DISCOVER CAPE TOWN'S CHARMS
With at least two daily flights a week to Cape Town, it's easy to find one to suit your customers' schedules. And thanks to our comfortable Boeing 747 777 aircraft the journey too
Behind the counter of Kingdom shop, which sells vintage accessories and homeware, snappily dressed Luyanda Peter tells me what being World Design Capital has meant for local businesses. “In the first half of the year people didn’t know what it was all about, but now you are seeing things going on – there is a buzz,” she says.
At Grandt Mason Originals (g-mo.co.za), you can pick up a pair of bespoke shoes (from R800/£44) or boots (from R1,800/£101). Cynthia, one of five people who work in its on-site studio, tells me that WDC is bringing more tourists in.“We can post all over the world if you don’t have time to wait,” she says, gesturing to a row of colourful pumps.
Outside, you don’t have to walk far to see that the surrounding areas are poor and rundown – a striking contrast to the pristine Exchange, which wouldn’t look out of place in London’s Shoreditch. Cape Town is doing its best to ensure it is a safe place for visitors, but you do have to take precautions, especially in suburbs such as Woodstock, where it’s best to have a driver to take you around.
Urquhart says: “I am happy to say there has been a lot of job creation as a spin-off from places like Woodstock, and we hope that the ripple will continue and that neighbouring areas will get a new lease of life. As a local, I wouldn’t venture into some of those places at night or even in the day, but that’s not to say in a couple of years we won’t see a facelift.”
Back in the city centre, at the V&A Waterfront, I meet Liza Dyason, producer of Cape Town Art Fair (capetownartfair.co.za). In February, its
‘In the first half of the year people didn’t know what it was all about – now there is a buzz’
third showcase of contemporary pan-African art will be held in a brand new venue next door to the One and Only hotel, and is expected to attract collectors from all over the world. Exhibitors will include prestigious local galleries Brundyn, Whatiftheworld (based in Woodstock) and Goodman. Dyason says: “It’s all happening. Last year sales were high – many galleries rehung three times.”
Popping back to my nearby hotel, the 177-room Radisson Blu Waterfront – which is putting the finishing touches to a six-month renovation this month – I get changed for dinner. I spend my final night in town at Gold (goldrestaurant.co.za), which serves “opulent African cuisine” and is located in a red-brick former nightclub in the CBD.
Beginning with a group lesson in djembe drumming, followed by a ceremonial hand-washing, the meal takes place against a backdrop of wildlife films projected on to the wall. Again and again, crocodiles leap out of rivers and lions tear into the flesh of their prey. Although distinctly touristy (and somewhat surreal), it brings home to me how, in a country wild at heart, Cape Town is fast moving from analogue to digital, from past to future.
South African Airways flies twice daily from London Heathrow to Johannesburg, with 48 connections per day to and from Cape Town. flysaa.com southafrica.net