Wednesday (9-24-2008) was a public holiday in South Africa. It was Heritage Day, which is a day on which South Africans celebrate their cultural heritage and the diversity of their beliefs and traditions. It’s also a day when friends and family get together and have a braai, or what Americans would call a backyard barbeque. Since it was a public holiday, Girl got the day off of work. We decided to take advantage of the day and went to Camps Bay with Constance (Girl’s co-worker) and her husband Paul to play at the beach and enjoy the sunshine.
Camps Bay is a suburb of Cape Town along the Atlantic Coast and is a popular spot for locals and tourists. It is named after Ernst Friedrich von Kamptz, an invalid sailor who settled there in 1778. While we never saw any invalid sailors, we did manage to see the backside of Table Mountain, the Lion’s Head, the Twelve Apostles Mountain Range, the beach, a barbecue park, shops, and restaurants.
The Lion's Head (his ass is behind)
Girl running away from FREEZING water.
Quiet day on the beach.
We also saw some street vendors along the way and Girl found a bracelet that she liked and a beaded key chain she wanted to get for our neighbor. When I inquired about the price of the items I was given a quote of 20 Rand per item and was unable to negotiate a lower price of any significance. Luckily for us Paul is from Ghana so we sent him back to negotiate a better price for the items. When Paul was done he got the bracelet for 10 Rand and two beaded key chains for 15 Rand (7.5 Rand each). The two items that would have cost me 40 Rand Paul was able to get for 25 Rand, plus he got an extra item. I already knew that the vendors inflated their prices to take advantage of tourists/visitors. I have experienced it every time I have tried to buy anything from them.
The minute they hear my American accent I see their eyes light up with dollar signs. I can usually negotiate the prices down to something more reasonable, but not always. So anyone planning on visiting Cape Town needs to be aware that prices are negotiable and items can often be gotten for 1/3 or 1/2 of the original price, especially if you have another African doing the negotiating. If attempts at bargaining fail, say “do you want me to leave?” and proceed to act as though you’re really walking away if they don’t lower the price. Most of the time, the same item is available a couple of booths down.
1 comment:
Guy...sounds like your negotiating skills need work. Did you let girl do any negotiating that day? Just wondering who the "real wheeler and dealer" is...maybe it's laptop!
Cool pics of Lion's head and Twelve Apostle's mountains. Do either of these sites have stories or legends behind them like our beolved Mt. Timpanogus?
Loving the blog...tell laptop he's doing a bang up job! Check in again soon. Oh, and I like the little comment box you've added to the site. All except for the little jabs girl is taking at me and my football loyalties J/K.
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