The city is alive with indoor attractions and cosy eateries offering up some great food to warm the soul. Many of the city’s restaurants offer great winter specials served next to roaring fireplaces, accompanied by locally produced red wine. The Connect-123 Winter Restaurant Specials List gives you the breakdown of all the specials on offer with over 80 restaurants to choose from. The city centre itself is a gateway to the Cape Winelands, the estates of Constantia, Stellenbosch, Paarl and Franschhoek offer cosy and scenic locations from which to enjoy the rainy season. This is a great time to visit the wine farms, participate in cellar tours and tastings and spend the afternoon enjoying a hearty meals made from freshly grown produce.

Cape Town’s city centre plays host to numerous museums, historical sites and galleries. A stroll along the Company Gardens will lead to the South African National Art Gallery, hosting both local and international artists with rotating exhibitions. As well as the Iziko South African Museum, the Planetarium and the Slave Lodge offer insight to the bygone era and natural history that acts as the foundation of the city’s landscape as it stands today. The Cape Town Holocaust Centre, Bo- Kaap Museum and District Six Museum are well worth the visit and highlight the cultural diversity of Cape Town.

With the final whistle of Africa’s first World Cup about to blow, a number of galleries are currently holding football-related exhibitions in the Cape Town. The Amen Photographic Exhibition on Grassroots Football throughout Africa runs at the Joao Ferreria Gallery until 24 July. Dreams & Goals at the Waterkant Gallery captures football fan mania on a global scale.

Rainy days in Cape Town also offer a good excuse to squeeze in some retail therapy. Hosting a multitude of shopping malls, Cape Town is often seen as a premier shopping destination. The V&A Waterfront, Cavendish Square, the Cape Quarter and Canal Walk offer a variety of shopping experiences, with a fine selection of local and international products to choose from as well as housing the surefire favourites of cinemas and restaurants. The Two Oceans Aquarium showcases the diversity of South Africa’s unique marine ecosystem and is best way to get acquainted with marine life without getting wet! The indoor Redshed Craft Market, also located at the V&A Waterfront, offers an eclectic mix of locally produced handmade items – which you will often purchase directly from the creator themselves.

For live entertainment, we are spoilt for choice, with world- class theatrical performances at venues such as Artscape, Masque and Baxter Theatre. Everything from classical ballet, contemporary dance, local theatre productions, burlesque, stand up comedy and musicals are on offer, providing you with a range of mainstream and unconventional entertainment. Music enthusiasts can enjoy winter concerts every Sunday at the Silver Tree Restaurant in the Kirstenbosch Botanical Gardens.

Even though the rainclouds might be gathering in the distance, pull yourself together, wrap up and set your sights on a winter exploration of Cape Town, whether it’s watching a local production, shopping up a storm or enjoying a cosy meal with a group of friends. And remember Connect-123 has an insider’s perspective on what activities are happening to keep the winter blues at bay!

We filled the Perspectives building, where the majority our interns and volunteers stay, with smells of delicious roast turkey, attracting some curious interns who sniffed us out!

We then had a potluck party up on the roof with everyone bringing a dish to the table, and what a feast!  We all tucked in to the tasty spread while looking out over Cape Town in all her glory, with views of Table Mountain on one side and the harbour on the other.

Whilst not the traditional Thanksgiving many of our Americans would be used to, a feast with new found friends from across the world, looking out over Cape Town was not a bad way to spend it, and the turkeys weren’t half bad either!

Happy Thanksgiving from us all at Connect-123…

The Sisanda FunDaytion recruits volunteers so they can offer fun filled days to the children, when they can be what they are, children for the day.

Some of our volunteers signed up to spend a Saturday taking the kids to Ratanga Junction, a roller coaster ride and theme park.  They also had a show at lunchtime where one of the children had an opportunity to sing on stage – a dream of hers.  They commemorated Nelson Mandela’s birthday by creating cards with the children’s handprints, and singing Happy Birthday on a radio station.

Mandela’s birthday is marked in South Africa with Mandela Day, an annual celebration of the good work Mandela has done for South Africa and the world. The day recognizes individuals’ potential to make an imprint and change the world around them. We are looking forward to continuing to work with The Sisanda FunDaytion in making a positive imprint on vulnerable kids’ lives, giving them days to remember.

