Superior Deluxe Suite

For the coming summer season we are pleased to announce that we will be able to offer two new Superior Deluxe Suites, leading out onto the pool garden, bringing together the number of these very spacious and luxuriously appointed suites, with butlers cupboards to five. These suites have proven to be our most popular rooms and are furnished for guests, who require a longer than average stay at ‘Glen Avon’. Please book these rooms early for the coming summer season, to avoid disappointment.

As many of our guests have got to know the staff well over the years, we like to keep them up to date on ‘What’s happening’ with those involved with the day to day running of Glen Avon.This winter, ‘love is in the air’, with Livison planning to marry his longtime sweetheart in Malawi, during his annual leave in June. We wish him well and hope to meet his new wife on his return to Cape Town. All the other members of staff will be taking a well earned rest, at staggered times during the winter months, after a busy and most successful summer season.

Constantia is known as one of the best gourmet destinations in the Cape and at this time of the year bookings have to be made well in advance, at all the wine restaurants. Our diningroom is open daily for hearty breakfasts and three course gourmet dinners with canopes and pre-dinner drinks served on the expansive front verandah, adorned with a mass of Iceberg roses, close enough to touch. We also cater for guests returning home on late flights, offering early dinners and a place to shower and change into their winter woolies before embarking on their trip home. Early evenings are a special time of the day, when the candles are lit and all is quiet, except for the buzz of conversations highlighting the best of the day’s activities and for some of us lucky ones, future plans for another ‘day in paradise’.

Beautiful Earth

These new products called “Beautiful Earth” are produced in South Africa and are completely Eco and Pet friendly. They are standard in all our rooms at the guest house – a real treat for our guests this season! We have also been busy in the garden and have completely re planted the largest of our front garden flowering beds and now await a new burst of colour from our summer flowering blooms, which rooms one to six look out over, when guests are sitting out on their patio’s or from their bedroom windows. The “veggie” patch has also been newly planted and we should have a new batch of crunchy fresh salads and vegetables ready for picking shortly.The staff also have a new canteen to look forward to shortly and some of their living quarters are being enlarged and an outside relaxation area to bask away in the sun on their off time.

As part of our on going educational & upliftment program, all the ladies on our staff together with our marketing manager and a front liaison manager, took the “Red Bus Sightseeing Tour”, which took them from the V&A Waterfront, stopping off at many of the well known places of interest in and around Cape Town and along the Atlantic Seaboard. This proved to be a great success and special thanks go to the Red Bus Company for providing us with two complementary tickets towards this staff outing. I’m sure our guests will get to hear of their special individual experiences, encountered along the way. This together with the “Blue Bus Tour” is the best way to get a thorough introduction to all the most important sights in and around Cape Town, without the hassle of trying to find parking in the busy City centre. We are able to book your seats online at Glen Avon.

This ride takes in the city centre, up to the lower Cableway which goes up Table Mountain, the scenic Atlantic seaboard returning back to the Cape Town Waterfront, where it departs from just outside the Two Oceans Aquarium. The bus runs hourly in the winter months and half hourly in the season (September through to end March). You can safely leave your rented car at the Cape Town Waterfront and then sit back to enjoy the sights. You can easily hop off the bus at the places that are of special interest to you and grab the next bus that passes.

There are about 16 stops in all, visiting the S.A. Museum, the Jewish Museum, District Six Museum, The Castle of Good Hope,the Gold museum and for those, who would like to buy their loved ones something special, there is ‘Jewel Africa’ for gemstones and for a trip up Table Mountain, the cableway. On the way back there is a visit to Camps Bay with its cosmopolitan roadside cafes overlooking the pristine beach, then taking in the elite properties of Clifton and stopping off in Sea Point, before returning to the Cape Town Waterfront. You can also combine this tour with the blue bus scenic tour that visits Kirstenbosch Botanical Gardens, the Constantia Winelands, visiting Groot Constantia, the World of Birds, a township and harbour visit to the fishing villiage of Hout Bay and returning along the same route as the red bus through Camps Bay, Sea Point and back to the Cape Town Waterfront.

These two tours would equip any visitor to Cape Town with an insight into the vast diversity of attractions that the, ‘Mother City’ has to offer.

September is the time of year when the Glen Avon team, get into gear and make sure the staff are adequately equipped to present to our valued guests, their personal encounters on what to expect in and around touring Cape Town and its many attractions. With this in mind, last week all the front of house staff were given an exhilarating cable car trip up Table Mountain and came back with loads of pictures and first hand knowledge of this premier tourist attraction. After experiencing the wonderful views on the ascent of the face of Table Mountain, they were able to discover and point out, all the different areas of Cape Town that could be seen from the top and also to walk some of the many pathways and discover some of the fauna like the friendly Dasie’s and the many varieties of Fynbos that exists on the mountain slopes. They also learnt about the Cable Car itself and how the base is filled with water to serve as ballast to steady the cable car when the wind blows.

