Friday 27th November:
Slept well except for the now nightly palpitation; also had to give Lorna a little prick in the middle of the night; at 1.1 blood sugar very low.
Arriving in Stellenbosch Lorna says to me, "Which way shall we go?" I say, "Well you've been here as long as I have, let's turn right". A turn to the left would have cost a few quid for coffee, but the turn to the right cost me £5K.
Having turned right and walked less than one hundred metres down the road, yes, a Diamond Manufacturer, not just any Diamond Manufacturer, but one of only five "sight-holders" in South Africa; they buy directly from De Beers, them that produce 75% of the world's diamond output. That meant two things, we were dealing with professionals, and the prices would be unbeatable. So I am delighted to be able to report that Lorna is now the proud owner of a pair of diamond ear-rings, and I have solved the usual Christmas present conundrum in style this year.
Very good people, and given that we needed more time than would have been available had we taken the coach back to Cape Town, Peter Daneel, son of the owner, drove us back in the old man's Mercedes. We need to claim the 14% VAT back at the port on departure, so the damage will be limited a little, just need to make sure there is no trace when we get back to London.
Not much more to say really, other than the towns of Franschhoek and Stellenbosch and the surrounding areas are beautiful, and well worth a longer visit in the future. The wine-tasting was really a non-event at the Alles Bleue Vineyard, although the service was delightful and the lunch enjoyable.
One thing Peter did point out to us as we returned to Cape Town was the enormous shanty town, Khayelitsha, home to over 1,000,000 people, or 2% of the population of SA. It just brings home again the disparity of wealth in South Africa where 15% of the population own in excess of 80% of the assets.
Khayelitsha: Cape Town, South Africa is a huge, sprawling city that has given rise to a number of new neighborhoods and townships over the past decade. Khayelitsha is now the biggest of these and the community had a population explosion after apartheid ended and blacks rushed into Cape Town for jobs.
As of the last census in 2005, there were a recorded 400,000 people in Khayelitsha, but that figure is likely much higher. The township's population is incredibly young, with 40 percent of its residents under 19 years old and only about seven percent over the age of 50.
Arriving in Stellenbosch Lorna says to me, "Which way shall we go?" I say, "Well you've been here as long as I have, let's turn right". A turn to the left would have cost a few quid for coffee, but the turn to the right cost me £5K.
Having turned right and walked less than one hundred metres down the road, yes, a Diamond Manufacturer, not just any Diamond Manufacturer, but one of only five "sight-holders" in South Africa; they buy directly from De Beers, them that produce 75% of the world's diamond output. That meant two things, we were dealing with professionals, and the prices would be unbeatable. So I am delighted to be able to report that Lorna is now the proud owner of a pair of diamond ear-rings, and I have solved the usual Christmas present conundrum in style this year.
Very good people, and given that we needed more time than would have been available had we taken the coach back to Cape Town, Peter Daneel, son of the owner, drove us back in the old man's Mercedes. We need to claim the 14% VAT back at the port on departure, so the damage will be limited a little, just need to make sure there is no trace when we get back to London.
Not much more to say really, other than the towns of Franschhoek and Stellenbosch and the surrounding areas are beautiful, and well worth a longer visit in the future. The wine-tasting was really a non-event at the Alles Bleue Vineyard, although the service was delightful and the lunch enjoyable.
One thing Peter did point out to us as we returned to Cape Town was the enormous shanty town, Khayelitsha, home to over 1,000,000 people, or 2% of the population of SA. It just brings home again the disparity of wealth in South Africa where 15% of the population own in excess of 80% of the assets.
Khayelitsha: Cape Town, South Africa is a huge, sprawling city that has given rise to a number of new neighborhoods and townships over the past decade. Khayelitsha is now the biggest of these and the community had a population explosion after apartheid ended and blacks rushed into Cape Town for jobs.
As of the last census in 2005, there were a recorded 400,000 people in Khayelitsha, but that figure is likely much higher. The township's population is incredibly young, with 40 percent of its residents under 19 years old and only about seven percent over the age of 50.
No comments:
Post a Comment