and stop in the middle of the road. After stopping to pick up or drop someone off they pull straight out of the left lane back into the right lane cutting off whoever they pull in front of and then drive like maniacs until another passenger is spotted. With gay abandon the “Kaartjie” will stick his hand out of the side window of his minibus and expect whoever is on the left of him to give way so that his driver can pull over to stop for the passenger they have spotted.

It does not matter if everyone in the left lane has to stop and wait while the passenger is picked up or dropped off.

This happens all the time and NO ONE does anything about it.

At a busy intersection in Maitland I was waiting in the right hand lane up against the white line on my right for a gap in the traffic to allow me to turn right. (We drive on the left in SA)

The taxi driver who came up from behind sneaked past about five vehicles and took up station to my right and on the right hand side of a barrier white line before forcing his way into traffic and making oncoming traffic stop so that he could get through and go on his way. Any car turning into the road I was trying to exit would have had a head on collision with the taxi if they had not stopped to allow him through.

Did he have a licence?

Bosmansdam Road in the Milnerton area is normally very busy at around 5.00pm in the afternoon and because of the heavy traffic at the intersection with Montague Drive there is always a backlog which takes about five traffic light changes to get one through the intersection if you arrive at the back end of the tail. There are three lanes for traffic entering this intersection when driving towards the Tygerberg. The left lane is there to allow traffic wanting to turn left into Montague drive to do so.

Of course the minibus taxis, most of whom are going through the intersection towards Bothasig use the left lane to get to the front of the queue and then cut someone off at the traffic light as they force their way into the traffic going through the light and not turning into Montague drive.

Guess what!

NO ONE does a thing and the taxis get away with this practice day in and day out.

Just a bit further up this same road traffic cops sit under a tree with their cameras trying to catch someone going more than 60 kph when traffic is being disrupted by taxis cutting people off. Why don’t they just sit at the intersection and make a fortune photographing vehicles cutting in at the traffic light.

There are many other roads that could be patrolled where dangerous driving is taking place but its easier to photograph people speeding than to confront actual drivers who need to be taken off the roads.

My heading to this post “Nine children killed in a Minibus accident in Cape Town.” is a case in point.

At a busy railway crossing near Kuils River the railway booms were down and red lights were flashing indicating that there was a train on the way when this taxi which was loaded with school children came from the back of a queue of nine cars ( most probably on the wrong side of the road) to drive around the half boom and enter the domain of the oncoming train. I have heard of stupid things but this takes the cake.

From reports it appears that this was not the first time this taxi driver had done this. Only this time he misjudged with the result that nine of his passengers were killed and he and four other children were injured and are now in hospital.

Police are investigating the accident which could have been avoided if the driver had waited for the train to go by and the booms to reopen but NO this taxi driver thought he was Stirling Moss and could beat a speeding train.

If I was a parent of one of those children I would be very unhappy about the situation and would definitely take action against anybody and everybody remotely involved with this accident.

If the actions of the taxis ( the instances listed above are just the tip of the iceberg) were properly policed and these drivers who place people’s lives at risk were removed from the road when they overtook vehicles where there was no overtaking space or cut in at traffic lights then we would not have the death toll we have on our roads.

In a recent accident where a bus overturned in the Hex River the driver and the owner of the bus have both been charged with murder. I think the accident above warrants the same action. Why should irresponsible drivers be allowed to place our lives at risk and then get away scot free when something goes wrong.

In fact the accident above was not an accident but a calculated risk by a driver with no concern for his passengers or his fellow road users.

Hopefully he will never be allowed on the roads again.

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Athlone Towers Imploded

Geoff — Sun, 22 Aug 2010 20:11:38 +0000

Athlone towers as they were over the past 50 years

Just for old times sake I am including a number of pictures of the towers before they were imploded from various venues around Cape Town. From these photographs you can see that the towers were more or less at the centre of the Cape Flats and were a landmark that many Capetonians used when navigating around the city. After today you might find a couple of locals getting lost on their way from work.

Towers from Signal Hill

View from Kirstenbosch

Today the 22nd of August 2010 at about 11.56 am the Athlone towers were imploded much to the disappointment of Capetonians who had gathered with cameras in hand to video and photograph this once ina lifetime event.

Towers shortly before the implosion taken from the Tygerberg

Media had been advising people that the towers would go down at noon and everybody was caught looking the other way when 4 minutes before the zero hour there was an explosion and the towers collapsed.

I personally had been at my post on the hillside of the Tygerberg for more than 50 minutes ready to get the once in a lifetime photograph at noon when a lady closeby shouted “there goes the first tower”. I did not even have time to look up and by that time the second tower was also gone and all I could see was a dust cloud.

