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Doing it again

There is always a desire to do something different when we are in Cape Town, though there are things we cannot tire of doing and repeating out of the beauty of the experience and how the passage of time allows us to see things anew.

The walks to the Victoria & Alfred Waterfront, sitting at Nobel Square where now all the four Nobel Peace Prize laureates from South Africa whose statues stand there have passed on, the last two within months of each other.

Funny funicular fudge

Other popular places we have visited many times and today we decided to return to Cape Point and take that 45-minute walk from Cape Point to Cape of Good Hope. On arriving at Cape Point, we thought we would have enough time to visit the lighthouse before going on the trek, but with the time we queued for tickets to the funicular ride up and the waiting to board, there wasn’t enough time before returning to the rendezvous point for the trek.

One thing we noticed about the funicular situation suggests there might be some nefarious activity involved in the ticketing process that probably should be investigated, then we are not accusing anyone of anything, yet it did not escape our cursory observation. I paid for two adult return tickets, and I was given two separate proofs of payment and two return tickets with barcodes.

I gave one ticket to Brian, and we presented our tickets at the turnstile, mine was read and I walked through, but Brian’s did not let him through that the staff used a ticket from the next person to let him through. I suppose our apparent discomfiture made the staff improvise and we thought nothing of it.

A collusion in practice

At the top, we only had time to use the gents, take a few pictures and return on the funicular where this time, Brian was able to walk through the turnstile, but my ticket was refused as having already been used. The staff there did not do much to check my ticket, he simply led me to the passthrough gate by unlinking the chain.

It was then that we compared tickets and found that the reference codes and barcodes were the same when they should have been different. It would appear I was genuinely charged for 2 adults, but the ticket was duplicated for just one. For this to work if there is no proper reconciliation between tickets issued and moneys collected, the funicular staff have to collude in a fraudulent enterprise. I have my doubts that paying for two adults would have produced two identical codes rather than unique ones.

The fact that it was overlooked at the departure gate and the return gate of the funicular service would suggest something fishy, but who knows? An error of sorts in the system? I cannot say for sure; I just have an eye for interesting irregularities, and this was one of them.

Like a different tour

We arrived in time for the trek, it was exciting as it was at times also terrifying, but we did it along with seeing such breath-taking views at the edges of continental Africa. The tour had changed from a first stop at Bloubergstrand with picture-postcard views of the Table Mountain to Kalk Bay, the tour guide was a chatterbox raconteur who seemed to retell the tall tour tales we had heard before with more relish and insight, we were caught between amazement and rolling our eyes, most of the time.

As the restaurant at Cape Point had closed, we made for Seaforth not far from Simonstown where we had a late launch and as we had seen quite a few penguins in bigger colonies, Boulders Penguin Colony presented no particular interest to us. Water’s Edge Beach and Boulders Beach were teeming with crowds that we hardly noticed on our last visit.

We even got to see wild eland and ostriches at the Table Mountain National Park, we could not have said it was the same tour of April 2019. As we returned through Simonstown to Cape Town.

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South Africa: Table Mountain, Cape Town

Table Mountain first

As I got to Cape Town a Friday week ago, I was picked up at the airport by the chauffeur service I had ordered through my travel plans and made for my hotel.

Immediately after checking into my room, I looked out of the window and the backdrop to the horizon was the majesty of the Table Mountain, the side that looks like the table.

Going from the advice of the two pilots I met on my way to Cape Town, in the lounge and on the plane, I knew I had to get this event in as soon as possible.

Easy tickets and no queues

I did I quick web search and found that I could get my tickets online and possibly avoid the ticket queues at the place. I bought my ticket which appears to grant a 7-day access to the mountain.

The hotel kindly printed out my ticket and I called an UberBlack taxi to take me to the lower station of the cable car ride to the top of the mountain. Not knowing what to expect at the top of the mountain, I did my nature calls and then took the lift to the platform to await the cable car.

When the cable car arrived, there were just two seats in the centre at either side of the cable car driver, I took one as I tried to understand how the floor could be rotating and my still having the same view, I never figured it out.

Views only experience can explain

At the top of the mountain, I took in breathtaking views of Cape Town, beaches with turquoise coloured waters and much else that exemplifies the beauty of nature from a vantage point.

