MONYTIMES: Cape Town Capers

July 2017:
Flew down to Cape Town from Dubai, UAE for meetings as my manager was shortly to proceed on maternity leave. The flight was a long but restful one and it was exciting to check the flight path from time to time to cross the African countries and wait to cross the equator. The only funny aspect was around layers as this trip required a bit of sweating in Dubai (peak summer) and shivering in Cape Town (peak winters)!

Incidentally, this trip was a few weeks after the infamous cyber attack on Maersk . Luckily visa, hotel and flights had been arranged and print outs done (strangely we were well prepared) a week before the attack locked us out of the office network. So we had a bit of old school working with charts, post - its, memory and markers. For a change no presentations/ slide shows - just plain simple though animated discussions that led to fruitful outcomes.

Lobby of Park Radisson

The visit to Table mountain was planned but did not take place. Sadly it was shrouded under heavy cloud cover and it rained during the entire 03 day trip. Stayed close to office at Park Radisson near the Commercial Business District. Comfortable stay, clean rooms and the staff were friendly and courteous.

We were strongly advised to be vigilant, not to wander around alone and keep a low profile to avoid mugging. Luckily the trip remained incident free. We did however explore the Victoria and Albert waterfront (almost daily), the APMT Container depot and also went up to view Signal mountain.

Inside the Mall at V&A waterfront

Hungry anyone?

The Fab Four n Moi

Moi n Mandela

Could not resist one more

The VandA waterfront is a lively upmarket area of Cape Town. The shopaholics can have a field day while those who wish to avoid crowds can enjoy some awesome outdoor dining experiences (beer + game or seafood and wine)! You can see the jetty (rumoured sadly to have housed slaves in the piers when they were offloaded), Robben Island (Mr. Mandela was kept prisoner here for majority of his life), see Cape Town eye styled ferris wheel, watch foot tapping street performances by local artists or pose with the famous four Nobel Laureates from Africa. Incidentally one of the days was Madiba (Nelson Mandela's) birthday so Moi was super enthusiastic to pose with him.

Silence after the hustle bustle

Sunset and a long walk

Still at the waterfront

Night sights at waterfront

Moi poses with Table mountain as backdrop

Chess as you walk about

Robben Island - sinister in the fog across the bay

You can also play chess and pose for pictures with the Table mountain in the background. If you look closely you can see the 11 apostles (essentially rock folds in the mountain). A trip to Table mountain had been planned but we had to shelve it due to poor weather.

We also walked around quite a bit as one of Maersk's most famous offices was earlier located in this part of town - they had moved out around a year or so. The location on V and A waterfront plus that it housed Safmarine, Maersk Line, Damco and APMT (all well known brands) and the resulting camaraderie was what added to the magic of that sea facing office. The staff still have fond memories and hope someday they can move back. In fact colleagues from other locations come to see the old office location almost as if it were an important landmark/ tourist spot!

On way to Old Maersk office

To meet the Queen!

Wish you were here!

The APMT depot is housed a fair distance from the city centre (around 30-40 mins drive). The staff very meticulously gave us a safety briefing and we had to undertake a test. The briefing was given to us by an African Black woman who had initially joined as welder and then moved up to become the safety officer - such an inspiring story and incidentally Maersk is full of wonderful women from all the world who've chosen to follow their dreams no matter the odds.
After the briefing, we were handed coloured vests and hard hats and taken round the facility. We have office staff plus technical specialists. The depot not just has stacks of containers waiting to be filled/ moved to their next destination, this is one of the few facilities in the world where the Reefers can be repaired and set right (including painting and fumigation). We saw a few that were undergoing final repairs. The truckers were patiently queued up outside the depot awaiting clearances and even the exit from the facility is done with all checks and post approvals. The facility has different zones in colours for safety , emergency exit / assembly area, gantry operations etc.

View of the Bay

At Signal Hill view point

The clouds make a nice necklace

View of the city

Cloud cover over Table Mountain

On way back we were too tired to explore but my manager (in her advanced stage of pregnancy) drove us around the beautiful city - South african care and hospitality! The drive round to Signal hill was scenic and the views of the bay and mountain had us exclaiming ooohs and aaahs every few turns. It was suitably windy and cold and it had even started drizzling in some places. Just an amazing end to a lovely day.

Local Birds

As it was a fairly hectic trip for business reasons, we could not explore cape point or the garden route but I hope to do so another time. The airport has an interesting stall which has traditional bead work and art/ craft souveniers, rooibos tea and knick - knacks (in case you believe you missed shopping for anything)! From my experience at Cape Town, Jo'burg and Durban airports, the immigration into and out of South Africa does take time as the staff are quite thorough but the systems may operate slowly so do ensure you buffer for ample time between check-in, security and immigration clearance,