Tours in Cape Town

Century City Station with Table Mountain in the background

Being a tourist guide one visits places with the people from other countries and sees what they see but as you are working you do not actually experience what the guests do.

This Wednesday when the Dutch were in town to support their team I took off my tourist guides badge and became a tourist in my own city.

There were a number of things I wanted to experience by doing that. Firstly public transport and especially the trains  as they have had a bad name mainly because of criminal elements on the trains  who rob passengers.

The local authorites in line with the world cup have upped security at railway stations and made it a whole lot safer to travel on them. Knowing this and previously having written about the MyCity buses and how good they were I wanted to experience first hand what people using the park and ride facilities would experience when they attended a match using public transport and the trains.

My lonely car in the Century City parking lot

My wife and I left home bright and early and arrived at the park and ride facility at Century City where we were the first people to be welcomed into the massive parking area. We left our car looking sad and forlorn and all alone in this massive parking area. In fact we were so early that the ferry buses had not yet arrived to ferry passengers to the station about two kilometres away.

As we normally do when going abroad we walk to where we want to be and so we walked the two kilometres to the station arriving just in time to catch the 11.45am train into the city. The cost of getting into the city and back by train was R13.00 a ticket plus R20.00 for parking in the park and ride area.

The train trip takes about 15 minutes to get into the city from Century City and everything went off very smoothly. On the Century City station  there were police officials watching over the station and once we arrived in Cape Town there were hundreds more. Not even a mouse would have dared to help himself to something for fear of being caught and locked up.

The newly refurbished Cape Town Station Councourse

Once off the train we made our way to the fan park through the refurbished and very clean station concourse and then to Darling Street where the entrance of the fanpark is.   Strand Street is open to traffic while all the other streets in close vicinity to the Grand Parade including Darling street are closed  and have  been turned intopedestrian malls. These  malls were lined with vendors selling world cup paraphernalia.

We arrived at the fan park early and settled ourselves down at a table where we enjoyed the atmosphere and something to eat. As we arrived the Dutch were starting to trickle in and it was not long before the fan park was turned orange by the their colourful outfits.

The big stage at the fanfest

On the big stage there was a concert in progress. For the event they had a Dutch compere  entertaining the crowd and making them feel at home in our city.

After the opening day of the world cup when South African fans stormed the fanpark to get in security has been tightened up significantly and it was a pleasure feeling safe and happy in an area where normally you would not do so.

In the fanpark prices of food and drink were a bit steep for South Africans but for people who had brought in foreign currency a beer cost about 2.50 euros or about $3.00, a lot less than I paid for a beer in the UK at B/Stg 3.50 for one beer +- R45.00.

Dutch fans at the Parade fanfest

The Dutch  fans on arrival were very subdued but I suspect they had all had a hard night the night before and were still waking up. What was interesting were the various outfits they were wearing. Anything from a Voortrekker kappie that the dutch ladies wore back in the 1700’s  to clogs and anything they could find coloured bright orange.  Some even had orange hair!

The couple who got engaged

One dutch couple were so overcome by Cape Town that they found their way onto the stage where the guy promptly proposed to his girlfriend, whipped out a ring and got engaged in front of  the Dutch audience in attendance.  It’s a long way to come to get engaged but I suspect they bought the ring in Cape Town and got a bargain price on the diamond.

Dutch fans having a meal in St Georges mall

After an hour or two soaking up the atmosphere of the fan park we decided to walk the fanwalk to the stadium. We were pleasantly surprised at what we saw and experienced. There were hundreds of Dutch fans enjoying meals at the pubs and restaurants in the streets of the city and along the fanwalk.

Flags everywhere along the fan walk to the stadium

In a previous posting I mentioned that there was not a flag in sight anywhere but when I wrote the article it was a week before the world cup. Cape Town has  certainly made up for the lack of flags now. Everywhere you looked was colour and on the day most of it was orange.

What I found really impressive were the new bridges crossing Buitengracht street which made it really easy for fans to make their way to the stadium.

Previously it would have been a massive problem crossing Buitengracht street with its six lanes of traffic. Walking the fan walk was such fun as we chatted to our foreign guests commenting on the game that would be played later. Everyone was in such high spirits and so friendly, even the normally morose security guards and police.

The new pedestrian bridge at the entrance to the Waterfront

Cape Town and the authorities have really upped their game and made the city something we as  locals  can be proud of.

The World's largest Vuvuzela

Eventually we arrived at the stadium which was surrounded by the SA Police who had taken over the security at the stadium after problems with a local security company whose guards went on strike.

They looked most impressive dressed in their uniforms which were enhanced with red and neon green safety equipment.  There were so many of them not even a flea would have gotten into the stadium without being spotted.

Unfortunately my wife and I did not have tickets for the game so we made our way into the V & A Waterfront and then back into the city via the other new bridge over Buitengracht street and past the largest Vuvuzela in the world. (See pictures above)

Cape Town station and suburban trains

Our train trip back to Century City was uneventful except for the boarding of the train on the Cape Town station. The train we were about to board arrived so full of  fans that  it looked like a large tin of sardines .  After a lot of pushing and shoving they all eventually found their way off the train and we could get on and make our way home after a  most enjoyable day out.

I  was most  impressed with  Cape Town’s upgraded public transport system which a couple of months ago I would not have gone near.  Cape Town has now set a benchmark for itself as far as public transport is concerned and is going to be expected to maintain it if  they want the public to use it after the world cup.

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