Monday, April 26, 2010

Full Moon, Metamorphosis, Spirit, Music, Talk, Theatre and the Lucky Charms



FULL MOON MADNESS

This week on Wednesday night it's the full moon  - which I had to mention because it seems to sit so perfectly  with  the crazy revels planned for this week ...


BALKANOLOGY 2010

This Monday, tonight! - the phenomenon that is Balkanology takes place in the city. The venue is called the Vaudeville Supper Club, ideal for  an event described as "a deliciously devilish circus carnival."   Balkanology parties were dreamed up with the aim of  "presenting the madness of Balkan and Gypsy music to Africa,"  and  their ads are full of irresistable madness.
This one has the theme of  Metamorphosis and they promise performances with all sorts of transformations, transsubstantiations, mutations, alchemy, etc.    Also lots of games involving animals, including a raffle of " a real trained miniature Indian elephant" and a  competition with a goat in an enclosure  where "the object will be to guess where the goat is going to do its business."  DJ’s play Balkan beats into the small hours.   If you're going, dress up gypsy-style and try and  arrive at 20h00 when the event begins so you don't miss out on "the whole story."
Vaudeville Supper Club   11 Mechau Street   CBD  Cape Town
Tonight Monday 26  20h00
Tickets  R150 at the door    R120 presale    www.webtickets.co.za     0861787737
Information from  Maor 0722115563 or Alain 0798916083



THIS WEEK ONLY:  INTRODANS AT THE BAXTER

My must-see event of the week is Introdans at the Baxter Theatre from Wednesday till Saturday. The Dutch company, one of the top modern ballet companies in the world, presents  a programme called Spirit, "in which four great choreographers "give shape to energy and spirit."   They are Jose Limon from America, Toru Shimazaki from Japan, Nacho Duato from Spain, and our own Vincent Mantsoe.   Reviews highlight Shimakazi's piece Bardo, a ballet about life after death, set to rhythms by Dead Can Dance.

Baxter Theatre
Wednesday 28 April to Saturday 1 May   20h00
Prices: R120, R75
Enquiries: Allison Foat  021 462 7384   diva.events@iafrica.com




LONDON ROAD AT THE FUGARD THEATRE

I saw  London Road at the very end of its run at the Kalk Bay Theatre, and wished that it wasn't too late to recommend that people go and see it.  Now I've discovered it's transferred to the Fugard, so I have the chance to say, don't miss this lovely piece of theatre.  Written by Nicholas Spagnoletti and directed by Lara Bye,  it's the story of a friendship between two women who live in the same block of flats in Sea Point - one a Jewish grandmother whose children have long since emigrated, and  the other a young illegal immigrant from Nigeria.  It's genuinely touching, as well as funny, and brave in venturing into some very dark and painful territory.  There's beautiful acting, especially from Robyn Scott as the bobba.  This Tuesday tickets are only R60 (usually R100)
The Fugard Theatre
Tuesdays to Saturdays 19h30  20 April - 8 May
Call 021 461 4554 or visit www.thefugard.com to book




VUVUZELA ORCHESTRA

Pedro Espi-Sanchis's Vuvuzela Orchestra has a platform at the Waterfront on Freedom Day.  I'm married to Pedro, so you'll be forgiven for thinking this is a very partisan recommendation.  But in fact I was the most reluctant convert to his idea of tuning vuvuzelas and making music with them instead of noise - and for me to fall in love with it, as I did in the end - it had to be good.   The full band is seven vuvuzelas, a trumpet, a singer, a drummer and a bass player. Their aim is to bring singing of the great soccer songs back into the stadiums - listen to one of those by following the link in the post-script below.

V and A Waterfront  Agfa Theatre
Tuesday 27   17h00 to 18h00 




NOMFUSI AND THE LUCKY CHARMS

The name alone is enough for me to want to see this show at the Alliance Francaise on Thursday,  it has all the romance of the Sophiatown era.  And for a reason - Nomfusi and the Lucky Charms' music is described as "a refreshing blend of Sophiatown (African jazz from the 60’s) and classic Motown."   They are gathering acclaim and this year they will be performing at the Montreal Jazz Festival as part of an extensive international tour.  Reading up about Nomfusi reveals an incredible life story of  "the will to survive amidst unfathomable adversity;"  read the full biographical notes on the Alliance website.

