Food Poisoning from eating out

One of my colleagues runs a guest house in Cape Town. She was just telling me about her guests, staying in her guest house, who ate out at a really expensive restaurant in Kalk Bay on the Cape Peninsula last night. They were up vomiting all night. A call to the restaurant did not elicit much sympathy.

She is really upset on behalf of her guests. How do restaurants view their responsibility to serve fresh food which does not cause their patrons to get ill?

Actually it happened to me a number of years ago, visiting Mauritius and staying at one of the five star hotels on the island. They had a buffet on the beach one night. Everything looked great but nothing tasted as good as it looked. That night I was really ill. In the morning I fainted and hit my back as I fell. Had to come home in a wheelchair. Not a great ending to what should have been a romantic idyllic holiday.

I did not think to take action against the hotel for supplying me with food that had made me ill. I just assumed I had been stupid to take a chance and eat food which had had enough time on the beach buffet to go off before it was eaten.

What do you think hotels and restaurants should do to compensate their guests in such circumstances?

Jason Dodo on The Grace in Rosebank

One of our web users sent us this review:

It's great when a hotel really lives up to it's reputation. On a quick visit to Johannesburg for a family wedding I stayed a feew nights at the Grace. It really is comfortable and homely and the service is great. I didn't eat many meals in the hotel but everything I had was delicious. Well prepared, fresh ingredients. Can't really ask for more.

Jason Dodo - March 2009

travel from KwaZulu Natal to the Kruger National Park

One of our readers wrote to us asking the following:
We are planning a trip to the Kruger National Park on the 31st May 2009 and have already made reservations for a week.

We live in Trafalgar, lower South Coast and are new to this area as we have relocated from Gauteng. We are wondering what the best route would be to the Kruger Park from here. We would like to stop over for the night in accommodation that includes b/b close to the park but our main concern is which route to follow with the best road conditions.

Could you be so kind as to suggest a route and accommodation close to the Park.

And we replied
I have just completed the trip (in reverse). My husband & I based ourselves at River House Guest House in Malelane. It is the most amazing establishment, run by two wonderful chaps, Johan & Daffie, set at the Crocodile River with +/- 10 resident hippos on their doorstep. The Kruger Park is across the river and we spent the whole day on the thatched deck watching a herd of elephants including babies, mingling with the hippos. Later on buck also come down to the river.

We intended travelling through Swaziland but unfortunately did not realize that in addition to having our passports we required our car’s ownership papers which we did not have. Instead we drove around, via Barberton, Badplaas, Amsterdam, Piet Retief, down to Pongola, Hluhluwe and stopped overnight in Ballito where we stayed at the delightful Forest Lodge before driving on to the South Coast the following morning.

There were some road works on the way, but all-in-all it took us 8 hours from Malelane to Ballito including stopping for coffee and lunch on the way. The quickest way is through Swaziland which I would think would take +/- 6.5 hours.
I hope this helps you and that you have a wonderful holiday. Please contact me should you require further details.

Disabled travellers at O R Tambo Internaitonal AIrport in Johannesburg

My Mom goes to Cape Town once a year and finds it difficult to walk through the airports. This year the service at O R Tambo was phenomenally good. It made it so easy and pleasant for her and her friend who travels with her and for me who took them to the airport.

I parked outside and went to the British Airways counter. They redirected me to the wheelchair depot just under the stairs at Domestic departures and immediately a young man jumped to attention and started wheeling a wheel chair to the car. My Mom got in and the travellers made their way to British Airways to check in. About 10 minutes later when I had parked and come to join them they were almost finished checking in. Only then was my Mom wheeled to the check point to fill in the documentation relating to the whel chair service.

A few minutes later it was time to go through security. What a surprise - there is a special section leading straight to the departure gates. No one else in the queue.

Well done O R Tambo. What a pleasure to receive good service like this. It is a combination of good design to have the extra security point and a well designed people friendly system.

This contrasts extremely favourably to our experience last year which was a nightmare with a 20 minute wait for a wheel chair and sullen staff who seemed to care little about the passengers.

Travel is down but not out

Tourism figures around the world are showing a decline in tourism numbers. But people are still travelling. I went to a fascinating talk a few weeks ago on what people will give up in a recession. The first things to go are eating out and going to coffee shops. This fits with a recent article that Brits will eat sarmies (and cut back on bought meals) rather than give up their travel.

Some big ticket purchases go - like buying a new car - and that releases cash for other smaller purchases.

So right now restaurants and coffee shops are suffering as are car sales and retail in general. Here in Australia the shops are busy but not as frenetic as they have been at Christmas time in past years. Domestic tourism in Australia is 5% down.

What we don't know is how tourism will fare in the next 12 months. Long haul travel is a long term purchase. The tourists travelling now booked last year based on money they had earned the year before.

Some sources are saying that in Britain forward bookings are sharply down because people don't want to book ahead and then find that they have no job and can't afford to travel.

The Beijing Olympics are over

What an amazing closing ceremony. We have all seen a reat deal more of China in the past 3 weeks than ever before. So we can see what a big event does for a country. It is less than a year until the Confederations Cup which takes place 14th - 28th June 2009.

The 4 cities where matches will take place are Johannesburg, Pretoria, Bloemfontein and Rustenburg.

To find accommodation quickly in these cities go to www.essentialtravelinfo.com and select online bookings.

World Cup 2010

Where will you be during the 2010 World Cup. If you are a South African who normally travels on business will you be travelling around SA on business during the World Cup? Or will you stay at home during the 5 weeks that the event is on? Or will you be following your favourite teams around the country? Or will you deliberately go overseas and not be here.

I am asking because have a little guest house in Johannesburg. http://www.abbotsfordhouse.co.za/. I don't want to let my regular guests down but (horror of horrors) I would not like to sit with empty rooms over that period.

I have been asked by tour operators to sell now, upfront, all my rooms for that period. But I can't decide if it is a good thing so up until now I haven't. Comments please.