I am sure that I was not the only one who missed the collapse of the towers and I know that certain TV stations also missed the implosion due to the early blast.

I would love to know why the mayor who is supposed to have been pressing the button did so before 12 o’clock.

Enough about the disappointment, one has to make the best of a bad case so have found a video which caught all the action and you can view it below.

Below are some more photos of the Cape Flats without our beloved salt and pepper pots. All that is left is the dust cloud and a heap of rubble.

The dust cloud after the implosion. The large screen TV on the right also missed the implosion

Thanks to all those of you who have read my blog and the article on the Athlone towers. This event has put my blog on the map.

Another view

Please keep coming back, maybe Cape Town will find something else to peak the interest of its residents.

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Spring flowers are blooming in Cape Town

Geoff — Tue, 17 Aug 2010 21:30:10 +0000

Interested in a day tour to the West Coast to see the flowers?
Email us to find out the details.

Please Note:
A minimum of 6 people required for a tour to run.

House on a hill Yzerfontein

It will officially be spring in Cape Town on the 1st of September but no one told the wild flowers that they should wait for then to start flowering.

The weather was nice this weekend so on Sunday afternoon I took a drive out to Yzerfontein on the west coast to see the flowers.

There were a few flowers blooming on the west coast road but nothing like the array that I found in the streets of Yzerfontein. Most of the flowers were growing wild.

The local Cape Town newspaper has been speaking about wild flowers this week and mentioning things such as Freitangs and Surings.

Surings/ Sierings/ Sorrel. I have never seen so many in one place before

There are the suurings / sierings/ sorrel which I ate as a child. You dig up the plant and it has a white root and this is what you eat. The long stems and flowers are also edible but as the dogs use them to lift their legs on you have to wash them first.

The Western Cape is part of the Cape Floral Kingdom in which there are 8000+ species of plants , more than in any other floral kingdom of the world and yet we have the smallest land mass for our flowers to grow in.

Below are a few of the flowers that make up our floral kingdom. The west coast has many more but these are the ones that i could find that were flowering at the moment.

There are one or two photos which I have no clue what the flower is. If you know just write a comment and I’ll pick it up and fix the photo. I have placed a question mark behind the title that I have given the flowr when I am unsure.

If you want to see this floral display get out to Yzerfontein as soon as possible as this batch is already starting to die off. Postberg in the West Coast Nature Reserve should also be open now for those who want to see real carpets of flowers.

Orange vygie

These daisies come in purple and yellow. This season only the yellows are blooming.?

Oxalis sp

A field of colour

A dazzling purple sour fig flower.

Sour figs and sorrel growing together

Daisy ?

Gazanias

Yellow pincushion protea (not normally found at Yzerfontein)

Krantz Aloe ?

Cigarette Mesemb or Vygie

Batch of Cigarette Mesemb / Vygies

Close up of the sierings / sorrel

I think this red flower is part of the geranium/ pelargonium family?

Arum Lily

I know this flower as the snake flower but thats not its name. ?

Aloe Striata X Maculata

Purple Vygie

Yellow teebosiie

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Death of the Seli 1 on the shores of Table Bay

Geoff — Sun, 15 Aug 2010 22:01:32 +0000

18.9.2010 - Table Mountain at sunset

The Seli 1 a Turkish freighter ran aground on the shores of Table Bay in the early morning of the 18th September 2009. As is usual with ships that run aground on our coastlime once they land on the beach they stay there.

There are exceptions such as the Sealand Express which ran aground a few kilometres south of where the Seli 1 now lies and which was refloated.

The Seli 1 or as I call it the ” Silly One” had a cargo of coal onboard as well as tons of fuel oil.

After running aground the crew were taken off the ship and she was abandoned by her owners and her insurers leaving Cape Town to clean up the mess.

Fortunately the weather played ball and over a number of weeks the fuel oil was removed by pumping it onto a smaller vessel which was anchored nearby. This oil was then taken across the bay to the Duncan Docks where it was pumped ashore.

The coal on board could have been a problem as well if the ship had broken up but fortunately it did not and all the 600 tons of coal on board were removed and sold so all chances of pollution have been eliminated.

The authorities in Cape Town have now been left with a wreck on a pristine coastline which they are now removing by cutting it up and removing it bit by bit.

On this webpage I am going to post a host of photos I have taken over the past year showing how man and nature have worked together to break up a wreck .

