We spent our last five days in Africa at the Granddaddy Hotel in Capetown. It was the perfect contrast to our days on safari. There, we had been with a group, larger than we had expected, close to 40 including a school group from Florida, from the school that Dolly and Paul's daughter had attended over a decade ago. We travelled in groups of about 6 each in Landcruisers, so spent most of the day in small groups.
In Capetown we were on our own, with not much planned in advance. It was a pleasure to not have to wake up early and be on the road by 8:30, although with all the wildlife it wasn't very hard to wake up and get going. (after a sumptous breakfast.)
In addition to the three floors of the hotel there is a roof bar, and, oddest of all, six airstream trailers, each with a different decorator and different name and theme. The idea had originally seemed appealing. But we were awfully glad we chose the suite. Not only are the trailers small, but the bar often hosts events, two just in the five days we were there, a wedding and a Ghana tourism event. The events are noisy, and the hotel guests and trailer occupants are not permitted at the roof bar during the events. We did get to spend a fair amount of time at the sky bar, so it wasn't really an issue for us. But we did hear that one trailer occupant asked to switch to another room during the Ghana event. We were also kicked out for the event, but the Ghanians subsequently invited us to join them.
The Granddaddy has been a hotel since it was built in the 1890s, but has undergone several ownerships and identities. I saw from old ads that it had previously been called the Daddy Longlegs, but couldn't find much more information than that.
There was art by local artists on the hallway walls, although none particularly appealed to me. On the stairwells, though, in plexiglass cases, were two outfits, a dress and a suit, comprised totally of maps. The suit jacket had prominent maps of Boston and New York.
A more than ample breakfast was included, with about a half dozen choices including omlettes, pancakes, and a breakfast bowl with scrambled eggs. Plus a buffet of juice, fruit, cereal, muffins, and more. And cappuccino as a beverage choice, with no extra cost and free refills! As I've said before, all the meals included on our trip were sumptous and more than I could eat, even in small portions. I expected it more at the safari lodges, which were catering to well off foreigners. But the hotel restaurant at the Granddaddy served both tourists and locals, and I had less expected it there.
The Long St. location is central and in walking distance of some of the city's attractions. There is also a daily crafts market a couple of blocks away, which I tried my best to avoid. (unsuccessfully.) We saw vendors hauling away massive crates of merchandise at the end of the day. Incredible to think they do that daily. And so many merchants in competition with one another. It is hard to imagine how any of them make a living. They do, however, seem to work somewhat cooperatively. If one doesn't have what you are looking for, they will lead you to someone else who might. I assume they get a cut of the sale. This has been true in many of the places we've visited over the years.
To be continued in the next post.
No comments:
Post a Comment