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Africa, Countries, Food & Wine

South Africa is a rand old team to pay for

5th October 20245th October 2024 funtime65

Special delivery just in on long-haul value… South Africa is a rand old team to pay for.

We’ve been along to the post office to this week to exchange currency.

And, of course, listened intently to our postmasters on where people have been going.

And for those who like to get well away from it all, the long-haulers, that is South Africa.

That is backed up by a survey from Post Office Travel Money.

Pot of gold over the Rainbow Nation

Get the Braai on: Port Elizabeth township, South Africa

They reveal that the Rainbow Nation has beaten 31 other resorts and cities to claim top spot for the first time in six years.

Which is about how long it has been since we visited the Capes.

We’ll put the gap before Post Office customers came to their senses.

And restored SA back to its rightful top spot down to things like Covid and cost-of-living crises.

Because it seems a no-brainer that the jewel of southern Africa should be the best value.

And most rewarding of any of the options out there.

Now the natural beauty, wildlife, versatility, culture and history of South Africa speak for themselves and are entertainment on tap.

Time of your life

Table is set: And food and drink flowing

But what separates South Africa for British tourists is that it lies on a similar time range.

Just an hour ahead which means that there is no jet lag.

And, of course, they speak English, although it is fun and is recommended to try any one of the 11 other official languages.

With our favourite being Xhosa, the back-of-the-throat clicking language spoken in the Eastern Cape.

For the Post Office survey destinations were rated by ten staple items.

So that would be a cup of filter coffee, a 330ml bottle of local lager, a 330ml bottle of cola, a 175ml glass of wine and a cocktail for drinks.

While the staples also include a small chocolate bar, a 1.5l bottle of supermarket mineral water, a 200ml bottle of suncream, a 50ml tube/bottle of insect repellent.

And a three-course evening meal for two adults including a bottle of house wine.

And remember that to go truly native then you need to drink your wine with ice cubes in it.

While every self-respecting South African pines for a braai, or barbecue.

Now Cape Town comes out on top with this basket costing £55.59.

Where the price is right

For Asianophiles Tokyo and Hoi Ann in Vietnam come in second and third.

While we are heartened to see that St James in Barbados sits in a respectable 26th with their basket costing £141.29… without the rum!

Of course we would urge not to penny pinch on holiday and not to be put off your dream destinations for a few dollars more.

And if the Post Office basket of staples does cost £163 in New York, £164 in Costa Rica and £165 in Sydney don’t let that be your dealbreaker.

You can always economise when you get home.

That said we’ll always jump on the chance to big up the Rainbow Nation.

And are glad to confirm South Africa is a rand old team to pay for.

Africa, Countries

I’m proud of my Desmond

26th December 202126th December 2021 funtime65

Archbishop Desmond Tutu’s most enduring legacy will surely be that his name has become part of our lexicon… and, like many a graduate, I’m proud of my Desmond.

Desmond, who has passed away at 90, was very visible in the Eighties and especially among the student community.

And while student buildings across the UK were renamed after Nelson Mandela his great friend Desmond was honoured at graduation ceremonies.

Where a 2:2 was (and still is) a Second Class Honours Second Grade.

Graduate with honours

The third of four pass grades your Tutu student mixes work, pleasure, uni societies and politics.

The name caught on too in the world of soccer where naturally it has become shorthand for a 2-2 scoreline.

The anti-Apartheid icon’s passing will be marked by national mourning across South Africa.

And particularly in Johannesburg, the next nearest big city to his hometown of Klerksdorp in the Western Transvaal where was Bishop.

Where, of course, you can visit the Apartheid Museum, and learn what life was really like then in South Africa.

And Cape Town where he became Archbishop.

Freedom fighters

Tutu’s South African brothers and sisters will turn his memorial into a carnival.

But he and Mandela were the first to admit the debt they owe to the men and women freedom fighters on the Long Road to Freedom.

Men such as Amos who works as a waiter in Cradock grandee Lisa’s hotel Die Tuishuise & Victoria Manor in the Eastern Cape.

But who fought the good cause.

And did jail time and suffered under the yolk of the police.

But who humbly declared: ‘We weren’t afraid to die as long as we died in the struggle.’

The township

Or Xhanti, who was South Africa’s Birdman of Alcatraz in solitary confinement.

But who now chases birdies on golf courses when he’s not showing tourists around the New Brighton township outside Port Elizabeth in the Eastern Cape.

And the most challenged part of it, Red Location.

And, of course, it was Port Elizabeth when we visited but has now been Africanised as Gqberha (pronounced Kberha).

Of course that doesn’t do it nearly enough justice as it’s Xhosa, the Eastern Cape’s distinctive clicking language.

And a tongue our old friend and guide Seseko treated us all to on our travels throughout the Eastern Cape .

And which Mandela himself spoke.

The angel Mandela

And then there were three: With Siseko and Madiba

Madiba will have been the first angel to greet Desmond at the gates of heaven.

They were great pals… they just clicked.

Rest in Peace, Archbishop. I’m proud of my Desmond.

Africa, Countries, Ireland, Sport, UK

Lions in Siya Africa

25th July 202124th July 2021 funtime65

Now I know a thing or two about Lions in Siya Africa.

The Lions are on the Mount Camdeboo Game Reserve in the Great Karoo in the Eastern Cape.

Which is just around the corner from where the British and Irish Lions are playing their Test series with the South African Springboks.

Well, a rather big corner, the Cape of Good Hope.

Heroes in Capes

OK, it’s a cheetah but the Lions were hiding

Cape Town‘s beauty and its Table Mountain are legendary.

Less well known, at least outside of South Africa, are the charms of the Eastern Cape.

From where Springboks captain Siya Kolisi, Pride of Port Elizabeth, hails.

You’ll see his influence in the oldest township in South Africa from where he set out on his heroic journey to become Springboks skipper.

South Africa needs leadership

And to place that in sense of importance within the Rainbow Nation…

Didn’t the Eastern Cape’s own, Nelson Mandela don a Springboks jersey to greet Francois Pienaar at the 1995 World Cup final against New Zealand?

South Africa could do with Madiba now as it wrestles with social unrest in the wake of Jacob Zuma’s imprisonment, and its Covid crisis.

But in Kolisi it has a champion.

A different Test

Panorama: With South Africanophile Rachel

It is of course a matter of regret that the Lions aren’t touring South Africa.

And an even greater one that Port Elizabeth, where the Lions have a decent record, hasn’t hosted a Test match against the Lions since 1980.

The Eastern Cape is solid rugby territory and a visit to the township reveals that the Boks are now embraced by all its peoples.

A Scot in exile

Rugby fans: Siseko, Nelson Mandela and your Bandanaman

Now mine host Iain is a proud Springboks fan and thinks nothing of taking his Jeep out to travel across country to watch his rugby.

But as his name reveals despite living in solid eastern Southern Africa his roots lie up here in Scottishland.

However the series evolves he will take take great joy from a healthier than usual representation from North Britain.

And we are not immune either from adopting Afrikaners either with Dusan Van der Merwe.

We call them SpringJocks.

It should be a great old journey with the Lions in Siya Africa.