But on a more positive note, we’ve asked Donovan’s (our caretaker) mother to come and help us out in the laundry. She’s very shy and a little overwhelmed by the amount there is to do here (yesterday was her first day on duty on her own) but she’s a real stalwart. When asked [...]
Just before the World Cup, Liz and I went to one of those business breakfast things (no, not to ‘network’ but for interest’s sake!) which was all about lessons learned from previous hosting countries. They said that there was a high chance that there would be a massive oversupply of accommodation in Cape Town [...]
It’s been a very long time coming, we know, but we think we’re finally ready to inflict the Parker Cottage Guide to Dining in Cape Town onto the unsuspecting public. To our knowledge, this is the first time a guesthouse has created its own dining guide for Cape Town. We’ve kept it short [...]
Living in a third world country, we’re always amazed how much the foreign media (because unfortunately it’s nearly always foreigners writing about Africa these days) love to find all the reasons why things will fail in Africa. And for once, they simply can’t find anything negative to say about the continent (except perhaps for [...]
Those of you in the know will be aware that we have no cut off time at Parker for breakfast (unlike some lesser guesthouses :-)). The late breakfast record was up until today held by Angela St. Jules and Mikael Rasmussen who clocked in at 11h38 (quite regularly, in fact!). To their great [...]
And hasn’t the country woken up to it in a big way? Just three days before the kick off, Cape Town was sort of dozing away like there was nothing about to happen and then, suddenly, the World Cup lands. Liz and I got to see South Africa score that crucial goal against [...]
It’s really such a pity for our guests when bad weather (wind, rain, cloud) stops them getting to Table Mountain or Robben Island. Liz and I have discovered a great solution: leave Cape Town for the time that it rains and then, then it’s sunny again, come back! We were just in the [...]
In a bizarre twist of fate, the volcanic ash cloud in Iceland has actually made things less than simple even as far away as South Africa. Some of our guests have been stuck here for over nine days (and counting) whereas some just seem to have hopped on a plane thee minute the airspaces [...]
In a fit of bizarre enthusiasm I booked Liz and I onto a sailing yacht for New Year’s Eve. Not perhaps the best idea but I had visions of bobbling about watching the fireworks as a cooling light breeze ruffled the sails above our champagne-filled heads. It was not to be: the breeze [...]