Thursday  28    20h30 
Alliance Francaise    155  Loop Street    021 423 56 99




WOLPE TRUST OPEN DIALOGUE TONIGHT

I always recommend the Open Dialogues organized by the Wolpe Trust  -  there have been one or two dull spots, but mostly these Dialogues have been riveting. They have created a sizeable public audience for serious and stimulating discussion about the important questions facing us as a society.  Tonight the subject is  Universities in Crisis: The Challenge of Transformation and the speaker is Michael Burawoy, Professor of Sociology at the University of California at Berkeley.  He gave the Harold Wolpe Memorial Lecture in 2004, and there must be good reasons for them to invite him again!

Monday 26    17h30 for 18h00
Kramer Building   Lecture Theatre 3   Middle Campus   UCT
RSVP:  wolpeforums@mweb.co.za  / 021-6740361



GARDENING TALK AT KIRSTENBOSCH

This week there's a talk by Sandy Michell of San Michelles Nursery under the umbrella of Kirstenbosch's "Room to Grow Wednesday Talks."  Apart from the fact that it's worth using any excuse to go to Kirstenbosch at this time of year, I also took note of it because plants from San Michelle have always looked specially enticing at the nurseries, so we'd be getting some expert advice for free.

Wednesday 28    10h30 to 11h30
Lecture Hall  Gate 2  Kirstenbosch
Enquiries to Cathy Abbott 021 465 6440  cathya@wol.co.za
Entrance free but garden entrance fees apply




Post-script


A song from the Vuvuzela Orchestra

Go to  www.vuvuzelaorchestra.co.za
On the Welcome page click on "Abafana"  
   
               


Monday, April 19, 2010

London Book Fair, Brazilian Samba, African Portraits, Greek Tragedy, Moscow Circus




NOT THE LONDON BOOK FAIR AT THE BOOK LOUNGE TONIGHT

Last minute news of a feast of an event at the Book Lounge tonight!   A group of South African writers and publishers were due to go to the London Book Fair this weekend just gone by but couldn't fly because of the volcanic ash debacle.  With incredible spontaneity and spirit, they've pulled together an event called "Not the London Book Fair" to happen at the Book Lounge tonight.  The London fair has a special South African focus this year, and here is the line-up of people "so far" from  Book SA's website: 
"
* Antjie Krog, whose most recent book Begging To Be Black winds up questions ... she began asking in Country Of My Skull;
* Imraan Coovadia, who’ll talk about his tour de force novels, including his recent High Low In-between;
* Fiona Snyckers, author of the bubbly, witty chick-lit-with- heart Trinity series;
* Entrepreneur and cultural connoisseur Victor Dlamini will bring his expertise to the interviewing panel;
* Arthur Attwell of Electric Book Works, joint winner of the international Young Publisher of the Year award and electronic publishing guru;
* Colleen Higgs of Modjaji Books, rapidly filling a niche as South Africa’s premier publisher of quality poetry, fiction and memoir by women, with a frontlist of exciting new books;
* Ben Williams, writer, web journalist and driving force behind BOOK SA

"This line-up is subject to change as we add more writers and voices… come prepared to be surprised and delighted ...  This event has the blessing of the official London Book Fair ... Readings, panels, debate and interviews will be live-reported through to the LBF, so those at the LBF will still get a sense of the richness and freshness of our talent."  (http://book.co.za/)

Tonight  Monday 19 April
The Book Lounge, cnr of Roeland and Buitenkant Street, central Cape Town.
18h00 till late.




ORFEU NEGRO

The Alliance Francaise in Loop Street hosts an on-going cultural programme that is a big gift to Cape Town. On Wednesdays there's a "cine-club" which shows French films free of charge; and there're also regular music concerts with very affordable ticket prices, often with  very special musicians.

This Wednesday the cine-club is showing Orfeu Negro, directed by Marcel Camus in 1959.   The setting of the film is the Rio Carnival, and it's loosely inspired by the legend of Orpheus and Eurydice.    All of the reviews that I tracked down say that the point of the film is not really the story of the lovers, but rather the the carnival itself - the visual spectacle (Marcel Camus was also a painter), the samba dancing, and the famous and "intoxicating" bossa nova soundtrack.    I found a 1959 review from the New York Times which succinctly describes the action in the language of the time:
"It is a tragic story of a Negro chap and a Negro girl who meet at the time of the annual blowout, fall suddenly and rapturously in love, whirl through the night in a furious revel and fall off a cliff in the dawn."     The same reviewer complains that the English sub-titles lack the samba beat, a constant presence in the film; he says, "A cat with a cool vocabulary should have been turned loose on them."

