What’s hot for Christmas

We went Christmas shopping the other day.  That’s right, Christmas shopping!  Can you believe it?  The shops are full of Christmassy things, jingle bells (whiskey?), and big expensive presents to buy.  Personally shopping is not fun for me – I would rather be on my South African holiday, on the beach in the sun sipping cocktails on Camps Bay beach.  But some people love the bustling centers with thousands of people.

This year I got in early, partly because of the infamous Christmas rush, and secondly because the gifts that I bought are in America and the UK and need to be shipped here in time.  This year, I bought online!  For my brother-in-law I got a blu-ray dvd (Hulk, the original), and for my wife I got lingerie.

This season is going to be particularly hot, so we are hiring a car and driving down to Port Elizabeth.  Hope you enjoy your shopping, and take my word – it’s a lot easier online!

You don’t deserve a holiday

This is, either consciously or unconsciously what the average person thinks – that they have not worked hard enough or do not earn enough or don’t have enough time to take a break, a holiday to get away from the stresses and everyday duties.  But this logic may prevent you from being richer!

You see, when you get into too much of a loop or routine, your mind will never be able to find new ideas.  Spend each day on the same task, and you may not be seeing a simple solution to making it so much easier that you can improve productivity and therefore your profit.

Currently South Africa is a great place to take a holiday.  The sun is out, the beaches are amazing, and best of all, the South African Rand to the pound makes it a cheap luxury get-away.  This may be a long-haul destination, but as we are on the same time-line as the UK, it’s a nights sleep, and you are there!

Once there, hire a car, hire a SATNAV, plan your accommodation and just set back to relax for a while – because we are telling you that you really deserve it!

Restaurant review: The good, the bad, the ugly

In South Africa, we have some of the greatest food in the world – there is no doubt about that whatsoever.  When people leave, most of their comments revolve around the incredible tasty food that they consumed in various towns.  Now I am no professional restaurant reviewer, but I have had three very different experiences in Cape Town restaurants that seem to be worthy of writing about.  We did not do a comparative eating session, but went to these restaurants and ate what we felt like on the day.

Pigelle

Personal review:

This restaurant is classy and classic.  It used to be the old ice-rink, so it is very spacious, but elegant.  Service is very good, but when I asked for a glass of water they were rather condescending.  For the meal I had a rib-eye steak which was superb quality and enough food.  Nicky had fish which she enjoyed – and the vegetables we ordered were very tasty.  We attended their “first sitting” so we could not stay for the dancing, but we will definitely go back for that sometime.  The cost was fair for a top-class restaurant, and we were very content with the overall experience

Reviews from http://www.food24.com

The atmosphere is excellent and warm, the service is excellent by well trained waiters, and the food was out of this world. Really a restaurant to visit.

Have just recently become a huge fan of this establishment – management and staff alike run a tight ship.

The food was excellent, the service was outstanding and the live band made it all perfect.

 

Baia

Personal review:

Friends of mine from Scotland hired a vehicle in Port Elizabeth and took a drive down to Cape Town before flying back.  We decided to take them to a restaurant that we had heard very good things about.  We decided on Baia at the V&A waterfront.  This restaurant has great views of the harbor, and it feels like you have entered into a colloquial era with lavish settings.  They sat us down, and it was a bit close to the table of Americans next to us, but we dealt with that.  The waiter offered us wine, and the Scottish people decided to take a bottle.  We had tiny rolls on the table that were freshly baked and tasted good – tried to get some more and got a dirty stare!  We skipped starters and went straight for the main event.  Nicki had a seafood platter and I had a steak.  Food arrived at different times which I would not expect from them, but only about 5 minutes difference, so not that bad.  Nicki was enjoying the seafood which you could taste was done to perfection.  My steak arrived and I was a bit disappointed by the size, but when I tucked in, the taste was incredible!  It had not been grilled like most restaurants – not the way I would normally do a steak, but for this occasion was one very good steak.  Then we shared 2 dessert s.  The night was  going pretty well, and then we asked for the bill.

I have no idea how it came up to the amount that it did, and even for the Scottish friends this seemed excessive.  For the size of the steak I had, it does not really matter how good it tasted, it left a sour taste in my mouth.  We literally could not go to our next restaurant for another month.  Overall, will always remember the food, but would rather put the money into our bond.

Reviews from http://www.food24.com

Decent food, pushy waiter (tried to push a more pricey bottle of wine) and way overpriced in general.

We had dinner there on Friday evening. The food was good, as always, but the service was indifferent and disappointing. We had to call the waiter to the table throughout the entire evening whenever anything was required. Will not go back there soon.