18.9.2009 - Seli 1 shortly after running aground

18.9.2009 - Crews quarters - Notice how high the stern is above the water

18.9.2009 - Rescue vehicles guarding the shoreline

18.9.2009 - Remains of the ship's life raft

18.9.2009 - Sun setting over the Seli 1 on its first day on the beach

15.10.2009 -Helicopter about to land on the Seli 1 to drop of crew

15.10.2009 - Oil tender taking on oil and helicopter landing on Seli 1

15.10.2009 - Oil is being pumped into blue tank on tug alongside Seli 1

15.10.2009 - I am sure this is the reason for the ship running aground. The ship is aground right opposite the KFC shop

15.10.2009 From this angle it looks as if the Seli 1 has broken her back

30.10.2009 - Seli 1 still looking good after a month on the beach

30.10.2009 - Table Bays' pristine coastline with not a hint of pollution.

7.11.2009 - Table Mountain has disappeared under the clouds

7.11.2009 - Weather turning bad. It could cause the ship to break up and spill its cargo onto the shore.

7.11.2009 - Kite boarders make use of the winds and waves created by the ship

6.12.2009 - Removal of the coal has begun

31.1.2010 -Seli 1 taken from the north

11.4.2010 - The Table View coastline at sunset

11.4.2010 -One of the many sunsets Seli 1 has seen from the beach at Table View

12.5.2010 -Seli 1 has sunk deeper into the sand

12.5.2010 -Seli 1 looking worse for wear after nearly a year of neglect.

12.5.2010 -Seli 1 lying deeper in the sand.

14.5.2010 -Crew quarters taking on water

14.5.2010 - Seli 1taking on water during a storm

14.5.2010 -Interested spectators flying overhead

3.6.2010 -Seli 1 Fire breaks out on board. Ship left to burn.

3.6.2010 -Seli 1 burns on into the night

4.6.2010 -Seli 1 Fires out but looking badly damaged

4.6.2010 - Crew quarters have been destroyed by the fire started by acetylene torches

4.6.2010 -Seli still lying in the bay

4.6.2010 -Close up view after the fire

4.6.2010 -Seli 1 another view

15.7.2010 -Seli 1 with her funnel gone.

15.7.2010 - Workers are cutting crew quarters down and sending the scrap metal to the harbour in Cape Town.

15.7.2010 -Seli 1 Another view of the sad end of a once proud ship

15.8.2010 -Seli 1 Crew quarters almost gone now.

15.8.2010 - Close upof the remains of the crew's quarters.

The saga of the Seli1 has not ended yet. Ship breakers are busy cutting up the ship for resale of the metal and their intention is to finish cutting up the crew’s quarters which has been difficult a they have had to use ladders and ropes to get to the high parts to cut them down.

Once the crews quarters are gone the cranes will be removed and then the rest of the ship will be cut apart so that very little of the full will be left.

How they are going to get underwater to cut up the part that is underwater will be anybody’s guess but I will keep tabs on the ship and post new photos as things happen.

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Neethlingshof Wine Estate

Geoff — Thu, 12 Aug 2010 21:21:16 +0000

Neethlingshof Cape Dutch Manor House and Restaurant

As a tour guide one is always on the lookout for places to take your foreign visitors. There are many wine estates in the Cape Winelands but one wine farm that stands out is the Neethlingshof estate.

This estate has been around since 1692 when Simon van der Stel one of the Dutch governors of the Cape gave permission to a german settler named Willem Barend Lubbe, to farm on the Bottelery Hills. Lubbe named the estate “De Wolwedans” (The Dance of Wolves), after the many jackals that lived in the hills at that time. Coming from Germany he thought these small creatures were wolves.

Neethlingshof garden where wedding photos are often taken

To get to this wine estate one can approach it from two sides along the Polkadraai road, either from the direction of Stellenbosch the second oldest town in South Africa or from the Kuilsriver side which is n the western slopes of the Bottelery Hills.

Approaching from the Kuilsriver side one has to pass the Polkadraai strawberry farm where other than strawberries on sale they also have a large number of scarecrows . The scarecrows to me are more interesting than the strawberries. As a tourguide one always has to find something to talk about and as I pass this farm I always tell my visitors about how the strawberry farm gets around the shrinkage problem, people eating strawberries while they pick them.

Polkadraai farm has a unique way of marketing their strawberries by letting the public in to pick their own and then weighing the contents of their baskets when they leave and charging by the kilo for their strawberries. As many people cannot stop themselves from popping a few berries into their mouths along the way I always tell my guests how the farm weighs people entering to pick strawberries and then weighs them again afterwards and charges them for the difference in weight.. Of course it’s a joke but you would be surprised at how many ladies object to the fact of being weighed.

