Some usefull tips for the international travellers on car rental in Cape Town

What you should know when renting a car in South Africa

In Cape Town Car Rental can be arranged easily, but sometimes this simple task can develop into a nightmare if you do not do your homework beforehand and research your options.

During the last years we have rented cars with various companies in the Mother City for family and friends and also for business purposes but the vast array of experiences with rental agencies did give us some real insights I want to share here with you.

You would expect a rental car to be in excellent working condition and well serviced and certainly not to be with worn down tyres, broken windscreens or failing ABS, wouldn't you?

This did happen to us and could happen to you too. So make sure to book with a reputable Cape Town Car Rental company and check your rental vehicle, when you book it out!

Often it is better to have an extra day to get used to your car before going on your South African safari trip and noting that something with the car is wrong! Especially beware of run down tyres which are a weak point at many car rental companies even the bigger ones.

In this little Expat Cape Town Car Rental guide I will give you some tips for getting the right rental car in Cape Town and where you might find it.

Car rental companies in Cape Town

There are many car rental agencies operating in the Mother City. The major car rental agencies that also have got a desk at the Cape Town International Airport are as follows: • Avis Car Hire: www.avis.co.za

• Budget: www.budget.co.za

• Dollar Thrifty: www.thrifty.co.za

• Europcar: www.europcar.co.za

• Hertz: www.hertz.co.za

• National Alamo: www.national.co.za

• Tempest Sixt: www. www.tempestcarhire.co.za

Remember: Cape Town Car Rental prices often differ significantly.

Check also the insurance cover and excess which all the companies handle differently.

Even with these companies I would recommend you confirm your pick-up date via telephone the day before you want to collect the car. We experienced twice with different companies that the selected rental car was not available for the time and day we booked it and had a written confirmation for.

Always leave a little time window in your travel schedule for these inconveniences.

Car Rental in South Africa

When you rent a car in South Africa choose your car size wisely. Driving off the main roads even outside of Cape Town you will find that you really would drive more comfortably in a bigger car with better suspension because of potholes and untarred roads or roads with potholes.

Then to have air-condition in your rental car is quite a must in South Africa, especially in summer when the temperatures can feel scorching. I personally would not consider renting a convertible as I would advise to keep your windows closed most of the times to avoid confrontations with street vendors.

What to consider when hiring a car in South Africa:

• Get full/comprehensive insurance cover. Not all motorists in South Africa do have insurance cover, so you have to make sure you and your passengers will be insured.

• Insist on unlimited mileage. Distances often are longer than expected and calculated. Should you encounter roadclosures, the distances increase significantly here.

• Opt for Zero Excess, this means you will not have to pay for any damage to the car, like chipped windows or scratches even if you have to pay additional fees.

• Get written confirmation for one way rentals when booking. Transfers are often possible at additional cost, but must be confirmed to you in writing.

• Consider carefully the length of your contract. Often renting more than 14 or 30 days gives you more value and better prices. Depending on the length of your stay, consider taking out an annual insurance for the car too.

• Opt for a rental car agencies with Round-the-clock-breakdown service or check if your national automobile club offers a partnership with the local AA in South Africa. In any case you should have an emergency contact number in case of an accident or car breakdown.

• When booking with a frequent flyer card, check if special rates apply. Most of the car rental companies are members in an airline mileage program.

Cape Town Car Rental: Important Documents

• Valid Driver’s Licence: International Drivers Licence advisable, only mandatory if your national driver’s licence is not in English.

• Passport or Picture ID Card

• Credit Card or Cash Payment

Cape Town Car Rental: When something goes wrong...

Make sure you take out sufficient insurance cover for your car and maybe take out a passenger insurance too.

Always take along the break-down emergency number which you will receive from your car rental agency.

Should you have a car tyre puncture which is happening fairly often in South Africa due to debris on the roads, get the tyre fixed at a local Hi-Q or SupaQuick or KwikFit Tyres or Speedy Tyres Shop, just to name a few. There they check the puncture and repair it for you in less than an hour. It usually costs R30-40 for repair.

South Africa Driving Tips

Driving in Cape Town and surrounds is not much different than driving in many western cities, but if you drive through the countryside untarred roads will become more and more a common sight.

Capetonians are known for a quite aggressive driving style, but often you will feel less pressure driving in Cape Town than driving in any other metropolitan city in Europe or the US. In South Africa in general driving is easy with less cars and less congested roads outside the cities.

