» World Cup: Cape Town special
As the World Cup turns all our attentions to South Africa, Sandra Omo finds Cape Town is a Brighton away from home
They call it the ‘Mother city’; haven’t I heard someone refer to Brighton as that? The sound of the water, the different coloured terrace houses, the site of people in bathing suits walking the streets as though they were home, the little boutique hotels in almost every corner you turn, the little street cafes filled with eaters watching passersby, the liquor shops at the end of different streets, the street names, drivers driving on the right side of the road and the after math of the Pride festival… they all make it look so familiar. Is this a déjàvu or have I been here before? Cape Town reminds me so much of Brighton.
Cape Town and Brighton have both got this flavour only a very few cities in the world can boast of. With a combination of water, culture, geographical beauty and tolerance, their resemblances are obvious. The huge mountains in the middle of Cape Town, the un-spoilt white-sandy beaches, the hills, the wine lands, and the all year round sunny weather makes this city a force to contend with and the perfect place to have fun and work anytime.
I remember my first time in Brighton. I thought that the people had too much fun for them to have time for anything else! I think the same of Cape Town. Fun over here is exactly the way we have it in Brighton: always available and it does not cost the earth. The city is very big, yet so close you can walk almost any and every where.
I walk past the terrace houses on the streets on my way to and from my business every day; up and down the hill and through Church Street and the strand; stop by the little liquor shop to grab a bottle of wine for our usual barbecue (known as braai over here, where there is also a very big barbecue culture) get together. I feel like I never left Brighton and it feels good to feel this way.
Cape Town’s water front is Brighton’s Marina. Huge shopping centres with the biggest designer names you can think of on earth; an endless number of people dining in the restaurants overlooking the sea, crowded with yachts parked by their lucky owners. And shopping in the city is fun as I still get to shop in Aldo, Woolworths, the Body shop, and I can still bank with Barclays or use my Vodaphone sim if I choose.
From the nudist beaches to the ones for people like me who like to still leave some things to other people’s imaginations, Cape Town’s beaches are always crowded no matter what day it is; and the weather is always ready to give you a tan. The beaches are right in the city and, like Brighton, you have to pass through them to get to most places.
The site of people returning home from the beach early in the evening gives way for happy hours in the pubs and the non-ending famed night life as people hop from one night club to another – with the gay clubs being opened the latest. Seeing drunken people on the streets chanting England football songs is not a rare site over here, making me ask myself the question, who sings for Bafana-bafana then?
Like Brighton, Cape Town has got one of the world’s biggest and most colourful Pride festivals. The Cape Town Pride festival comes up every year between February and March and it’s a world class tourism attraction with hundreds of thousands flocking here from within and outside the continent to experience it.
From the grandest to the simplest hotels in the world, Cape Town has got it all. And like Brighton the city has got a culture of boutique hotels, including The Last Word. Yes the name says it all: luxury, serenity, individually themed rooms with some having their own pool, and with unbeatable views of the sea, mountains, and forest.
Cape Town, like Brighton, is young, exotic and free spirited – and both are two of the most beautiful cities in the world.