New life on the vines

The Neethlingshof estate is just a few kilometres further on in the direction of Stellenbosch and can easily be identified by the large fountain one can see shooting up into the air from a kilometre or two away. Just before the entrance to the farm there are a row of farmworkers cottages on the left side of the road, all very neat and tidy. These labourers cottages are not unique but were some of the first built for workers on farms during the apartheid era. Normally farmworkers lived in squalour and were paid by the “dop” system. A dop being a glass or two of wine each evening.

There is a story I must tell about the dop system here. A farmer who paid his workers in wine used to use a cow’s horn to give each of his workers their quota of wine each evening. The worker’s as was their tradition took the horn full of wine, threw back their heads and poured the wine down their throats not even stopping to swallow. ( It’s nothing unusual here in Cape Town, I’ve seen men take a 750ml bottle of wine and finish it in one swallow. It takes some doing but they do it!)

On this farm the farmer decided one day to test his workers to see if he could get away with giving them less wine. To do this he filled the bottom of the horn with paper and then poured the wine on top of this. The first couple of workers took their horn quota and swallowed it with no comment as to the lesser amount in the horn.

At last one of the older workers got his turn to have his daily quota and as usual poured the wine down his throat. On emptying the horn he immediately turned to the farmer and said to him that there was something wrong. The old worker did not know what the problem was but there was something wrong. After a lot of questions from the farmer as to what was wrong the worker eventually told the farmer that it usually took him three swallows to empty the horn and on this day there was only two. The farmer was caught out and redfaced he had to admit that he had sabotaged the horn. That was life on the farms back in the apartheid era.

This might have happened on Neethlingshof in the old days but certainly does not happen now.

Neethlingshof Cape Dutch Manor House and Restaurant built in 1814

Neethlingshof has a unique entrance where on arrival at the estate one has to drive through about 500 metres of pine trees which form an arch over the roadway as you approach the old Cape Dutch buildings and manor house. There are not only pines but the closer you get to the farm buildings the more oak trees you will come across. The oak trees date back to the time of Simon van der Stel who gave oak trees to the farmers to plant on their farms when he gave them farms. The reason for the oak trees was to eventually use them for wine barrels but van der Stel did not take our South African climate into consideration and when it came time to use the oak it was found to be porous and useless for making wine barrels. He then left them to beautify the farms in and around Stellenbosch and they are still here today,

Neethlingshof new tasting room

Neethlingshof welcomes tourists and locals to visit their winery and tasting rooms. The tasting rooms have recently been renovated and now open up onto the cellar where visitors can see the hundreds of wine barrels filled with maturing wines. Guests visiting the tasting rooms are seated around a table or they can sit or stand at the bar counter whre they are given a list from which they can choose a number of wines to taste.

Neethlingshof Wine cellars

The attendants explain the various wines they are tasting and at the end of the tasting visitors are invited to buy some wine from the farm’s wine shop. At Neethlingshof this shop has been moved from the rear of the old tasting rooms to the front near the entrance.

From a tour guides perspective taking people to a winery on a wine tour is a very interesting experience. People when joining a tour are very self conscious and tend to whisper among themselves or to their partners while on the bus to the winelands. Once seated around the wine tasting table all self consciousness disappears and the coach full of strangers who were too scared to look at one another suddenly all become wine connosieurs discussing the pros and cons of the wines they are tasting. By the end of the tasting they have all become firm friends and many exchange email addresses and hotel addresses and make arrangements to met somewhere else in our city for a meal or a drink. It’s wonderful what a few glasses of wine can do.

Locals however know it all and don’t worry too much about tasting the local wines. They prefer to visit the winery’s restaurant and enjoy a fantastic meal out. Most wine farms these days have a restaurant and cater for large and small groups. Weddings on wine farms have become very popular and many of the wine farms have set themselves up to cater for weddings and even provide facilities for the actual wedding.

Neethlingshof has a restaurant called the Lord Neethling named after a previous owner who loved the good life and was nicknamed the Lord by the locals of his time. This restaurant is set up in he old Cape Dutch manor house on the farm and can cater for 250 people inside and a total of 400 guests if they are seated outside under the trees as well.

While we were visiting the farm recently a wedding party arrived to take photographs and there were a number of large coaches with people enjoying lunch.

Neethlingshof is a popular venue and a place I recommend that you take yourself and your foreign visitors to visit when you next go the winelands of the Cape.

You will be glad you did.

Enjoy!