When renting a car in Cape Town, you should however be aware of the bad track record of Minibus operators and Truck Drivers. Taxi drivers in Cape Town are known for their aggressive and often offensive driving style and there are also some really typical South African road rules to observewhen driving in South Africa.

Top activities for the little ones in Cape Town :-)

Top 10 Kids Activities

There are plenty of attractions and activities you and your family with enjoy when exploring Cape Town. To cut it down to only ten was really a tough choice.

For giving you a more detailed insiders view of the many options I narrowed down the Cape Town kids activites to five indoors activities for rainy days and five outdoors activities for sunny days.

So here they are our favorite kids activities for warm sunny days in Cape Town:

1. Want to hold an owl or an eagle or learn about the world’s fastest animal?

Then a drive to nearby Spier Estate in Stellenbosch. Their Eagle Encounter is top on the list with my children.

My kids always enjoy the 40 minute drive from Cape Town through the lovely hills of the Cape Winelands and arrive at this wonderful huge playing field with all the amenities which make you appreciate living here.

There is lots of space to run around or play ball, many restaurants, little craft shops, a duckpond, a river running through the estate, a playground and huge picnic area.

The Cheetah Outreach Center (021 809 1188) and Eagle Encounters(021 858 1826), a bird rescue center where you can join interactive bird shows and are allowed to hold an eagle are always coming tops on my happy kids activities list.

2. See and touch big birds and learn about ostriches

Have a leisurely drive out to the North of Cape Town to the West Coast Ostrich Ranch. This ostrich farm (021 972 1955) is only 15 minutes from Blouberg or 30 minutes from the city of Cape Town. The kids activities here are: learning about the biggest birds on earth, getting a fun guided tour, standing on an ostrich egg and even sitting on an ostrich. There you can let the children run loose at thehuge play area with climbing frame and sandpit.

Look for some gemstones at the Scratch Patch or -if you will not get in trouble with your kids;)- try the delicious ostrich fillet or ostrich schnitzel at the farmhouse restaurant. This is actually a great place for a children’s party too.

3. Ever fancied a camel ride or having a snake hanging around your shoulders?

Then head straight away to Imhoff’s Farm in Kommetjie. This farm (021 783 4545) in Kommetjie is a small village in itself with kids activities and entertainment galore.

You can drive down there along the Atlantic Seabord via Hout Bay over the fabulous Chapman’s Peak Drive you will have a day full of sightseeing and maybe you will spot a whale or a dolphin near the coast too. From Nordhooek you can easily drive via Ou Kaapse Weg around to Kommetjie. The trip will take roughly 45 minutes from the city center.

At the grounds there are several shops and art galleries as well as an organic coffee shop, marimba entertainment, playground, donkey and camel rides and a very interesting snake park. The kids are always entertained and there you really can relax while the children have a ball of a time as well. And Paintball, anyone?:)

4. Do you long for a relaxing outing to the beach?

Then you definitely must go to Simonstown’s Boulders Beach, where your kids will love to swim in the shallow waters with penguins. The little creatures are not very shy, although you should keep your children from trying to catch them;)

And there are many other beautiful beaches with tidal pools for safe swimming in and around Cape Town. Or why not go to one of the best, cleanest, most popular beaches like the Blue Flag Beaches?

Check them out and you will have a happy day with your kids.

5. Ride down the fantastic toboggan track in Tygervalley

This is one outdoors activity especially for the bigger kids. But the little ones will enjoy that too, if mummy or daddy joins them.

Cool Runnings (021-949 4439) is operating this 1,25 km long bob-sled track in a steel half pipe where kids just scream for the fun it is. This track is only open for the last couple of years and is very modern and well maintained.

Kids over 8years old can go down alone, while little ones have to be accompanied by an (usually equally excited) adult. So have fun, but do not forget your sun protection as even you cool down riding down the track at speed.

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Now to cover all eventualities of a rainy day or more like the sun hiding behind clouds or the wind being blowing to strongly here are… … the best indoors kids activities in Cape Town

6. Go down to the waterfront and enjoy the colorful underwater world

At Cape Town’s Two Oceans Aquarium you will enjoy watching the funny penguins or relax while watching the movements of the huge kelp forest. Watch the groupers and stingrays swimming along the big sharks in the huge tank and occasionally you might even spot divers at the shark tank. Daily arts and crafts activities also keep the young children happy.

There is a good family restaurant and if you want to come here more often than twice a year get a family membership which is really worth it, as your children also could join the very popular sleeping over events in the aquarium too.

