Exploring Cape Town

Victorian Clocktower at V&A Waterfront.
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Wednesday - 0600: Woke to cold (50F)and rain. I walked down to the Red Moon Coffee Bar on Long Strret. Already buzzing with locals at 7:00. Table Mountain is out already; the forcast calls for wind and rain all day and maybe all week..ugh!

0900: I headed down to the Victoria and Alfred Waterfront in the rain. It took about 25 minutes. The V&A Waterfront is one of Cape Town's major attractions situated in a historic working harbour. You get it all; ambience, scenic views of Table Mountain, museums, boat and helicopter charters, aquarium, IMAX cinema, street musicians and the Nelson Mandela Gateway To Robben Island. The V&A is also a very trendy upscale shopping disctrict that would rival any mall in the U.S., complete with Fossil, Crocs, KFC, McDonald's and many gift/adventure type shops.

Cape Town Fish Market, V&A Waterfront, Cape Town
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I explored the shops (gifts are much more than at the local markets..big surprise, but the selection is much greater). I waited to see if the weather would clear so I could catch the ferry to Robben island. It did not happen so I spent a few hours walking around the waterfront. After mullig ober my choices, I decided to had lunch at the Cape Town Fish Market. I reviewed many SA dining spots as part of my research for the trip and the CFM was a must vist. They have the first conveyor belt sushi bar I have seen since living in Tokyo. Absolutely fabulous lunch. See my review of CFM under Dining.

The omnipresent Colonel
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I went to the craft market attached to the mall and bought a few gifts (Ndebele beads, telephone wire baskets. They were similar in natureto the gifts in the V&A, but cheaper in price and unfortunately in quality.

On the way back to LSB, I stopped at Greenmarket Square Market in the old part of Cape Town. It was a vegetable market in the 1800's but now is has open-air stalls that sell African crafts. In good weather, I hear there are singers and dancers performing...yes it is still raining. I picked up a few more things, but was in a hurry to get out of the market...shop owners were very aggressive pushing their wares. They run up and shout in a harrassing tone "good deal just for you" and no business today because of the weather. I got a good deal on what I bought (compared to V&A Mall prices). I picked up another "family" shona sculpture. This soapstome worl of art originally from Zimbabwe, is called Ukama  or "Loving Families".

V & A Waterfront
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Tonight is BYOB (bring your own braii) at LSB. I decided to gave ostrich another chance so I went to the market and bought some ground ostrich. I grilled it like a burger over the campfire. It was much better as a burger than the neck. I Hung around talking to guests from Italy, UK and Australia. The guys who are staffing the backpackers were on vacation for the UK and actually stayed on was were hired my the owners and have been here for months.

I am not getting a good vibe from LSB, as I said, the bathrooms are quite run down and my bedroom window is adjacent to the courtyard which house reception and the pool table. I can handle noise to a degree, but I heard that the clubs on Long Street stay open until 4:00 am and you can hear the bass from the dozens of clubs in the rooms. Now, my room is not right on Long Street, so I will see what kind of night I have. Stayed up awhile watching some British comedys and visiting with some intersting guests. Some are going shark cage diving tomorrow morning. I will see what the weather brings. So far I have not crossed off anything from my list.