Eric Edelstein

The weather was perfect today in Cape Town! So around midday, we met some friends at clifton 4th beach. And then we stood around for a couple of hours talking about how lucky we are to live, in what we all think is the most INCREDIBLE city in the world - and clifton 4th beach is probably the best beach in the world!

Now the problem in summer, is that although clifton 4th beach is the place, everyone else also thinks so, and so parking is HORRENDOUS. It takes ages to get parking.

But on this perfect winter day today, there was parking RIGHT next to the steps leading down to the beach.

There were a lot of foreign accents on the beach, and while listening to a host of dialects, it reminded me of a book I was browsing through at my friends birthday last night (HAPPY BIRTHDAY LEONIE!!!) - it’s called something along the lines of “The hidden secret Cape Town” and is all about finding places in Cape Town off the beaten track - stuff that even the regulars don’t know about.

The one that intrigued me was for a tour down the undercity waterways - apparently they were built from 1652 onwards when Jan van Riebeck arrived in the Cape. The website listed in the book was 180.co.za, but I took a look at the site, and i’m not sure if that is the correct URL (that book was written a few years back). But it sounds like a FASCINATING tour, and there are a group of us already keen to do it. (and it’s led by a Camel Adventure participant!)

The other thing that fascinated me on clifton 4th beach was the number of construction sites you can see from the beach using cranes. I counted SIX cranes! If anyone can direct me to a site that explains how cranes are set up and taken down, I’d love to check it out, as I’ve had quite a few convo’s already about how they get those cranes setup, and how they don’t fall over!

Why can’t EVERYDAY be a perfect summery day in winter! Next time it’s a summer day in Winter, do yourself a favour, and get to clifton 4th beach (or one of the other amazing beaches in Cape Town) ASAP!