7. Visit the planetarium and the South African Museum

This Natural History museum with its excellent dinosaur exhibition, thewhale well and underwater exhibition, displays of South African rock carvings and showcase of the life of the indigenous people in South Africa. Surely there are many other interesting museums in Cape Town, but this one comes up tops for kids every time. There are some kids activites sheets available at the reception desk.

The adjoining planetarium (021 481 3900) offers great shows for kids around lunchtime, where kids will be amazed by the interactive show and all the little lights and stars in the domed darkened room. The chairs are reclining, but the shows are so interesting you will not be able to snooze;)

8. Ready for more science and interactions?

Take your kids to the MTN Science Center in Canal Walk Shopping Center (021 529 8100). There are lots of hands-on-displays and kids are encouraged to experiment and explore physical concepts.

This is a great place for kids of every age.

Little children, who will love to build walls or even a house with foam bricks like Bob the Builder or do puzzles and play lego while the older children will be so eager to experiment with pressure, weight, speed, computerized games or see the changing exhibitions. Do not miss the regular Camera Obscura shows, where you can have a closer look at Cape Town.

There are organized kids activities and games, when you can have a nice cuppa coffee in the coffeebar inside too.

9. A bit of culture for the kids? How about seeing a play?

Take your kids to see one of the famous childrens’ shows at the Baxter Theater in Rondebosch during school holidays.

There are daily shows in English (021 685 7880) during the holidays for the young children from age 3. These are shows like “Goldilocks and the three Bears” and they run usually in the late mornings.

The shows are sometimes interactive too, which my children enjoyed a lot. The theatre auditorium is beautiful with plush seats and there is a little coffee shop, so you could have a nice little lunch with delicious sandwiches or muffins there too.

10. Last but not least, how about Ten-Pin-Bowling?

This is a great family activity for rainy days and very popular activity with kids in Cape Town too. So be sure to call ahead and book a place at Let's go bowling.

There are bowling alleys in Stadium on Main in Claremont an in the Tyger Valley and also in the N1 City and in the Somerset West shopping centers.The bowling alleys are modern and you will have fun competing with your children in a game. There are lighter balls for the younger kids and frames for them too to help the ball rolling down the alley to get a great strike.

Cape Town Carnival

Cape Town Carnival at various locations

Event: Cape Town Carnival at various locations
Date: March 19th


Taking place on March 19th, this year's procession aims to replicate the success of 2010's inaugural event, which was attended by 2,500 costumed performers, who danced and sang their way along the route.

This year's carnival gets underway at 20:30 local time and will be led by 150 Harley-Davidson riders, who will precede over 2,000 dancers moving to the music being emitted from nine floats.

A special carnival corridor will be set up on Long Street featuring lights and lasers and once the last float has completed the route, the area will turn into an outdoor party.

Organisers claim the event "will have all the glamour and sensuality of Rio but with a distinctive African beat" and participants will be picked from more than 23 local communities in the Cape Town metropolitan area.