Wednesday 21 April     19h00       Free entrance
Alliance Francaise    155  Loop Street    021 423 56 99




LITTLE BRAZIL CULTURAL DAY

To tie in with the movie, the Alliance is hosting an event  in partnership with Little Brazil,  a group that holds regular Brazilian parties and this time  presents "Little Brazil Cutural Day."  There'll be  food, music, batucada, dance presentations, art, and capoeira.  Tickets are R100 including food.
Thursday 22 April    20h30  
For tickets contact  Alliance Francaise  (see above) or Carol 0768966709




JUNGIAN SOCIETY TALK: EXILED FROM THE KINGDOM

There is a talk at the Jungian Society on Tuesday which caught my interest chiefly because of the unexpected element of music.   The talk by Paul Ashton is titled  "EXILED FROM THE KINGDOM: Euripedes Trojan Women, Eleni Karaindrou's music, and some other music that makes exile seem worse and yet more tolerable." 
Paul Ashton is a Cape Town psychiatrist and Jungian analyst with "a deep interest in literature, art and music."
Eleni Karaindrou is a Greek composer who writes music for film and theatre.  Euripedes' Trojan Women was a very early and fierce protest against war, and in Karaindrou's score for a  2001 production she was mindful of the parallels with the recent war in the Balkans.   She uses traditional folk instruments from around the Mediterranean, such as the lyre, the lute and the flute, but her compositions are described as stark,modern and timeless, and are noted for their expressive power.

Tuesday   20     20h00
Iziko Museum  Queen Victoria St  
for information
021 6896090



FINAL WEEK FOR MIKHAEL SUBOTSKY WITH PATRICK WATERHOUSE AT THE GOODMAN

Do not miss this exhibition which ends its run on Saturday.   A collaboration between photographer Mikhael Subotzky and British artist Patrick Waterhouse, the work deals with the Ponte building, the tall round block that is  "an iconic structure in Johannesburg’s skyline", part of the city's mythology and a hub for recent immigrants from Africa.  The two artists " combine photography, historical archives, found objects, and interviews to create a body of work that spans the pre-history of the building, its spectacular decline, and the recent attempts at its transformation."   

Tues 20 to Saturday 24 April
Goodman Gallery   Sir Lowry Road Woodstock




LAUNCH OF ZWELETHU MTHETHWA: PHOTOGRAPHS

Hosted by the Book Lounge at iArt Gallery, this is the launch of the first monograph of  photographs by Zwelethu Mthethwa.   The artist photographer from Durban studied art at Michaelis and then as a Fulbright scholar in the USA.  He is best known for his photographic portraits, but his drawings and paintings are also widely exhibited.  Mthethwa's projects have included the interiors of hostels and informal houses, and portraits of miners and other workers, including immigrants.  He has some interesting things to say about why he works in colour:  it allowed him to show the vibrant ways people decorated their homes using available materials and "black and white tends not to look at the esthetics," he says.   Also, using colour allowed him to distance himself from apartheid-era news photography -  art critic Okwui Enwezor writes, "According to Mthethwa's theory of color photography, black-and-white reportage was itself complicit in denying the indigent inhabitants of settlements any claim to subjecthood. It placed them within the status of news items: victims rather than persons, specimens instead of individuals."


Thursday 22 April   17h30 for 18h00
at the iArt Gallery, 71 Loop Street.




OPEN NIGHT AT THE OBSERVATORY AND TALK ON THE ART OF STARS

I've just received a reminder of the wonderful Open Nights which are held twice a month at the Cape Town Observatory.  This Saturday there is a talk by Suki Lock of the Astronomical Society on "The Art of Stars."  

Saturday 24  20h00 to 22h00
at the South African Astronomical Observatory just off Liesbeek Parkway (beyond the River Club)





 THE INAUGURAL WATERFRONT BOOK FAIR

 From this Tuesday to next Monday, there will be a charity sale with more than 30 tables of new and second-hand books at the V&A Waterfront. It benefits a wonderful  cause: it's presented by Well Read Books, who sell collectable books in aid of Wola Nani, the NGO supporting women and children affected by AIDS.   Among many other things, Wola Nani does craft development and has a shop above the Pan African Market which is well worth a visit (they created the iconic papier mache bowls with fishes, for example.)

