Another rainy day in Cape Town...

I was caught unawares by today's heavy rain, but these shoppers in Claremont seemed pretty prepared, all dressed up in their raincoats.

I hope the shoes at the stall on the left didn't get damaged during the downpour.

Today, the last of the four bronze sculptures at Nobel Square - and I'm sure you'll recognise this man straight away.

Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1993 (together with FW de Klerk) in recognition of his relentless attitude of forgiveness and reconciliation despite all that had been done to him and his people.

A new 9-foot bronze sculpture of Nelson Mandela has just been unveiled at Parliament Square in London. Interestingly, both the sculpture in our picture and the new one in London depict Mandela in his famous "Madiba shirt", which has become firmly entrenched as a South African icon.

You can see our post about Nelson Mandela's cell on Robben Island here.

Back to Nobel Square at the V&A Waterfront for the third of the four bronze sculptures (see the first and second). This is Frederik Willem de Klerk, better known to South Africans as FW de Klerk... or even just "FW".

FW de Klerk was the President of South Africa from 1989 to 1994, during the final years of apartheid. I remember the 1989 elections well, though I was just 13 at the time; one of the opposition parties put up posters saying something along the lines of "He's just a new rider on a dead horse", implying that FW de Klerk taking over the reins of the National Party would not make a difference, since the National Party was still doing and saying the same old things.

Well, it seems that FW did in fact make a difference, unbanning the ANC, entering into negotiations with black leaders, releasing Nelson Mandela from prison and helping to end apartheid. He received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1993, and was made deputy-president under Nelson Mandela in 1994, a position he held until 1996.

I often wonder whether things would have been different if another leader had emerged in the National Party, or on the other hand, if the more liberal Democratic Party had been voted into power in the 1989 elections.

Every two months, on the 27th of the month, a whole bunch of marketing people and IT geeks (it's okay, that's what they call THEMSELVES - apparently it's no longer derogatory) get together for dinner, drinks, a few short presentations and a whole lot of chatting.

This was the first time we'd been to a 27dinner, and we found the whole environment pretty energising. There's a buzz growing in Cape Town around IT, new media and creative concepts, and I think we're in for some exciting times. It's the influence of that mountain, I tell you...

(By the way, in case you're wondering where we fit in, I'm one of the marketing people and Paul's one of the geeks. :D)

The second of four bronze sculptures at Nobel Square at the V&A Waterfront, this is Desmond Tutu, Archbishop Emeritus of the Anglican Church in Cape Town.

He was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1984, and was chosen to head up the Truth and Reconciliation Commission after the dismantling of apartheid in the 1990s. He has always remained outspoken against injustice, criticising the shortcomings of the old and new governments even-handedly.

It was Desmond Tutu who coined the now-popular term "Rainbow Nation", which I think aptly describes our diverse and oh-so-colourful country.

Unlike yesterday's "statue", today's really is made of bronze. This sculpture forms part of Nobel Square at the V&A Waterfront, a tribute to South Africa's four recipients of the Nobel Peace Prize.

This is the late Albert Luthuli, who received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1960. He was the president of the ANC in the 1950s, and was banned at various times during those years. Banning was similar to house arrest - banned individuals were restricted to a certain geographical area (not always their home town), and were usually not allowed to be in a room with more than one person at a time (other than family members).

The irony here is that Albert Luthuli's banning order was temporarily lifted in December 1961 so that he and his wife could attend the Nobel Peace Prize ceremony in Oslo. How could the government of the day have failed to recognise what the rest of the world saw so clearly? It's beyond me.

This statue-man at the Cape Town waterfront reminded me of Ian Flemming's Goldfinger - remember the girl who was painted in gold?

Our bronze man stood amazingly still for ages until someone dropped some money into a box at his feet. Each time someone paid him he would change position to a new pose - no smile, no direct eye-contact, just a robot changing stance.

Sasol is a South African company which, among other things, manufactures petrol and diesel from coal and natural gas. Sasol has a huge factory in a town called Sasolburg, originaly established to house company employees. Interestingly, the initial installation was built by the Kellogg Corporation of the USA.

This bird, of the species Helicopterus maximus, was parked outside a hotel in Somerset West - a very pretty, leafy area about 40 minutes from central Cape Town. Imagine the convenience of using a helicopter to get around - no more traffic jams, no more robots (that's what we call traffic lights in South Africa), no other drivers doing silly things in front of you... and a beautiful view too!

Pay a visit to Durban Daily Photo today and see a picture of the oldest public building in the city. Durban is situated along the south-east coast of South Africa, about 1600km from Cape Town.

A mini-flock of birds taking their daily dip in the pond in front of the National Gallery... if you zoom in you'll see that they certainly aren't ducks, though.

There are seagulls all over the city, and you'll often hear their cries around the suburbs too. I absolutely love the sound they make, particularly at this time of the year; it always reminds me that the ocean is not far away.