How Distell is implementing change the eco friendly way

Distell's Smarter use of Water in the Vineyards

The dry and windy conditions ahead of the 2011 harvest are proving the merits of Distell’s recent investment in technology to far more accurately measure vine water status, according to Drikus Heyns. A senior specialist viticulturist with the company, he has just returned from two years in France, where he completed an OIV-accredited MSc in Viticulture and Oenology at Montpellier University. He said the small portable pressure chambers or “pressure bombs” as they are also termed, gauge the leaf water potential in the vines as a basis for determining optimal irrigation strategies. Developed initially for research purposes, they are now used in southern France, Spain and to a limited extent elsewhere. Distell, as South Africa’s largest producer of wines is piloting the technology not only to further enhance grape quality but to employ scarce water resources more strategically. Heyns said although it was important to observe as many variables as possible in the vine’s environment, the most sensitive indicator of stress was the vine itself. “Until now, we have had to rely mostly on soil water measurements to assess water stress in the vines. However, the portable pressure chambers we are currently using in a range of vineyards across the Winelands, allow our viticulturists to measure water stress in the vines themselves and to fine-tune irrigation schedules far more accurately than was possible in the past.” He said vines actually benefited from some water deficit as too much water had a negative effect on grape flavour, but to gauge exactly how much stress was enough, was critical to the health of the vines and to the quality of the grapes they produced. When there was too much water stress, the stomatae (pores) of the leaves closed, inhibiting the daytime intake of CO2, slowing down photosynthesis and limiting growth and the production of the grapes. Focusing at this stage exclusively on red wine vineyards in the Durbanville, Philadelphia, Paarl and Stellenbosch areas, Heyns and his team visit the vineyards weekly, testing the same vines each time to assess vine health and water needs. In each instance, leaves are cut and bagged in plastic bags to limit evapotranspiration and are first covered with an aluminium sheet which stops the impact of the light in opening the stomatae. The petiole of the vine leaf (the stalk attaching the leaf to its stem) is cut and the leaf quickly placed into the chamber with the cut end of the petiole protruding from the chamber. As the pressure in the chamber equals the pressure or tension in the leaf, the sap is forced out of the cut petiole surface. A pressure gauge indicates the level of stress experienced by the vine with the degree of stress indicated by the vine called stem water potential (SWP). The pressure reading enables the user to determine the irrigation required. According to Heyns, allowing for the rooting depth of the vines, soil texture, soil moisture content, vine canopy size as well as the type of trellising and row spacing, vine water requirements are determined by the extent of evapotranspiration that occurs in the vine and how far the vine is in the ripening of its grapes. In addition, each wine grape varietal has its own particular water demands. “With the current conditions in the lead-up to the harvest proving slightly warmer than over the past few years, the pressure chambers place us in a far better position to manage the health of the vines and ensure optimal quality fruit to the cellars.” He said Distell was working very closely on this project with the eminent French viticulturist Prof Alain Deloire, at present based at the University of Stellenbosch. Deloire has extensive international experience in strategies to promote plant health and optimal harvesting times.

Distell's Smarter use of Water in the Vineyards

The dry and windy conditions ahead of the 2011 harvest are proving the merits of Distell’s recent investment in technology to far more accurately measure vine water status, according to Drikus Heyns. A senior specialist viticulturist with the company, he has just returned from two years in France, where he completed an OIV-accredited MSc in Viticulture and Oenology at Montpellier University. He said the small portable pressure chambers or “pressure bombs” as they are also termed, gauge the leaf water potential in the vines as a basis for determining optimal irrigation strategies. Developed initially for research purposes, they are now used in southern France, Spain and to a limited extent elsewhere. Distell, as South Africa’s largest producer of wines is piloting the technology not only to further enhance grape quality but to employ scarce water resources more strategically. Heyns said although it was important to observe as many variables as possible in the vine’s environment, the most sensitive indicator of stress was the vine itself. “Until now, we have had to rely mostly on soil water measurements to assess water stress in the vines. However, the portable pressure chambers we are currently using in a range of vineyards across the Winelands, allow our viticulturists to measure water stress in the vines themselves and to fine-tune irrigation schedules far more accurately than was possible in the past.” He said vines actually benefited from some water deficit as too much water had a negative effect on grape flavour, but to gauge exactly how much stress was enough, was critical to the health of the vines and to the quality of the grapes they produced. When there was too much water stress, the stomatae (pores) of the leaves closed, inhibiting the daytime intake of CO2, slowing down photosynthesis and limiting growth and the production of the grapes. Focusing at this stage exclusively on red wine vineyards in the Durbanville, Philadelphia, Paarl and Stellenbosch areas, Heyns and his team visit the vineyards weekly, testing the same vines each time to assess vine health and water needs. In each instance, leaves are cut and bagged in plastic bags to limit evapotranspiration and are first covered with an aluminium sheet which stops the impact of the light in opening the stomatae. The petiole of the vine leaf (the stalk attaching the leaf to its stem) is cut and the leaf quickly placed into the chamber with the cut end of the petiole protruding from the chamber. As the pressure in the chamber equals the pressure or tension in the leaf, the sap is forced out of the cut petiole surface. A pressure gauge indicates the level of stress experienced by the vine with the degree of stress indicated by the vine called stem water potential (SWP). The pressure reading enables the user to determine the irrigation required. According to Heyns, allowing for the rooting depth of the vines, soil texture, soil moisture content, vine canopy size as well as the type of trellising and row spacing, vine water requirements are determined by the extent of evapotranspiration that occurs in the vine and how far the vine is in the ripening of its grapes. In addition, each wine grape varietal has its own particular water demands. “With the current conditions in the lead-up to the harvest proving slightly warmer than over the past few years, the pressure chambers place us in a far better position to manage the health of the vines and ensure optimal quality fruit to the cellars.” He said Distell was working very closely on this project with the eminent French viticulturist Prof Alain Deloire, at present based at the University of Stellenbosch. Deloire has extensive international experience in strategies to promote plant health and optimal harvesting times.