The Book Fair runs from Tuesday  20 to Monday 26
Victoria Wharf





THE GREAT MOSCOW CIRCUS

And just in case you want to fit some old-fashioned spectacle into a week full of book fairs, foreign films and phot0graphy - The Great Moscow Circus is in town.   At the GrandWest Grand Arena in Cape Town from 16 to  27 April, the circius has no performing animals, only "a celebration of human mastery over physical limitations."













Monday, April 12, 2010

Jazz, Flamenco and Traditional Musicians, Storytellers and Poets

 IMAGINE CITY HALL CONCERT SERIES

There are two concerts at the City Hall this week, and when delving into their background I discovered some inspiring cultural initiatives going on in Cape Town.  The first is  the Imagine City Hall project (a venture of  The Africa Centre, Creative Cape Town and Cape MIC) which is pursuing a vision of the City Hall as a venue dedicated to cultural events, accessible to all.    The second initiative is a company called Silent Revolutions run by musicians Lee Thompson and Kesivan Naidoo with the  aim of creating a space where musicans have "freedom of expression ... without having to define themselves by genre or by audience."   These two projects have linked up to present this concert series, co-inciding with the Spier Contemporary at the City Hall.  

The first of these two concerts is on Tuesday 13, when saxophonist Rus Nerwich performs Mantras 4 Modern Man. The ads don't say who'll be playing with him, but the album of the same title features a fabulous line-up including pianist Andre Petersen and drummer Kevin Gibson.  

The second concert is on Saturday 17 and it brings together the great traditional Xhosa musician Madosini, who needs no introduction, and the guitarist Derek Gripper - who  "pays homage to musicians such as Brazil's Egberto Gismonti, Mali's Toumani Diabate and Japan’s Toru Takemitsu, uniting their work into a new form of cyclical African music."

Cape Town City Hall Grand Parade Entrance
Tues 13 and Sat 17 April at 20h00
Tickets at R50 per performance will be available at the door
Seats are limited so arrive early to avoid disappointment. 




LAST WEEK FOR THE TRAIN DRIVER

The premiere run of Athol Fugard's latest play The Train Driver at the new Fugard Theatre has been extended for just one week more, ending on Sunday.   The theatre is a redevelopment of  an historic building,  a former textile warehouse not far from the City Hall, once  "frequented by generations of District Six seamstresses and tailors."   A fitting place for work that, in Fugard's words, "seeks to claim people, refusing to allow them to pass on into oblivion, trying to bear witness.”    About the theatre itself  Fugard said, "I defy any writer to sit in the auditorium and look at that stage and not want to create work for that space – it’s thrilling”

The Fugard Theatre is in Caledon Street, Cnr of Harrington Street, District Six, Cape Town.
The Train Driver will be on Tuesday to Saturday at 19h30 and Sunday at 15h30.
Bookings  www.thefugard.com  021 461 4554.




FLAMENCO TRIO  AT ALLIANCE FRANCAISE

At the Alliance Francaise on Thursday there's more music, not as experimental perhaps as the City Hall concerts, but crossing borders in its own way.  Saudiq Khan was raised in District Six  and never lost that influence as he grew up to become a highly accomplished  flamenco guitarist and  composer.  The Alliance advertises a "performance of speed, accuracy and high flamenco energy ....a world of deep feeling and heartfelt melodies."    If you love flamenco, this is a rare chance to hear it in Cape Town.

Alliance Francaise  155 Loop St
Thursday 15 April  20h30   R50
021 4235699




BOOK LAUNCH:  HOME AWAY: 24 HOURS 24 CITIES 24 WRITERS

At the Book Lounge this Thursday there's the launch of a book with an unusual and creative premise: it is a collection of 24 stories by 24 writers, each set an hour apart,each in a different city of the world.  Home Away: 24 Hours 24 Cities 24 Writers "is a snapshot of South African writing today: emigrant and immigrant South Africans, living at home and away."  The list of contributors is impressive - which in itself of course doesn't guarantee a good book, and I haven't seen it yet. But I think we will be assured of a very entertaining time at the launch, because seven good writers will be there to read their chapters from the book.  They are Sally Partridge, Colleen Higgs, Sarah Lotz, Lauren Beukes, Liesl Jobson, Helen Moffett and Rustum Kozain plus editor Louis Greenberg .  
(When I saw his name on the list, I looked for a poem by Rustum Kozain which I've added as a post-script -  I heard him read it at the Book Fair years ago, and I've found it unforgettable.)

