| Cape Town South Africa - Insider advice for the independent traveller | Designs of Life |
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My Cape Town |
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It’s true that South Africa has taken a bit of a bad rap in the international press recently. What with the various power shenanigans (both those in power and those supposed to be supplying it) confidence in South Africa seems to have slipped a bit.
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Guest House of the Month |
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Less than a kilometre from the old site, the new La Residence offers... well, more everything. It resides in 30 acres of its own land with staggering mountain views all around. Having increased from 5 rooms to 11 it has managed not only to retain the feeling of old grandeur but to expand upon it, with the huge proportions of rooms and doorways and windows and fireplaces forming an impressive canvas for utterly fabulous objets d’art lovingly collected from around the world. Yet despite the grandeur there is a welcoming frivolity about the house, evident in light-hearted design elements and liberal doses of vibrant, vivacious colour.
Each of the 11 large bedrooms has a distinct theme, whether it be Chinese or gold. Each has a huge bathroom with a free-standing bath and both bedroom and bathroom open onto a spacious private balcony. Most guests, having been shown their rooms, spend the next half hour shuffling from one piece of artwork to the next, mouths slightly agape.
I cannot recommend this singularly indulgent establishment enough. Try it out – I guarantee you’ll feel like royalty. Though if you have an urge to whack any statues on the bottom, please deny any relationship to me. Franschhoek town centre – 10 mins walk
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Upcoming Events |
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Highlights for March, selected from WhatsoninCapeTown.com - the indispensable guide to all that's happening in Cape Town. For a full list of what's on in the next few months, go to the website . Upcoming events include festivals, shows and fairs; music, theatre and dance; cricket and other sporting events; comedy and concerts and exhibitions; celebrations of wine and whiskey, flowers and freedom... bring it on, Cape Town!
SOWETO OPERA QUADRON: BROTHERS IN SONG
TALKING HEADS
PAUL VAN DYK
JOHNNY CLEGG LIVE
FLEUR DU CAP THEATRE AWARDS
CAPE ARGUS PICK'N'PAY CYCLE TOUR
KIRSTENBOSCH CONCERT: GOLDFISH
STARLIGHT CLASSICS
THE WAREHOUSE PROJECT
JOSH GROBAN IN CONCERT
OLD MUTUAL TWO OCEANS MARATHON
FULL MOON PICNIC ON PAARL MOUNTAIN
MY COKE FEST 2008
CAPE TOWN INTERNATIONAL JAZZ FESTIVAL
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With a houseful of dusty bits of junk and mismatched furniture and a wardrobe that includes my old school skirt (yup - still going strong after nearly two decades) I am not necessarily the best person to judge what is groovy and cool and This Season’s Must-Buy. But believe me – if you weren’t at the Design Indaba last week, you should have been.
I’d read that exhibitors are hand-picked to a stringent formula: each product must be original, innovative and, above all, quintessentially South African - no derivatives, and certainly no imports. But I was still surprised at the distinct ‘Africanness’ to many of the show pieces. A world away from the bongos and skins and carved giraffes of the market place, an essence of Africa was still tangible in the colour palette or the form or the simple recycling of everyday African products.
A common theme throughout was that many of the workforces behind the products were and are individuals from disadvantaged communities. Perhaps the most successful of these is Monkeybiz - check out the trailer for the documentary Bigger than Barbie on 
But cast your eyes a little lower down the scale and you’ll see the knitters, the beaders, the wirebenders and weavers, painters and tailors, engineers and architects... people who inspire with their entrepreneurial spirit and drive, ideas and creativity. This is the dream behind the Indaba: a platform for economic and social renewal. And given the evident international interest, this is a dream well on its way to coming true.
Special mention must go to the brilliantly simple Nested Bunk Beds by the Tsai Design Studio, a strong contender for the MBOISA award - the Most Beautiful Object in South Africa. Inspired by Russian dolls, it takes up the same amount of room as a normal bunk-bed, but with five beds in all that pull out concertina-style. According to the blurb, a few sets of Nested Bunk Beds were prototyped and adapted into the design of a local Aids Orphanage. When fully extended, the bed system can sleep 20 kids in a tight space of 50sqm, while still ensuring a generous play space when the beds are retracted.
One of the things that strikes me each time I visit La Residence is how utterly charming the hosts are. I don’t mean smooth and glib in any way, but real honest old fashioned charm-your-socks-off lovely. Even when my father took it into his head to whack the buttocks of the large naked bronze in the courtyard with his walking stick (declaring it “an excellent dinner gong”) they refrained admirably from bundling him to the ground.
The main living area is one vast long hall with open beams under a superb thatched roof, creating an African-bush-meets-Versailles feel. It is strategically divided into various sitting areas, a dining area and a farmhouse-style kitchen where guests are welcome to cook for themselves should they so wish, with many ingredients supplied from the surrounding estate.
The new La Residence is even more secluded than the previous one, where even the closest neighbours were unaware when celebrities such as Bono and Elton John spent a few restful days. And yet it is still within strolling distance of the humming main street of Franschhoek with its vibrant café life and renowned gourmet restaurants.
