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| << November01, 2004 - Turtle EssaysEdition no 109 dated 1st November 2004 |
November15, 2004 - Turtle Essays no 111 dated 156 November 2004 >> |
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Turtle Essays Edition no 110 dated 8th November 2004 ** Interested in Internet marketing? Get started with a free course from my friend Mike. It's great and full of tips one can use. http://hop.clickbank.net/?brerrabbit/mcplants ** Music , Music , Music! Get 20% off all music in our shop Buy yours today at: http://www.kalahari.net/e-trader/referral.asp?toolbar=mweb&linkid=25&partnerid=2964 ** In this edition: Editor's Blurb Cape Town's Summer Season Visit to the Southern Peninsula ** Editors Blurb: Hi there folks Welcome to all my regular readers. It's great to have you all back again this week. I've written two articles this week which I hope you will enjoy. This week has been a lot of fun. I've had two days on film sets again, one of them for an advert. The other for a major accident scene on the movie Super Nova being filmed here in Cape Town. I was really battered and bruised on this one. See the photo on my website at Http://www.turtlesa.com/ezine110.html I am beginning to enjoy this extra work, not for the extra cash it brings in but for the locations we are taken to and some of the people one meets. Well thats enough from me for this week See you all soon. Geoff Fairman ** Cape Town's Summer Season It's that time of year again here in Cape Town. Fifty days to Christmas I hear the radio stations reporting. There are stories of Christmas lights being bigger and better than previous years. Table Mountain has been floodlit for the summer season and looks a picture with its crags all lit up at night. All stores and major shopping centres are taking out and dusting off their Christmas decorations. Some of the early starters already have everything in place. We call this the silly season as it is the time when people go mad. Party after party, night after night, drinking and driving and and having accidents. Have pity on hospital staff at this time of the year. Up to their armpits in road accident victims, drunks, knife wounds and shootings not to talk about murders assaults and the like. It is also the time of year when the criminals come out in force. Visitors to Cape Town are their targets as they are easy prey. Capetonians know to hang onto their wallets, watches and to hide their jewellery under their clothing when walking the streets of Cape Town. Look like a visitor and you may be targeted. Blend in and the chances are you should be okay. Of course the traffic patterns change drastically at this time of the year. At the beginning of December when the schools close for summer holidays, the morning traffic into town slows down a bit and one can leave for work a little later than usual. ???Why does this happen???? you might ask. Well, Mom's taxis are not on the roads delivering little Johnnie to school and many of us take our annual holidays now. Those who love camping hitch up their caravans and make for the beaches and caravan sites in country towns such as Mossel Bay and Plettenberg Bay along the south coast of SA. Of course, when the schools close Cape Town is invaded by the Vaalies (Gautengers) as we call them. They hit the road to Cape Town and takeover every bit of accommodation that can be found in Cape Town. Cape Town's car registration plates change overnight from CA or CY to GP. Many Capetonians have become wise to this influx of people and hire out their homes to the Vaalies to make a quick buck. It's a shame however how some shopkeepers take advantage of the influx of people and up prices for the season. Even the locals who keep them in business for most of the year are ripped off over Christmas. After new year the Gautengers are forced to leave as school holidays in SA are staggered and the Gautengers go back to school earlier than we do. Once the Cape Town schools go back in mid January most things return to normal and that includes the traffic. That does not mean that Cape Town quietens down because it then that the rest of the world starts arriving. People escaping from the northern hemisphere winter arrive in their droves from the end of January onwards. This in fact is the best time to come as the weather starts cooling down and the south east winds which blow at this time of the year start abating. Cape Town is already preparing for your visit, have you booked your trip yet. We are looking forward to showing you our beautiful country. See you all here soon. ** The Southern Peninsula A visit to the southern peninsula is something everybody visiting Cape Town should do. The scenery along the Atlantic coastline from Kommetjie around the mountain to Misty Cliffs and Scarborough is awesome. Looking down onto the village of Kommetjie and out over the Atlantic ocean one is amazed its beauty. From the mountain road one can see the basin ( The Kom as its known) formed by the island and the rocky bay after which Kommetjie is named. The coast from Kommetjie point towards Cape Point is made up of flat rocks which extend out to sea. It's on these rocks that the kelp beds have established themselves and it's here among the rocks and kelp that the crayfish abound. A few kilometres down the coast a crayfish factory has been built and is where boats catching crayfish in the kelp come and offload their precious cargoes. The coastline turns back on itself near the factory and forms a beautiful bay with a pristine white beach that runs east to west and ends up against the mountainside. This beach is used by surfers to get to the waves which enter the bay and break against the rocky cliffs of the mountain slopes which drop into the sea nearby. Misty Cliffs a small settlement built on the mountainside overlooking the bay is constantly shrouded in mist put up by the waves breaking against the mountainside. The wild flower show is a pure delight with bright purple pelargoniums and proteas competing against each other in a sea of colour. The sea with its blue and turquoise water cannot be outdone and also vies for your attention. On the day of my visit a pod of whales was swimming in the shallow waters about 500 metres off the rocks and every now and again a tail fluke or a flipper would appear above the water. The area is a photographers dream with so much going on. Moving on from Misty Cliffs the next village we come across is Scarborough. It was recently put on the map when a large ship ran aground on its doorstep. Luckily salvors managed to refloat the ship and drag it out to sea where it was scuttled saving the bay from a terrible eyesore. Scarborough has two attractions, Camel Rock and a beautiful bay with a pristine beach. The rock is shaped like a camel and is situated next to the road near the entrance to the village. Over the years it has become one of the most photographed rocks in Cape Town. While I was at the rock I turned and photographed the mountainside and inadvertently caught a local in the act of committing a crime. A Chacma Baboon had strayed into the village and had found some food in the garden of a house and politely helped himself to it. I caught it clambering over the garden wall before it quietly sat down in the middle of the road and ate its prize. The pristine bay around which Scarborough is built is well utilised by the locals who could be seen surfing, swimming and tanning. I'm not sure how warm the water was but going by the actions of people entering the water it must have been pretty cold. The southern peninsula has many gems which can be easily missed by rushing headlong for Cape Point. Take your time and have your tour guide turn off the main road every now and again to allow you to explore this interesting coastline. You will be glad you did! ** Turtle Travels new blog is online now. Topic : A thief caught in the act. See pictures of this casual thief in the blog. Here is the link http://turtleessays.blogspot.com If you have not visited this blog before, do so as there are some unique photos on site. Your comments will be appreciated. ** Lotto Loser? Change your luck today Give yourself a winning chance http://hop.clickbank.net/?brerrabbit/shaneomac2 ** Please read the disclaimer at http://www.turtlesa.com/Disclaimer.html See you all soon Geoff Fairman ** |
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| << November01, 2004 - Turtle EssaysEdition no 109 dated 1st November 2004 |
November15, 2004 - Turtle Essays no 111 dated 156 November 2004 >> |
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