Book Lounge Thursday 15  17h30 for 18h00     RSVP to either booklounge@gmail.com or to 021 462 2425



CAPE TOWN POSTCARDS FROM CIRCA 1908









































Post-script:  A poem by Rustum Kozain from the book This Carting Life


Kingdom of Rain


from these I am growing no nearer
to what secret eluded the children

Derek Walcott, ‘Sainte Lucie’

 


Somewhere in some dark decade
stands my father without work,
unknown to me and my brother
deep in the Paarl winter and a school holiday.
As the temperature drops, he,
my father, fixes a thermos of coffee,
buys some meat pies and we chug
up Du Toit’s Kloof Pass in his old 57 Ford,
where he wills the mountain – under cold cloud,
tan and blue rockface bright and wet with rain –
he wills these to open and let his children in,
even as he apologises –
my strict and angry fearsome father –
even as he apologises for his existence
then and there his whereabouts declared
to the warden or ranger in government
issue, ever-present around the next turn
or lazing in a jeep in the next lay-by:
“No sir, just driving. Yes, sir, my car.”

At the highest point of the pass
we stop to eat, and he, my father,
this strict and angry, fearsome father,
my father whom I love and his dark face,
he pries open a universe that strangely
he makes ours, that is no longer mine:
a wily old grey baboon, well-hid
against salt-and-pepper rock, eyeing us;
some impossibly magnificent bird of prey
rarely seen, racing to its nest as the weather turns.
And we are up there close I think
to my father’s God, the wind howling
and cloud rushing over us, awed
and small in that big car swaying in the gale.

Silence. A sudden still point
as the universe pauses, inhales
and gathers its grace.
Then, the silent, feather-like fall
of snowflakes as to us it grants
a brief bright kingdom
unseen by the ranger. And for some minutes
a car with three stunned occupants
rests on a mountain top outside the fast
ever-darkening turn of our growing up;
too brief to light the dark years
when I would learn:

how the bright, clear haunts of crab and trout
where we swim in summer
now in winter a brown rage over rock;
how mountain and pine and fynbos
or the mouse-drawn falcon of my veld;
the one last, mustard-dry koekemakranka
of summer that my father tosses through the air
to hit the ground and puff like a smoke bomb;
and once, also in summer somewhere,
a loquacious piet-my-vrou;
or the miraculous whirligig of waterhondjies
streaking across a tea-coloured pool
cradled by tan rock and fern-green fern;
my first and only owl,
large and mysterious
in a deep stand of pine,
big owl we never knew were there
until you swooped away, stirred by our voices;
how I too would be woken and learn
that this tree and bird, this world
the earth and this child’s home
already fell beyond his possessives.

And how, once north through the dry
Bushmanland with its black rock,
over a rise in the road, the sudden green
like the strange and familiar sibilants
in Keimoes and Kakamas.
And the rush of the guttural was the water
over rock at Augrabies.
The Garieb over rock at Augrabies,
at Augrabies where the boom swings down,
the gate-watch tight-lipped as a sermon:
“Die Kleurlingkant is vol”
as he waves through a car filled
with bronzed impatient white youth
laughing at us, at my father, my father
my silent father in whom a gaze grows distant
and the child who learns this pain past metaphor.
How like a baboon law and state
just turned its fuck-you arse on us
and ambled off.  

Monday, April 5, 2010

Performance Art, Great Speakers, Bargains, and Autumn on show


WILLIAM KENTRIDGE SPEAKS AT HIDDINGH

William Kentridge is always articulate and thought-provoking when talking about his work, and generous with what he shares, and his spot as GIPCA's next speaker in the Great Text/Big Questions series is bound to  be very rewarding.  I'm sure that it will also be very popular and booking is advisable - details are below.    Last month saw the opening in New York of Kentridge's production of Shostakovich's opera The Nose, based on Gogol's aburdist short story,  and it was received with raves.  If we can't see the show, at least we can catch some of the buzz by hearing about it so soon after.  In the talk Kentridge will "revisit his exploration of Gogol’s story (written in 1836) and Shostakovich’s music (first performed in Leningrad in 1930 before being suppressed and not seen again until 1974.)" 
At Hiddingh Hall on Thurs 8  at 17h00
There is no charge to attend, but space is limited. To book contact  ash.miles@uct.ac.za
(For a little more about the Great Text/Big Questions series see last week's blog.)