Do It Day was another day to give up our time to make a difference, this time building houses in one of the townships outside of Cape Town, Wallacedene.We worked with The Niall Mellon Township Trust, an Irish organization dedicated to not only building houses, but also buiding lives in South Africa through both physical, and capacity building. They have to date built over 12,000 houses in South Africa, addressing the overwhelming need of those living in shacks.

Between our keen bunch of volunteers, we were able to build the base of two houses. Everyone got really involved and learned the strenuous skills of brick laying and cement mixing. Many hands make light work – well not so sure about that, try lifting a bag of cement!  It was great to work together as a team, seeing our progress, brick by brick making a positive impact in building not only a house but a positive future for those in the community.

It is great to see our volunteers getting involved with these community outreach projects on their weekends when we know there is so much else they could be doing between wine tasting, shark cage diving, hiking Table Mountain, lounging on one of the many beautiful beaches, eating in affordable award-winning restaurants, and exploring the City’s vibrant culture and nightlife. They are all working hard during the week at their internships and volunteer placements, making every day Mandela Day and Do It Day, working hard to make a difference in this beautiful and challenging country.

Our team was tasked with building the foundation for a house for Peter, a local Mfuleni resident, who was relocated to Mfuleni from the township of Khayalitsha due to regular flooding in the area where he lived. None of us were really sure what we were in for but with shovels in-hand and nothing but a littered plot in front of us, it was clear that it was going to be a long day of hard work.

We were immediately surrounded by young children, excited to see new people in the community and many of us made great new friends for the day.

After clearing the plot, we started digging the foundation – our supervisor and the site assistants around us made it look so easy but what we lacked in digging skills, we definitely made up for it in spirit. The shack next door was blasting out old-school R&B classics which definitely lifted the mood!

We then measured out sand, concrete and cement, one wheelbarrow at a time, laying it out in the road in layers. After a builders tea of door-stopper-sized pieces of bread and jam we soon discovered our next task. Other volunteers working on the site next to us warned that we’d gotten the easy part out of the way and the hardest part was yet to come. As soon as we got back to work we definitely understood what they meant – there were no cement mixer in sight, only us, a water hose and the giant sandpit we’d created in the road.

It was hard work and the determined attitude of the Connect-123 group was fantastic to see. When we were finally finished, a massive sense of accomplishment washed over us and we also started to notice how tired and truly covered in dirt and cement we all were.
Some women in the community invited us into their shack for a traditional African dish of umngqusho or samp and beans, which is a mixture of dried maize and beans. We were all surprised by how ravenous we were and there was complete silence as we wolfed down this unfamiliar, but very satisfying food.

After cleaning the road and saying our goodbyes, we drove out of Mfuleni with a new, warm feeling for a place we’d entered just hours before as foreigners.

There are many upcoming outdoor music concerts and festivals which should definitely not be missed. The music and atmosphere caters for everyone and varies from head banging, saving the planet rock festivals to beautiful carols by candlelight in the idyllic Kirstenbosch Botanical Gardens. So no matter what your taste in music is, get ready to listen to some of South Africa’s best in the most stunning settings that Cape Town has to offer.

Probably the most well known and popular outdoor music events are the Sunday evening Kirstenbosch Summer Sunset Concerts. People of all ages and types ascend in droves to the beautiful botanical gardens, picnic basket in one hand and blankets in the other, to eat, drink, socialize and listen to some of South Africa’s top talent. The tickets are quite affordable (average of R50 – R70 per person) and can be purchased on the day or online in order to avoid queues and disappointment.

If you are a blues fan then the upcoming Table Mountain Blues Summit is not to be missed. Seven of the country’s hottest blues/rock artists are gearing up to entertain audiences at the beautiful Bloemendal Wynhuis. The wine farm is ensuring that their guests have a fabulous time by erecting a huge marquee as well as an open air section with umbrellas, tables and chairs. The festival takes place on 22 November in Durbanville, which is about 30 minutes from Cape Town, and tickets can be pre purchased through computicket.

