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To see if the weather is just right or just to view the beach from a-far should you be homesick, take a look at the live (updated every 5 minutes) Beach Cam @ CampsBayBeach.TV

Camps bay Beach live from the comfort of your own home, live image updated every 5 minutes

The Africa Oil week is the largest, longest-established, and highest-level Annual Conference in Africa. It covers oil, gas-LNG and the energy value chain, with 66 senior executive speakers, key Exhibitors from the African industry, and around 750 delegates through the week.

The Speakers and Delegate composition, drawn from Independents, Corporate Super-Majors, National Oil Companies and Governments, with Licensing Agencies, covers Africa’s fast-changing upstream in-depth. The conference also includes the 11th Scramble for Africa Strategy briefing, which provides world-class insights into competitors across the continent, and the PetroAfricanus dinner.

At the event, Nigeria features prominently this year. Rilwanu Lukman, the country’s petroleum minister, will make a keynote address. The Majors (Shell, ExxonMobil, Total) making presentations, all have key portfolios in Nigeria.

Nigerian independents such as Sahara Energy, Platform Petroleum, Pan Petroleum, and Gasol will set out their strategies, while the NNPC and Nigerian Association of Petroleum Explorationists will discuss Nigerian local content issues and goals ahead.

To book your hotel accommodation now, see the Convention District on Cape Towns Waterfront Foreshore

Five-time champions Brazil, and dark horses Paraguay and Chile have clinched places in the South American zone, but struggling two-time winners Argentina are vying with Uruguay and Ecuador for the one automatic slot remaining and a play-off position.

In Europe, 1966 champions England, Netherlands and European champions Spain secured three of the nine automatic places on offer to group winners in September, with two matches left.

They were joined on Saturday by three-times winners Germany, defending champions Italy, Denmark and Serbia.

Meanwhile, 1998 victors France must settle for a place in the playoffs, from where four nations will progress to the showpiece in South Africa, and Cristiano Ronaldo’s Portugal go into Wednesday’s final qualifier against Malta still seeking to achieve even that position.

Ghana were the first country from Africa to clinch qualification, comfortably winning their group last month with two matches still to play, while the Ivory Coast joined them on Saturday to leave three other places still up for grabs.

In the CONCACAF zone, Mexico defeated El Salvador 4-1 on Saturday to secure their place, while the United States joined them after a victory in Honduras.

Costa Rica and Honduras are battling it out for the final qualification place, while the fourth-placed team will go into a play-off position against the fifth-placed South American nation.

In Asia, the four automatic places have been taken by Australia, Japan and North and South Korea, while Bahrain face a play-off against Oceania group winners New Zealand for the zones’ remaining finals spot.

Bahrain were held 0-0 at home in the opening leg in Manama on Saturday, with the return leg in Wellington on November 14.

“I think that you can see that South African football has finally arrived with us hosting the Nobel Peace Center and international teams under one umbrella,” said Comitis.

“We now need to deliver a world class tournament that as country, we will also put up a great show during the 2010 World Cup.”

Ajax Cape Town were drawn in Group A together with Santos (Cape Town), Satbaek (Norway) and Boca Juniors (Argentina).

Those in Group B are SuperSport United (South Africa), Orlando Pirates (South Africa), Chelsea (England) and Eintracht Frankfurt (Germany).

November is a busy time of year in Cape Town, so book your hotel accommodation now.

We will update this blog post with more info as it happens

3:08pm

Cape Town’s spectacular Chapman’s Peak Drive, known simply as “Chappies” to countless cyclists and road runners, was reopened on Friday.

The nine kilometre route, which winds along cliffs above Atlantic breakers, had been closed since June last year, following recurrent rockfalls.

The reopening ceremony was performed by Western Cape transport MEC Robin Carlisle, who has been pushing concession operators, the Entilini consortium, to make the road useable again.

With Chappies being re-usable once again – this scenic drive is once again a main attraction of Cape Town and will bring a much needed boost of business to the Hout Bay area of Cape Town – which is full of restaurants, cafes and crafty shops.

Some of my Personal Favourites include The Lookout Deck and Restaurant, Chapmans Peak hotel and Restaurant as well as Dunes Restaurant on the beachfront.

As a side note, hopefully Comida will open again – making some of the best neuvo pizzas in town

“I don’t know exactly why they are not coming, but have been told that it’s off and they won’t be here,” he said.

Earlier this month, Cape Town port manager Sanjay Govan said the National Ports Authority had informed the vessel’s Dubai-based owners that it was unsafe to berth in any of its terminal, because of space constraints.

At the time he said Dubai World was in negotiations with other private terminal owners to find an alternative berth.

Dungan also used the briefing to assure MPs on Parliament’s tourism portfolio committee that the country would have enough accommodation next year.