Beluga

A group of friends decided to try Beluga – a restaurant in Green Point.  There were 8 of us, and we were seated quite quickly.  We were seated under the air-conditioner that cools the entire place… even I was freezing, and that does not happen often.  Drinks orders on my side of the table were a strawberry daiquiri, two orange juices, and my glass of water.  The waitress did not write the water down, but I gave her the benefit of the doubt.  Drinks arrived, and of course the water was not there – asked again.  Eventually I had to ask a third time and then it arrived.  The orange juice tasted like it had come from the local corner shop, and we were hoping for something fresher.  The daiquiri was without a doubt very watered down, and we saw somebody at the table next to us return theirs! 

I opened the menu, and with the previous experience decided that there was no way I could justify these prices for a steak.  There was a “paper menu” that Nicki found with prices that we would not clear our accounts out.  I ordered a steak club sandwich and she ordered a butternut dish.  Took a while for the food to arrive, but we excused that due to there being eight people.

Nicki’s plate arrived and there was a lot of white – the porcelain.  The microscopic dish on the side contained the food, and some leaves next to it.  Mine had not arrived, so I took a tiny bit to taste – it was rather good and I was looking forward to my food.  My food arrived and looked smart enough.  I picked up the knife and started cutting through the panina.  I had to cut a while, as it was stale.  I took the first bite, and definitely got a taste that I was not expecting – cheese.  It was awful, I disassembled the panina, put the leaves on the side and saw that they had covered everything in cheese – a horrible cheese at that.  It tasted like old Melrose.  I decided to scrape it all off the meat and the roll, then I tried again.  The taste stayed, and I tried just the meat – it even stayed there, so I decided not to make a scene, and calmly returned the dish.  As 99% of the food was still on the plate, I think it was a really dumb for the waitress to ask if I had enjoyed it.  I said no which she promptly ignored and left.

The other side of the table had ordered the sushi, and seemed to enjoy that.  Our side of the table was not happy at all, and our overall experience was just simply horrid.   We had to ask for the bill three times, which is obviously the magic number there.

Reviews from http://www.food24.com

Tracey and myself go regular to both your resturants and can only rave about the place. It’s like our second kitchen if you ask me. Keep up the work and will see you the weekend.

I went with two separate groups of friends last Friday night and we were horrified that neither the barman nor the waitresses brought us change when we ordered drinks/food.

Went to Beluga for dinner with my friend. Food was very bad! The salmon’s quality is questionable and the service is beyond poor.

 

As a final note, I still think that the “family restaurants” or standard restaurants in this country offer an extremely high level of service and quality for the price that you pay.  If I am going to pay double or triple the price, I expect to get at least the same amount of food with amazing taste and perfect unquestionable service.

SAT NAV for South Africa… in the UK!

If you are on your way to South Africa, and do not know your way around – we have the perfect thing for you…

 

Satellite Navigation, or SAT NAV is possibly one of the best inventions of the century – and makes a map book look archaic.  If you do not want to get lost on your holidays, hire a SAT NAV!  The service has recently been started, and the company behind it all is Zintech.

 

They will deliver the TomTom system to you at your house or place of work, which gives you time to enter the places you are going and to get familiar with the system – it comes with the guides, but you do want to know how to use it before you go.  I have used the TomTom before, and they are absolutely great.

 

Strangely enough, I used mine to get from the airport to my accommodation, then shut it down and went to get lost!  It’s a great way to see the country – but only because I knew that all we had to do was to get the TomTom out of the boot, switch it on and get us out of being lost!  We also took part in some geocaching (we found one geocache on Table Mountain, and one in Nelspruit near the Kruger Park.  We also hired a car in Durban, but we decided to relax on the beach for most of the time.

 

Back to the UK soon – but all relaxed and fattened up.

Beware the 2010 soccer virus!

With headlines like these dominating the newspapers:

CT to host 2010 final draw
SA needs 5 000 rooms for 2010

Boost for 2010 accommodation
2010 looking good for Africa

its difficult to not get excited about the Soccer World Cup in South Africa in 2010 – but has anybody thought more about their business interests?

Don’t get me wrong, the 2010 soccer is going to be an amazing event that will get South Africa seen globally, and given that we get the games correct, will alter many minds about the country.  The spin-off being greater investments into the country, other events being hosted here and increased tourism.  What I am trying to point out however, is what people are doing for the actual event.  All over, at many conversations, I have heard that people are buying up property to rent, cars to hire and generally increasing production to meet the massive demand that is predicted.

In my opinion, people are making a bit of an error – they must remember that the event is only going to span over one month.  Basically it is just going to be an out-of-season season.  During season, you could also purchase as many properties and vehicles as you want to hire out – but what are you going to do with it after?  And before?  Remember that all this has to be funded until the 2010 soccer world cup!

My advise would be to be very careful about your expectations – the games will be great, but lets not make this similar to the current global financial meltdown by taking too much for credit.

Rent a SATNAV for South Africa long before you get there!

