Cape Town

After leaving Namibia we flew to Cape Town and the Cullinan Southern Sun hotel, our home for the next six days. It’s a charmless four-star hotel with a pianist who plays day and night in the lobby and restaurant. He knows all the notes, but his timing is terrible. If you want to hear the classics slowed updown and sped up for no reason, this is the place to be.

The hotel does have a decent bar though, and prices here – in bars, restaurants and hotels – are barely any higher than in Namibia. A 500ml beer typically costs R40-R45 here (£1.60-£1.80). I can’t think of a hotel in a city anywhere in the world I’ve been where the bar prices have been so cheap.

At least I was able to buy a slightly stronger beer! Virtually all of the beer in Namibia was 4% and my first drink here was a pint of Castle (5%). When I told the barman it was good to find something stronger, he laughed his head off. “Yes we know all about the … [something in Afrikaans]”. I think he said “blou bul bier” (“blue bull beer”), which is some South African rugby slang for weak beer.

Cape Town is supposedly the safest of the big South African cities. We didn’t feel super-safe here, particularly in Long Street, which is meant to be the buzzy retail/dining hub but we found it abandoned. We went to a restaurant called Nom Nom one night. The staff were very apologetic for loading my pizza up with pineapple that I didn’t ask for.

I had a daytime wander around near our hotel too, walking around Cape Town railway station, which has a great view of Table Mountain behind it.

The two places we found really safe were The Waterfront – but it’s just a big mall – and the football. So let’s start with the football!