Pay a visit to Durban Daily Photo to see photographs of another part of our lovely country, and while you're there, please give CrazyCow a warm welcome to the CDP family. :)

It was another rainy day in Cape Town today and I was rushing a little too much to stop for any photos, so it's back to the graveyard we go...

I always find cemeteries so fascinating - just think of all the stories that lie buried here. Who was Maureen Rose Lewis, for example, and what led to her death at just 34 years of age?

I guess we'd all like to leave some mark on the world, and in this digital era that's certainly a lot easier to do. Future researchers will merely have to google us or view our Facebook pages to find out what we were all about. :)

This pretty park area is in the vicinity of the houses we've shown in the last two posts. It looks like a lovely spot for a sunset walk, right in the middle of a residential area. I guess it will look quite different in ten or twenty years' time when those trees beside the path have grown up a little.

This home is one or two houses away from the one in yesterday's post. A far more modest abode, and this one definitely without a butler Mr. Lincoln ;). Far more modest, but still a lovely house that I wouldn't mind living in.

This house is located in the town of Durbanville, about 30km outside of Cape Town. The area is home to those on the upper side of middle-class. This particulare house is somewhat larger than the average middle-class home and certainly larger than ours. If we were able to afford it, Kerry-Anne would love to live in this house.

Burial is apparently still a more popular choice than cremation in South Africa, which means that our cemeteries are filling up fast. Of course, once land has been used for a cemetery, it cannot be used for any other purpose in the future, so I'd think some careful planning is needed here.

Personally, I'd prefer to be cremated anyway (well, isn't this just a morbid post?), although I believe there are environmental concerns around the pollution caused by crematoriums too... so it really seems to be a no-win situation.

What is the custom in your country or culture?

It was cold, the wind was blowing hard, and the seas were rough, but this couple seemed not to mind the stormy weather. Perhaps there's a life-lesson to be learned here...

Cape Town's CBD is small when compared to other world cities. This doesn't show the entire CBD - it stretches out to the right side of the photograph. It really is quite pretty when viewed from the harbour; stretched out across the foot of Table Mountain, Lion's Head and Signal hill.

This plane belongs to another of our domestic budget airlines, Mango - unusual name for an airline, don't you think?

I suspect that unlike Kulula, they weren't going for the camo look with this bright orange design...

This is the plane we flew home in on Sunday - funky, isn't it? Do your domestic airlines also have brightly-coloured planes like this one? This plane belongs to kulula.com, who have a reputation for being the fun airline. Their safety briefing is very amusing, as long as you're not scared of flying... :)

Since Wednesday Kerry-Anne and I have been on a mini-vacation in Durban. We met many lovely people, socialised a lot, ate a lot and had a lot of fun. We visited attractions like uShaka Marine World, Karkloof Canopy Tours and Dave's Place. For reference sake, Durban is a 90- to 120-minute flight north of Cape Town on our east coast. In the next couple of days we'll introduce you to the official Durban Daily Photo Blog.

These houses are located in a suburb above a gorge. The view is spectacular, but does anyone want to hazard a guess as to where this view is located? We'll be back home tomorrow evening and will reveal all...

We're still on vacation... The photo of this "surfer-babe" was taken just outside of a popular water park that we visited. "Weird & Passionate" took a guess at where we are, but I haven't yet had a chance to confirm the coordinates they gave. Can you guess?

Kerry-Anne and I are on a mini-holiday this weekend. Can anybody guess where? I'll give you a clue or two. We're not in the Western Cape but we are in South Africa. As you can see we had some fun today. As far as I know there are only three adventure tours of this kind available in South Africa. Take a guess and let us know where you think we may be. We'll post another photo tomorrow in case you can't guess from this one.

While visiting friends we noticed this strange braai (barbecue) light hanging over the neighbour's outdoor fireplace. We postulated that the owner had crashed into a street lamp and had decided to claim the light as his own. Perhaps he crashed into the street lamp and the top just fell into his car... Who knows? I'm sure that even on the darkest of nights our mystery-man has no trouble cooking his meat to perfection under this light.

I noticed this lamp on the side of a building in Loop Street on Monday - it's right opposite the offices of a client that I visit fairly often, and yet I've never seen it before. Which just goes to show how terribly unobservant we can be as we go rushing through our lives, busily doing our work and fulfilling our obligations.

Producing this blog has certainly taught me to slow down and be more observant, paying more attention to the people, things and stories around me.

The title of today's post is the answer to that of yesterday's. This is what the highway looked like today at around 11h30, as seen through my windscreen - not exactly ideal driving weather, but I rather enjoyed the trip, with Toto's apt lyrics "I bless the ra-ains down in A-africa..." blaring from my iPod. :)

It seems winter has decided to come back for another round.

