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Old Dec 21, 2016, 10:48 am
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T8191
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Join Date: Mar 2010
Location: JER
Programs: BA Gold/OWE, several MUCCI, and assorted Pensions!
Posts: 32,124
Tue, 6 Dec 16

0430 ... Breakfast … huzzah! And rather tasty too!



Anyway, the view from the window indicated that the Captain had found land somewhere after his long overnight trek over the sea to the west of Africa. This is an important aspect of the flying experience! Huzzah again!



At 0745 we touched down at CPT, parked at a remote stand, and disembarked onto buses. Happily they did not wait to fill them, and so the first bus had us at Immigration by 0800 … to join a LONG queue already filled with the pax from a LH flight that had arrived shortly before us. Things moved rather slowly, despite 15 open desks, as most pax were going through the new ‘biometric capture’ process. However, when we reached the front of the line, we were sent to Desk #1 which just had manual processing - and one minute later we were sorted! So to Reclaim, where our 2 cases were already forlornly performing continuous circuits of the baggage belt, and then to the Arrivals area where we easily found the Rep holding our name-board to link us up with our pre-booked taxi with Rikki’s taxis *** http://www.rikkis.co.za *** for the fixed rate R290 ride to our hotel. Very efficient service from Rikki’s, with a good website and e-mail contact with their bookings team.

Our base for the next few days was Southern Sun The Cullinan, *** https://www.tsogosun.com/the-cullinan *** , chosen for a variety of reasons including availability of smoking rooms, and a regular hotel shuttle bus to/from the V&A Waterfront a mile away. The rate seemed reasonable for a City hotel: R19,260 for the 5 nights (or 1106 GBP/1368 USD at the time of writing). As good luck would have it, a room was already available … enabling us to short-cut the published 1400 check-in time. A very pleasant room (#714): well appointed and with a nice view over the swimming pool and a major road junction that we named “Malfunction Junction” as the traffic was forever getting snarled up at the lights.

Lobby …



Pool …



Room …



“Malfunction Junction” … with Public Safety guys over-ruling the lights in an attempt to avoid everything getting blocked up!



On arrival we unusually treated ourselves to a treatment at the hotel’s excellent Spa … one full hour of head/neck/shoulder massage for just R400 - bargain, and we consequently started the holiday refreshed … and of course, no jet-lag with just a 2hr time difference from UK.



The hotel rate included Breakfast, which offered a vast range of cold, hot and cook-to-order options: all very good quality, and loads of choice. At other times, we used the Stella Cafe/Bar, which offered an interesting range of Tapas options throughout the day (charmingly served in small copper saucepans), and which satisfied our needs perfectly. We are not big eaters!

Salt & Pepper Squid, w/ Squid Ink Rice, and Bobotie Spring Rolls.



Squid and Bobotie again, this time with and added pot of Malay Braised Sausage w/Roti and Sambals.



The staff were absolutely delightful too - friendly and attentive, and constantly checking up on whether we needed anything as we sat in the sun in the ‘designated smoking area’ behind the swimming pool.

Menu >>> https://d2qk001qea2413.cloudfront.ne...ember_2016.pdf

(Edit: I see the menu has changed quite a bit since we left ... and has even more items that we would have gone for in a BIG way. Damn!)

Nice wine list too, with wines by the glass (175ml) from R40 - R85 … this made testing a range of the local produce a cheap and cheerful option

Wine List >>>https://d2qk001qea2413.cloudfront.ne...tober_2016.pdf

That’s enough marketing for The Cullinan for now

Out and About.

The Victoria and Alfred Waterfront is one place you have to visit … a large shopping Mall with restaurants and bars and other activities ‘down by the docks’. Very nicely done, and a very agreeable place to spend a few hours. And. most conveniently, the Cullinan has a FREE shuttle bus operating continously on a 60-minute rotation: don't forget to tip the driver, it's VERY much appreciated!











We also wandered into the City, which wasn’t very far. Long Street, St Georges Mall [street stalls in profusion], the Company Garden and some interesting architecture also filled the hours contentedly.

Crowded pavements …



Tranquil gardens …



Typical markets …



Fine old churches …



… and much more!









The 5 days drifted by, with gorgeous weather [except for the one morning when it decided to pour with rain]. By the weekend the hotel was getting quite full, with loads of people wearing Springboks rugby shirts … at which point we discovered it was the weekend of the World Rugby Sevens! Team supporters were out in force, many in varying forms of fancy dress.



But it was time to move on to our next destination - Stellenbosch. We asked the Concierge to get us a quote for a taxi: he said “R 800, but you might be able to negotiate that to R650.” We checked with Rikki’s, who quoted R520 - that was an easy decision

……………..

Last edited by T8191; Jul 27, 2022 at 4:29 am Reason: typoos and stuff
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