LIVE PERFORMANCE ART AT SPIER

This coming weekend there's a special event at the Spier Contemporary 2010 worth capturing.   There are a number of works of performance art on the exhibition and on most days these pieces can be seen on video  ...  but at very restricted times (every second weekend or so) the artists perform these pieces live.   This weekend the performances will run from 11h00 to 12h00 on the Saturday, and 15h00 to 16h00 on the Sunday.
There is no up-to-date information about who and how, but last time the session included:
* Voices by Maurice Mbikayi
* Newspaper Persona by Phillipe Wayumba Wa-Yafolo
* Itch by Mxolisi Nkomonde 
* Lullaby: A Hair Dance To The Music Of ‘Kalimba Lullaby’ By Mr. Cat And The Jackal by Lean Coetze
 * Inferno by Mlu Zondi
 * Walking Together by Philippe Kayumba Wa-Yafolo

Some of this work looks fun and interesting, judging from the information on the exhibition website - look for links to each of these artists at  http://spiercontemporary2010.co.za/2010/exhibition/artists/ 

An added attraction of the Spier show is the Fringe Arts shop, and there's a coffee shop too.

Spier Contemporary at the City Hall, Cape Town, from 10h00 to 18h00 every day until the 14th May 2010 (including public holidays). Admission is Free.  Live performances on Sat 10 11h00 to 12h00 and Sun 11 15h00 to 16h00
www.spiercontemporary2010.co.za • 0860 111 458




NEW LECTURE SERIES AT THE BOOK LOUNGE

The Book Lounge is launching the Open Shuhada Street Lecture Series, with the theme of Israel and Palestine and human rights.  Their first speaker is  Advocate Geoff Budlender on  "The Limits of the Law: Practising Law Under Occupation."
Geoff Budlender was a founder of the Legal Resources Centre in 1979, and has been central to human rights law in South Africa ever since.     I for one am very grateful to have someone of such gravitas talking on this subject which needs to be examined in the most reliable light.  For those who can't bear to miss the William Kentridge talk, which co-incides almost exactly, I hope the Book Lounge publishes the talk/discussion!
The Book Lounge
Thursday 8 April 2010  @ 5.30 for 6pm




AFRIKAAPS OPENS AT THE BAXTER

Afrikaaps has been anticipated with excitement because it brings together a star ensemble of musicians, singers, rappers and poets,  and takes on an interesting project which is the re-telling of the history of Afrikaans.    Advance notice from the premiere at the KKNK in Oudtshoorn is that it's worth seeing for the "exquisite jazzy musical score" by Kyle Shepherd,  but the staging and choreography is disappointing.
Afrikaaps at the Baxter from Wednesday 7 April




LAST MINUTE REMINDER - INDIGENOUS PLANT SALE TODAY

The Good Hope Nursery near Cape Point is offering a 20% discount on  their great array of indigenous plants, just for today (Monday 5.)  The sale is one of many attractions of their "fynbos family day" - see more on last week's blog.
Fynbos Family Day  Good Hope Nursery on Monday the 5th of April from 10am – 4pm
021 7809299 or 0722344804        http://www.capepoint.com/              




SKINNY LA MINX SECONDS SALE ON SATURDAY

Textile designer Heather Moore is holding the Seconds, Samples (& So On) Sale at her studio this Saturday  and it's a very uncommon chance to pick up some of her gorgeous stuff at a discount.   She has a range inspired by fifties and sixties homeware and another by Cedarberg rock paintings, all in lovely colours.  There’ll be "tea towels, cushion covers and bags, some one-off samples, as well as some end-of-range stock that simply has to go."  
See more at http://www.skinnylaminx.info/
The Sale is on Saturday10 April  from 9h00 to 15h00 at Heather's studio 33a Buitengracht Street. Cash only.




FLOWERS AND SKIES

There are two wonders of autumn to pay attention to now, one of them needing a trip to Kirstenbosch and the other all around us every evening wherever we are in Cape Town.

I've just returned from Kirstenbosch, thanks to word from a friend that the shade-loving Plectranthus is in full bloom.  This is the moment in the year that this beauty is at its peak and  visitors will see dozens of kinds in "seas of white, mauve, purple, pink."   The photographs at the end of this posting capture a little of  this beauteous show.

And then the skies.  Leaving a meeting recently, under a dramatically pink evening sky, a neighbour who is a science lecturer said, Yes, this is the time of year for awesome skies!   It was news to me that such a time of year existed and I pressed him for details - apparently the sunsets are at their most spectacular from now until the end of April.  Take note and look out for them!








photos by Pedro Espi Sanchis