The last two days have presented Cape Town with awesome weather. Not too hot, not too cold, clear skies and no wind - absolutely magnificent.

We actually spotted this scene yesterday, but were on our way to an appointment, so we couldn't stop to take a photo then. Yesterday's sky was bright orange, whereas today's retained its blue hue. I believe that blue predicts rain and orange predicts clear skies - let's see what tomorrow holds...

Workers in the petroleum sector began an indefinite strike last week due to a dispute over wages. Several petrol stations have run dry and motorists have been warned not to drive with less than a quarter of a tank of fuel - lest they end up stranded, without petrol, at a dry filling station.

Hopefully the dispute will come to an end in the next day or two; else I'll be working from home in a week or so :).

Yip, that's right, when you visit Cape Town, you're bound to come across at least one floating dog, if not an entire flock of them! They simply hang around in the air playing all kinds of ball games - Kerry-Anne thinks that they're getting ready for 2010, hoping to be part of the football team.

I wonder how many people stand on the promenade at Mouille Point gazing at cargo ships, wondering, "What on earth could be in all those containers?"

Kerry-Anne said it reminded her of this nursery rhyme:

I saw a ship a-sailing,
A-sailing on the sea;
And, oh! it was all laden
With pretty things for thee!

There were comfits in the cabin
And apples in the hold;
The sails were made of silk,
And the masts were made of gold.

Apart from the silken sails and golden mast, of course. :)

Crispy bacon, fried eggs sunny-side-up, chips, steak, fried tomato, hot buttered toast and a big steaming cup of coffee - this is what breakfast should be. Oh, if only our waistlines and arteries would allow us to eat like this every day!

Anyone who's ever been on a road-trip in South Africa should be familiar with the Wimpy breakfast. There are a number of Wimpy restaurants located at large one-stop petrol stations along all of the country's main routes, and after you've woken up at 4am to get an early start on the road, there's nothing quite like an 8am breakfast stop at the Wimpy to cure a carful of yawning heads and rumbling tummies.

There are 100 blogs participating in this theme day. Use the links below to visit them, and enjoy breakfast around the world:

Saint Paul (MN), USA - Bellefonte (PA), USA - Menton, France - Monte Carlo, Monaco - New York City (NY), USA - Tel Aviv, Israel - Hyde, UK - Port Angeles (WA), USA - Mainz, Germany - Stockholm, Sweden - Paderborn, Germany - Singapore, Singapore - Haninge, Sweden - Nottingham, UK - Ampang (Selangor), Malaysia - Manila, Philippines - Boston (MA), USA - Seoul, Korea - Singapore, Singapore - Joplin (MO), USA - Chandler (AZ), USA - Paris, France - Sequim (WA), USA - Greenville (SC), USA - Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia - Boston (MA), USA - Chennai, India - Madison (WI), USA - Baton Rouge (LA), USA - Toulouse, France - Seattle (WA), USA - Mexico (DF), Mexico - La Antigua, Guatemala - Selma (AL), USA - Wassenaar (ZH), Netherlands - Albuquerque (NM), USA - Cleveland (OH), USA - San Diego (CA), USA - Lubbock (TX), USA - Jakarta, Indonesia - Sheki, Azerbaijan - Sydney, Australia - Mumbai, India - Seoul, South Korea - Cottage Grove (MN), USA - Cypress (TX), USA - Saarbrücken, Germany - Tuzla, Bosnia and Herzegovina - New Orleans (LA), USA - Budapest, Hungary - Kyoto, Japan - Tokyo, Japan - Austin (TX), USA - Singapore, Singapore - Villigen, Switzerland - Montréal (QC), Canada - Stayton (OR), USA - Melbourne, Australia - Silver Spring (MD), USA - Moscow, Russia - Springfield (MO), USA - Inverness (IL), usa - Arlington (VA), USA - Cologne (NRW), Germany - Anderson (SC), USA - Oslo, Norway - Saint-Petersburg, Russian Federation - Manila, Philippines - Kajang (Selangor), Malaysia - Maple Ridge (BC), Canada - Bandung (West Java), Indonesia - Stavanger, Norway - Bastia, France - Hong Kong, China - Wailea (HI), USA - St. Louis (MO), USA - Chicago (IL), USA - Rabaul, Papua New Guinea - Sydney, Australia - Bucaramanga (Santander), Colombia - Kansas City (MO), USA - Grenoble, France - Paris, France - Evry, France - Saigon, Vietnam - Prague, Czech Republic - Cape Town, South Africa - Brookville (OH), USA - Brussels, Belgium - San Diego (CA), USA - Wellington, New Zealand - Newcastle (NSW), Australia - Saint Louis (MO), USA - Sharon (CT), USA - Shanghai, China - Zurich, Switzerland - North Bay (ON), Canada - Lyon, France - Naples (FL), USA - Olympia (WA), USA