This came a day after Fifa general secretary Jerome Valcke voiced concern at the country’s accommodation and travel plans for fans during the World Cup.

“I am not worried about ticket sales but instead about accommodation,” Valcke said during an interview with Germany’s Kicker magazine.

“It is our concern that every fan in the world who has bought a ticket also gets a flight and a room.”

But Dungan said there would be enough rooms for the number of visitors. The industry expected between 300 000 and 350 000 international visitors for the 30 days.

He slammed weekend re-ports that Match, Fifa’s hospitality partner, would rip off local establishments and was bullying establishments to sign up.

He said 82 percent of the country’s structured hotels and 13 percent of small businesses had already signed contracts with Match.

Azure restaurant is headed up by the talented food and wine duo of Executive Chef Roberto de Carvalho, recently selected by the South African Chefs Association to be part of the 2012 Olympic Team representing South Africa; and award winning Sommelier Luvo Ntezo, who took a world fourth place at the Chaîne des Rôtisseurs, Young Sommeliers competition.

Comments Clive Bennett, Managing Director of The Red Carnation Collection in South Africa, which includes sister properties Bushmans Kloof Wilderness Reserve & Wellness Retreat and The Oyster Box, “After seven years of commitment, hard work, passion and a devoted team of industry leaders chosen for their respective expertise, the hotel has been honoured with an array of accolades and this latest Diamond Award is a tribute to our dedicated staff who strive to deliver service excellence by constantly refining their skills to present a first class experience to each and every guest.”

Azure is best known for its celebrated cuisine, pioneering Fynbos menu and extensive wine collection. It is situated in the unrivalled setting of the Twelve Apostles Mountain Range.

The five-star Twelve Apostles Hotel and Spa, a member of The Leading Small Hotels of the World, is located fifteen minutes from the city of Cape Town and five minutes from Camps Bay. Situated at the foot of the Twelve Apostles Mountain Range in a nature reserve with a marine World Sanctuary directly in front of the hotel, this discretely located boutique property, with its world renowned Sanctuary Spa, has seventy bedrooms and suites.

The hotel’s distinct and chic Azure restaurant, with its spectacular sea views, pampers each guest with unobtrusive and impeccable levels of service and attention to detail. This property has a private cinema and state-of-the-art conference facilities for up to seventy persons.

The Daily Mirror reported that fans could be forced to pay a 30 percent surcharge for hotel rooms.

The report said supporters who booked accommodation with a Fifa-backed agency would be charged commission of an average £12 (R150) a night on top of the room price.

It said Match Event Services, part-owned by a British firm based in Manchester, was expected to block-book 55 000 hotel rooms for the tournament in June.

“That is more than 80 percent of South Africa’s available rooms, so fans will have little choice but to pay hiked prices – sparking fury from politicians, supporters’ groups and travel agents.”

The report said the commission added to the standard hotel rates was likely to bump up the cost of a night in an average hotel by £12, from £38 to £50. It is thought England’s army of 20 000 fans – the biggest following of any country – will attend for an average 10 nights each.

Kevin Miles, director of international affairs for the Football Supporters’ Federation, was quoted as saying: “For Fifa’s own accommodation agency to take an extra 30 percent of costs is quite simply ripping off fans.”

Chris von Ulmenstein, owner of Whale Cottage Guest House Portfolio, which has guest houses in Camps Bay and along the Garden Route, said that Match first tried to dictate an accommodation rate to guest houses and hotels based on the 2007 rate plus 16 percent.

“They would then take 30 percent commission, which is a huge amount. The norm is 10 percent and at most 20 percent for operators with whom one has done business for a long time,” she said.

Von Ulmenstein said Match did become more flexible and told smaller establishments to set a “fair” rate and that Match would take 30 percent on top of this rate as its commission.

She said she hadn’t signed up with Match and that neither had any of the other 24 establishments belonging to the Guest House Association in Camps Bay.

“Most of us intend using our summer rate for 2009/2010 and adding 10 percent for the World Cup rate. We don’t want rip-off pricing.” Von Ulmenstein said she was concerned that Fifa’s profits as well as the bulk of the commission Match will make would leave South Africa.

“On the accommodation side alone this could easily amount to R330 million at a conservative estimate.”

But Cape Town Tourism CEO Mariette du Toit- Helmbold said statements about prohibitive prices were being based on a skewed perspective of the broader tourism offering.

“Like many other top world cities, Cape Town does have some high-end luxury products like private, serviced villas located in exclusive areas and on the edge of the ocean, and these properties do appeal to the prestige visitor at the top end of the market.

“On the whole, Cape Town’s pricing strategy is well balanced for the duration of the 2010 Fifa World Cup.”

She said for the most part, accommodation establishments in Cape Town were posting rates equivalent to their peak season rates.

via: iol.co.za

via: timeslive.co.za