For the trance, dance and heavy house aficionados, there are two massive festivals in December which are a must. Unfortunately they both fall on the same weekend, 5-7 December, but as they say, where there is a will there is a way. The infamous Vortex Party promises to be the ultimate psychedelic trance adventure featuring a headspace and peace camp to chill out and relax, a heart space with healing and massage workshops as well as thought-provoking films and documentaries and a community and environment outreach program. The other, lesser known festival, Sensation SA is all about sustainability and the “Green Experience”. The festival assures to be an intensive inspirational electronic music experience with local and international DJs guaranteeing non-stop dancing. There will be multiple stages, a chill out area as well as food, fires, bars and camping areas to help you make the venue your home for the weekend.

See the Connect-123 December Calendar for more on Cape Town events

We started out traversing Chapmans Peak and stopped at the top of the pass to look back over Hout Bay and across the Atlantic Ocean. The next stop was Boulders Beach in Simonstown, well known for its penguin colony. After a fantastic brunch the team gathered on one of the characteristic granite boulders to confer about the previous evening in Long Street and discuss their work aspirations in the coming months.

Arriving at Cape Point we were confronted with two routes to the top; the tram or the footpath. With little consideration the whole group hiked to the lighthouse at the top of Cape Point for a rewarding vista. On the drive out we were surprised by a unique sighting of a baboon catching a lift on top of a car. This experience was a first for most of the interns but the baboon had the casual look of a daily commuter in traffic! Good luck to all the new arrivals in your commute to work on Monday morning. It is great to have you onboard the Connect-123 team.

The team spent the day at Muizenberg beach, first getting lessons from the qualified instructors at Learn 2 Surf and then taking the plunge into the cold False Bay waters. Although shark attacks have recently been reported in the area, the instructors set our nerves at ease by pointing out the shark patrol, who scan the water with binoculars from the mountains high above the Bay.

With the shark patrol on the look-out, our interns bravely paddled out to sea and spent hours attempting to ride their boards back to the beach. Although it was everyone’s first time, each intern got up on their board at least long enough for us to snap a photo to make them look like a pro!

The team had such a good time that we’ll now make surf school a regular outing.

The first stop of the day was Nelsons Creek Wine Estate, situated between Stellenbosch and Wellington. This Estate is renowned, not only for its award winning wines, but also a pioneering initiative to empower workers on the farm. Part of the original Nelsons Creek Estate was passed over to the management and care of the farm workers. They are successfully making and selling wine under the banner of New Beginnings.

The Connect-123 group were welcomed by Victor Titus, the marketing manager of the farm and two friendly dogs the size of small ponies. We were taken on an informative walk through the vineyard and into the dark and cool depths of the cellar itself where over 200 barrels of wine rested. After gaining a better understanding of the grape growing and wine making process everyone quickened their step towards the tasting room. Victor took us through the basics of tasting red and white wines and soon glasses were swirled and sips taken in a very professional manner.

The next stop was Diemersfontein, a wine estate dramatically set overlooking the Wellington valley and Paarl mountain range. Whilst tables and chairs were quickly arranged on the veranda of the farms restaurant the Connect-123 team were treated to a unique wine tasting. Diemersfontein produces a wine that has reached almost cult status. Their range of Pinotage (a South African wine) has very distinct chocolate flavours, which are caused by a combination of the soil and climate found in the vineyard. The wine was very well complimented by chocolate truffles, produced especially for the farm, incorporating the Pinotage in the ingredients.

The wine tasting followed a leisurely lunch, giving everyone an opportunity to discuss their respective internship projects and future aspirations. The warmth of the sun combined with good food, good wine and excellent company made for a fantastic outing, which will surely be repeated!

We spent the first day moving from farm to farm, tasting an assortment of wines, olives and cheeses. After watching rugby at our campsite at the Arabella wine estate, we headed off to Rietsvallei for dinner, comedy and more wine. We arrived back at the Arabella to find a party in full-swing, with live music, plenty of dancing, and lots of friendly South Africans.

On Sunday morning we awoke in our tents to the treat of spectacular mountain scenery and horses roaming the paddocks around us. We had an impromptu braai (barbeque) with some animated locals where we shared stories and photos of the previous day. Everyone got into the bus around mid-morning tired, wine-stained, in need of coffee, but happy. The Wacky Wine Festival was a great success and definitely on the agenda for next year.

To compliment some excellent Cape wines were locally made boutique cheeses and even some especially imported French varieties. Not only this but everyone could try their hand at milking the cows and goats used to make the cheeses. Experiental learning at its best! The team felt very cultured after this outing and hope to test their newly honed palates in the near future.