With my pair of binoculars and I suddenly realised they were over 20 years old now, the signs of wear were already showing on the casing, but the sights through the viewers were still as keen as if they were new, I saw clouds folding over the far end of the mountain in ways that would fill you with wonderment. Sometimes, the best appreciation of the beauty of our world can only be captured in experience rather than in pictures.

Then, I took the middle distance walk on top of the mountain spending about 3 hours there just taking in the views before descending via the cable car, this time, the floor was not rotating and I still could not tell the difference between the ascent and the descent, but that was one of my Cape Town goals completed.

Atop Table Mountain

Cape Town: Weathering two interesting pilots

Cape Town must be done

As my weekends rolled by towards the penultimate one in South Africa, I realised I needed to visit Cape Town to do the main and essential things and yet there would never really be enough time to do Cape Town justice.

The last time I was in Cape Town, I could only do the short bus tour before I was whisked away to a colleague’s home where we had a typical South African barbeque called a braai.

After struggling a bit to arrange travel online, I decided to visit a travel agent and this proved really valuable in the information I got and the appreciation of what I could get done in two days of a weekend. I planned on going up the cable car to the top of Table Mountain and also visiting Robben Island.

The travel agent then booked the flights, accommodation and airport transfers, the tours were best booked in Cape Town as I was advised because the weather could be unpredictable.

First pilot acquaintance

In the airport lounge, a mother with two boisterous boys was busy on her mobile phone as I took a seat not far from them when I realised it was a family with the father being a pilot with South African Airways brandishing a 3-stripe epaulette.

They were conversing in Afrikaans, most of which I understood using my Dutch knowledge, I was struggled to get the gripe off my glasses when got up and presented me with proper lens cleaners. I thanked him in Dutch and also said I could understand Afrikaans too.

He first thought I was Dutch, at least, the subtle differences in language help determine whether one is speaking Dutch or Afrikaans, the expression of gratitude can be a Shibboleth.

A conversation ensued as I told them I was visiting Cape Town for the weekend and they were on their way home to Cape Town from Hong Kong. The most important bit of information I got was about the weather, he checked the forecast and though it was cloudy in Cape Town on Friday morning, he surmised from the wind and humidity factors that it would be a clear day to go up Table Mountain.

I quickly realised too that pilots probably knew just as much about the weather as meteorologists, because that determines how they fly, just as must as the weather is important to sailors and mariners too.

Second pilot acquaintance

On the flight, I had the window seat sat beside a lady who seems to concentrate on her music and iPad for most of the journey. The Airbus A340 wide-bodied airliner was a revelation, ample leg room, almost fully reclining seats you could step out onto the aisle without disturbing your co-passenger. The aisle itself was wide enough for people to pass without having to sidle through if another passenger were put their hand luggage in the overhead cabins.

I noticed that she was not only recognised by the crew but literally every one of them came round to say hello, including other crew that were travelling as passengers. At one brief moment when she did not seem to be doing anything, I decided to start a conversation by asking if she lived in Cape Town.

She did, and in the process I learnt that she was returning from a holiday in America and as the conversation developed, another crew member came round to say hello and then asked when she was getting her fourth stripe. And though both cabin and flight crew can get stripes, I decided to play safe and ask instead if she also worked for South African Airways and it transpired she was a long-haul flight pilot with three-stripe epaulettes and one of the two female pilots that fly such distances.

A much interesting person

She sometimes flies the aircraft we were on, which is sometimes co-opted onto the busy Johannesburg to Cape Town route. By a strange coincidence, the captain of the flight we were on was the other long-haul flight South African Airways female pilot.

We got to talking about how she loved flying and that she had always wanted to fly from the age of 10, the only downside to the job was fatigue management, from crossing an average of 6 time zones overnight that there were days it was difficult to say what day of the week they were in.

As we approached, Cape Town, she hinted that the hotel I was staying at served an amazing menu of milkshakes and looking out, she also predicted that the clouds will lift enough to not only be able to summit the Table Mountain but that the views will be stunning too, that afternoon. Pilots know best when it comes to the weather.

Our conversation about many other things continued until we parted ways at baggage reclaim, and so, I was set for Cape Town, picked up by the pre-arranged shuttle service.