Return to Camps Bay

What a charming place Moontide is. Maureen the owner, is a South African national treasure. A lady of a certain age, she is always immaculately turned out, always interested in her guests and you just know that should there ever be a crisis, she’s your woman.

Candy is her right hand lady. Candy is a dead ringer for our sister-in-law’s step sister Hannah and we were drawn to her immediately. Should you ever find yourself in Wilderness, go to Moontide.

And so back to Camps Bay. We have two nights here before catching a flight to Durban and on to the Drakensberg area.

What a difference two and a half weeks make. Gone is the slightly sleepy, well-off hippy vibe. In with the throngs and lime green Lamborghinis It was a very hot day and, as in the Uk, everyone is out and enjoying it. I prefer it quieter – more San Francisco than Las Vegas.

Still, you only need to wander 1 street back from the sea front and calmness prevails.

We went back to the Mantra for dinner. It was as delicious as last time but completely full. We had a table on the front top deck where we could survey all the happenings on the street. The lime green Lamborghini was being cleaned and polished feverishly by the street parking man. I don’t know too much about these things, but there seems to be a pecking order amongst the street/homeless people here and car man has gravitas. Lots of his “community” stopped by to look but not one dared touch that car. We weren’t at the restaurant long enough to see who the owner of the car was, but I really hope he gave car man a great tip.

Today we had the mammoth task of repacking our cases for tomorrow’s flight. The hardest things to squeeze in are our walking boots as they are so bulky. Poor Steve has to be very judicious re what clothes he brings on holiday as his size 12 boots almost fill his case.

Packing done, we walked from Camps Bay to Bantry Bay and back, enjoying the views.

This is a very wealthy part of Capetown but homelessness and poverty is a big problem even here. Camps Bay seems to have a fairly benign attitude to it and there is a small community of homeless who hang out near the beach. They don’t bother tourists too much but it is pretty heartbreaking when someone asks if they can have the pie Steve was carrying (sadly you are on a hiding to nothing with that request) and seeing people look through bins for food and drink. We have been told not to give anything, that they are looked out for by charities and the local community and it will only encourage more begging. It’s hard to see it though.

Our lucky and privileged lives saw us lie by the pool for a couple of hours, tuning in to some interesting conversations various people were having on their phones, leading to much speculation as to their occupations and relationship situations. Well if you will insist on bellowing into your phone in public….

Back to Hussar’s for dinner tonight (you can tell which were our favourite eateries when we came last time), then up and out early tomorrow for our flight to Durban.