Most of my clients are from the United Kingdom – South Africa is a great destination for the UK because the flight across will take you one-sleep overnight, and voila, you are there!  The exchange rate is extremely favourable, and its just an awesome destination – the food, the clubs, the people, sites and the South African experience.
 
But when you are in new places, especially new countries where you definitely do not know where to go, what do you do?  In the past, you would have to purchase a map book, and start guessing your direction and hope for the best.  With the advent of SATNAV, this has all changed.  Its so simple to simply get off the plane, type in your destination and just get going – the peace of mind that you are not going to get lost or get into a massive fight with your wife is worth every cent of hiring a SATNAV system.  We have found a website that you can not only hire a SATNAV for South Africa, but they will deliver the system to you in the United Kingdom.  This means that you can put in all your waypoints (destinations) in the system before you touch African soil.  This is a brilliant system, and we highly recommend it.
 
Car hire in South can be booked through www.southafrica-carhire.com – there is no way for this to be delivered to you in the UK though, that you will have to pick up at the airport!  But to save time and money, make a booking for your SATNAV.
 
Now the only thing left is to decide whats for dinner?

Customer experience

Being booking agents for accommodation, car hire and activities, we often suggest to people what they should do.  For today’s blog, we are simply giving you one of our clients experiences:

“Wow what a trip – just got backto the UK – the holiday was amazing – everything went well with the car hire you will be pleased to hear.  We absolutely loved Cape Town - by the way have you ever been for afternoon tea at Mount Nelson Hotel – if not you must go!  We were lucky with the weather – went up Table Mountain and across to Robben Island on our first day as the weather was good, then drove around to Cape Point on the second day but then the rain appeared on the day we were leaving Cape Town – drove to Oudtshoorn (sorry wrong spelling!) went to the Cango caves, and cango wildlife ranch , my son and our went into the tiger and cheetah enclosure to see the cubs, an amazing experience, visited an ostrich farm and then onto port elizabeth, the shamwari game reserve was perfect, saw lions, elephants, giraffes, white and black rhino, and much more very close to our jeep – an experience i will never forget, then onto plettenberg bay saw numerous whales much more than at hermanus, back to cape town for a further three days – a truly memorale holiday and thank you so much for all your help it really was appreciated”

Time for a holiday in Cape Town

Definitely time for a holiday…

Christmas is still far away, so we have decided that we are going go on a holiday now!  It’s the perfect time, as Cape Town gets very expensive during the December and January months.  At the moment, you can pick up bargains with both car rental and accommodation in and around Cape Town.

We are going on the different wine routes in Stellenbosch, Franschoek and Wellington and then we are going to the Route62.

The Western Cape have had good rains this season, and the scenery is bound to be stunning.  The beaches will probably not be great, but there are always the shopping centers.

Hope you have a great weekend too!

Adrenaline Tour, South Africa

If you are older than 18 years old and got energy, this Adrenaline Tour is definitely the best one that I have ever seen.  It’s a five day, four night adrenaline-filled, action-packed South African Garden Route Tour.  Their website address is www.adrenalinetour.co.za.  The timetable includes time for activities that are paid for including an Ostrich Farm, Water Sports, Cango Caves, Tsitsikamma National Park, Sandboarding, Cango Wildlife Ranch and the Zipline Tour.

They also give you enough time to get the ultimate rush by shark Cage Diving, wave jumping, jet skiing, kayaking, rubber tubing, jet boat trips, croc cage diving, seeing amazing wildlife such as tigers, reptiles, cheetahs – and if thats not enough, you can bungee jump and skydive!

On the first day, you travel from Cape Town to Mossel Bay.  For supper, you will be taken care of by a traditional South Africa potjie.

Day two and you are leaving Mossel Bay and heading up into drier land to Oudtshoorn.  There are plenty of ostriches here, and you will get to ride one if you are brave enough.  For dinner, you will be dining on a tasty ostrich fillet

Back to the coast on day three – Plettenberg Bay, and you have an adventure packed day with activities such as mini motorcross and paintball lined up.  You will also relax on the beaches, and no shortages of drinks at the great pubs.  Finish the day and start the night with a marvelous fish braai.

Nature lovers are going to really enjoy day four – Storms River (Stormsrivier) and the Tsitsikama Forest!  But this will probably be the most memorable day with doing the highest bungee jump at 216m and the Zipline tour over stunning waterfalls.  To “relax”, you can hike or snorkel in the National Park.  Have a drink round the braai at Tube ‘n Axe in Storms River to finish the day off.

The drive back on day five will not be a boring one with a stop back in Mossel Bay to sandboard down “The Dragon”, approximately 300 meters.

Remember to take your camera, because this is one trip that will have more pictures than just the beach.  When you get back to Cape Town, call up a car hire company and relax a bit on the wine route (route 62) and some  other amazing things to do in Cape Town.