In the Depths of the Fairest Cape
Posted By Sara-Lise Haith on 5 January 2007
Enough about diving.. where should one stay in Cape Town? I was lucky to have the fantastic hosting of DeeperBlue.net contributors Blue Water Hunter and Titan of Tuna Ismail (Miles) Sonday and his wife Zuraida (Dr. Fish, spearo and chef extraordinaire) for the first few days, and for my last night I stayed in the Dolphin Inn. I would recommend the Dolphin to anyone who wants to stay comfortably in Cape Town without paying exorbitant prices. The Dolphin Inn is on Mouille (Mussel) Point, and you can sit in the lounge and watch the break waves on the rocks until your heart’s content. The rooms are clean and correctly furnished, with an African style and feeling, and breakfast is made by the most excellent Mthetheleli Mngwandi (now say his name with a hangover), who is from the Transkei and has been living in Cape Town for ten years. He greeted me with a beautiful smile accompanied by huge fresh croissants and coffee, bacon, eggs and toast which he whisked up for the guests with the agility of Gordon Ramsay. The website for Dolphin Inn Guesthouse is www.dolphin-inn.co.za.
The Cape Province also boasts fine cuisine. The Capetonians are a rich heritage of Dutch, French, Indian, Malay and English and their fare on offer is like no other. If seafood platters are your utmost, try the Ocean Basket restaurants for good value for money, their platters are hearty and absolutely delicious, or if you want to splash out a little more and be amused by watching the snob brigade of Cape Town in a very “be-seen” restaurant, try the Wakame restaurant, just on the corner from the Dolphin Inn. The food is fantastic, the atmosphere is great and I personally was very entertained by mere people watching. The Wakame is on the first floor, below them is a fantastic delicatessen which makes great sandwiches, sells all the Mediterranean cold meats, pasta, panettone, and the coffee is great.
Flights to Cape Town from Johannesburg are many. South African Airways has a few flights daily, (I would not recommend them as their standards are not consistent, my diving gear flew free of charge on the way down and they surprised me with a 300 ZAR surcharge on the way back) – also they seem to have many delays and the staff attitude is not brilliant. You also get a horrible sandwich snack that I would not feed to a stray animal and most definitely do not bother with paying for a business class seat as they are not much different to economy class. Try www.kulula.com or the new http://ww5.flymango.com/ airlines and you can get cheaper deals as well.
For more information on diving in South Africa or any other contact details you would like to get, don’t hesitate to email me at sara.haith@deeperblue.net.
Safe bubbles till next time, and all the best for a prosperous 2007.
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