• city-sightseeing-cape-town

    Travel Review: A Hasty Hop On, Hop Off Cape Town’s CitySightseeing Buses

    18 June 2016 - By 

    In  April,  I  finally  had  the  chance  to  ‘hop  on,  hop  off’  one  of  the  Mother  City’s  most  familiar  sights:  the bright  red,  open  top  CitySightseeing  Cape  Town  buses.  These  buses  exist  in  cities  worldwide  –  and  ever since  I  first  discovered  the  sightseeing  tours  on  offer,  I  have  felt  we  are  strangely  blessed  to  be  among one  of  these  global  cities,  which  CitySightseeing  and  their  characteristically  colourful  buses  frequent, granting  even the stoutest  local  the  chance  of  a unique,  almost  international  experience. Although  originally  brought  to  us  from  overseas  (where  their  global  reach  ever  increases;  you can view the…

  • Café Review: Bean There Coffee Roastery, Cape Town

    3 June 2016 - By 

    Please note: Bean There Coffee Roastery’s coffee shop has since closed. Recently, I had the pleasure of visiting a coffee shop that has been on my list (in Cape Town, you need a list with all the places that keep temptingly mushrooming into existence) for a while: Bean There Coffee Roastery, officially launched in 2011 (though it also has Braamfontein and Milpark roasteries among its ranks). It is quite easily noticeable from the road when you enter Wale Street because of its compact white exterior and also, its cheery, lemon yellow outdoor seating, which certainly catches your eye as you pass…

  • Expo Review: The Power of Poison Exhibition, Cape Town

    22 April 2016 - By 

    After my Titanic Expo experience and subsequent reviews, I was kindly invited back to explore the Power of Poision Expo, which was set to arrive on South African shores in April 2016. A quick bit of research revealed that the Power of Poison Exhibition, offered by none other than the esteemed American Museum of Natural History, is a hugely interactive, fun and immensely popular exhibition that looks at both the good and bad aspects of poison, as it is found in: nature, history, literature, medicine and even fairy tales! I was instantly intrigued by this and my guest visit was…

  • Travel Review: Cape Town’s Oldest Daily Traditional – The Firing of the Noon Day Cannon

    7 March 2016 - By 

    On March 4th, I finally ticked yet another Cape Town adventure off my local travel wishlist. It is something I have been wanting to do for almost two years now… so I will provide a little background story behind my quest to visit the Signal Hill Noon Day Cannon. It all started in January 2014 when, driving around the CBD with my parents, we heard what sounded like a mini-explosion go off in the city in the midst of a hot, summer haze of frenetic traffic. I joked and said it must be something exploding beneath us, as the sound…

  • Expo Review: Titanic Artifact Exhibition, Cape Town – Part 2

    26 February 2016 - By 

    When you step into the upstairs level of the Watershed, where the second part of the Titanic Artifact Exhibition (running till March 13th) is housed, you instantly feel the change as the temperature drops, the spotlights seem to alter and even the music soundtrack makes a more dramatic shift as you are warned of an iceberg ahead. There you will learn about the brave and hard-working men, who worked in the bowels of the Titanic’s Boiler rooms, where 159 coal-fired furnaces and 29 boilers would consume 825 tons of coal per day, as engineers – known as the ‘Black Gang’…

  • Expo Review: Titanic Artifact Exhibition, Cape Town – Part 1

    26 February 2016 - By 

    A hundred-and-four years after the tragic sinking of the Titanic, the wonderful, internationally-acclaimed ‘Titanic: The Artifact Exhibition’ finally graced S.A. shores when it opened at the V&A’s Watershed (Jubilee Hall) on November 22nd, 2015. Originally set to run until March 6th, the Titanic Expo has been extended until March 13th due to its immense popularity among tourists and locals alike, and when you visit and experience it first-hand, it is incredibly easy to understand the awe and popularity behind this amazing, intensely historical expo. As a resident of Cape Town and someone who has personally been captivated by this tragic…

  • Festival Review: Valentine’s Day at the Burger Festival, Cape Town

    18 February 2016 - By 

    Perhaps one of the things I love most about the Western Cape – and the Mother City – is its enthusiasm for outdoors festivals and markets, and 2016 has seen yet another such festival added to the city’s growing event ranks in none other than: The Burger Festival. Tickets to Cape Town’s first-ever exclusive Burger Festival sold out quickly, especially the Early Bird tickets (R55), which were snapped up in a heartbeat, having already been announced as ‘sold out’ in mid-Jan. Normal Bird tickets (R75) had also sold out by the time my interest really started to pique and Late…

  • Bakery + Cafe Review: Vovo Telo, Cape Town

    15 February 2016 - By 

    I’m blessed with some fairly extraordinary people in my life and I’m never more of aware of this fact than when my birthday rolls around each February. This year was no different and for my entire, so-called ‘birthday week’, friends and family made sure I was blessed with: love, good company and, not least of all, amazing food – and some top quality ‘caffeine fixes’ too! As a very special birthday treat, one of my close friends said weeks in advance that she wanted to take me out for a light meal and coffee at a place of my choosing.…

  • Cafe Review – Yours Truly (Kloof Street), Cape Town

    8 February 2016 - By 

    This past week saw me exploring two of my city’s more charming eat-out places and I have to say, visiting Yours Truly on a sizzling hot Friday with a close friend was the perfect way to kick-start my first weekend back in the glorious Mother City. And to simultaneously conclude a very busy, but fun-filled and productive ‘birthday week’ in laid-back fashion. For months now, I have passed the Yours Truly Café on my way up Kloof Street and have, I confess, rather enviously eyed that almost subtropical food haven and its seemingly contented, chatty diners from the pavement. So,…

  • Back Down to the ‘Bowl’: Platteklip Gorge Hike – Part 2

    19 November 2015 - By 

    Continuing  from  where  I  left  off  in  the  first  installment  of  my  Platteklip  Gorge  Hike  (to read  Part  1,  please  see my site),  I  was  unexpectedly  refreshed  and  content  once  I  finally  reached the  top of the  Table. As  soon  as  I  emerged  into  the  open  (if  you’ve  hiked  the  Gorge  or  India  Venster  trails),  I found  visitors  zigzagging  along  the  mountain’s  vast  expanses,  enjoying  some  of  the  more immediate  of  Table  Mountain  National  Park’s  (TMNP)  many  walks.  These  include: Agama-,  Klipspringer-  and  Dassie-Walk,  which  apparently  take  between  15-45  minutes to  cover. (Speaking  of  India Venster,  I  found  out  where …