As it was a truly warm early summers day when the staff arrived at the lower cable-way station, it was nevertheless surprising to see just how busy the cableway was for this time of the year, with quite a few tour buses and a large portion of the tourists, having taken different modes of transport from the V&A Waterfront including the Red Bus Tour, which stops at the Lower cable-way station on its travels. This is the next tour we have planned for the staff, which hopefully will take place in the coming week, weather permitting. These educational ventures which we encourage the staff to participate in, not only enable the staff to be a vital wealth of information to our guests, but also, it has a very positive affect on the personal growth of each staff member.

Cape West Coast Wild Flowers

The flowers are situated off the R27 just over an hours drive from the city centre and Glen Avon Lodge on a day trip up the West Coast or turnoff inland onto the R315 to Darling. From now until the third week in September, many South Africans and visitors from all over the world, come together to enjoy this spectacular array of wild flowers. This coming weekend 27th to 29th August heralds the start of celebrating this special time of the year with the ‘Flower Power’ festival at Shelly Point and the Hopefield Fynbos Show. There will be a food & wine fair, flower arranging competitions, with Michael Tibbs, the internationally acclaimed judge for the Chelsea Flower show in England, tours of the Wild flowers in Hopefield and Velddrif on Friday & Saturday and on Sunday 29th , a 60’s dance with a live band will be part of the festivities at Shelly Point. For the children, Rocky the penguin from Sancob will be there to greet you on Saturday and lots of competitions themed around our wonderful floral kingdom.

The flowers will, of course be displaying their natural beauty right throughout the season and can also be viewed in the Posberg Nature Reserve just outside Langebaan and lastly, probably when the flowers this year will be at their best, because of the very cold weather we have been experiencing and the late rains, the Darling Show should be spectacular. This will be from the 16th to the 18th September and entrance will be ZAR 25.00 to the hall. Darling boasts 1200 species, of which 80 are endemic to the area, which is especially known for its bulbous varieties.

So pack your day tripping picnic bags and head off for some fun filled days up the Cape Town West Coast- You won’t be disappointed.

Kirstenbosch Gardens Art Exhibition

One of Cape Towns top attractions, is Kirstenbosch National Botanical Gardens which is world renown for its rich displays of flora typically from the diverse regions of Southern Africa. These displays both outdoors, and indoors at the Botanical Society Conservatory, boast many plant species and spectacular views of Southern Africa’s flora including rare and threatened species. The Protea display is in full bloom in August and September, offering visitors to the gardens, breathtaking views of South Africa’s national flower. Garden walks and free guided garden tours, are offered daily and there is a ticketed shuttle car tour available for the elderly.

Kirstenbosch is well known for its displays of fine arts, and art exhibitions. There is a year long display of garden sculptures, Untamed, by Dylan Lewis, as well as many group exhibitions that are hosted in the function rooms. The Bonsai exhibition, local art exhibitions, craft markets and concert tours, to name a few.

Set amidst the scenic Kirstenbosch Botanical Gardens, the Constantiaberg Art Society is holding its 20th Anniversary celebration of local artists work, that will be displayed and are all for sale. The exhibition opens daily from 9:30am to 5:30pm from the 26th August to the 8th September 2011. Come and view some of the local Constantia talent and awaken your senses to experience life’s rare beauty, in the spectacular Kirstenbosch Botanical Gardens.

These Gardens are situated a mere 10 minutes by car from Glen Avon Lodge, Constantia Bed and Breakfast Accommodation, so don’t miss the opportunity to view this exhibition of local talent.

Head Chef - Emmanuel

Glen Avon Lodge is proud to present our head chef, Emmanuel Nyasvimbo. Emmanuel has a natural talent for serving up the most divine dishes to our privileged guests.

Creating recipes together with owner/chef Wendy, who has a Silwood Kitchen Grande Diploma in Cor don Bleu cooking and Tjaart Walveren, a chef from The Raymond Blanc Cookery school, who studied under the directorship of Stephan Bulmer.

Emmanuel continues to delight those who stay at ‘Glen Avon’ with his imaginative ‘food with flare’. Here he shares with you, one of his favourite deserts for a quick dinner party!

Brandy Snap Cones with Creme Patisserie

Brandy Snap Cones:

60g Butter
90g Golden Syrup
90g Castor Sugar
60g Cake Flour
5ml Ground Ginger
5ml Brandy

Melt the butter, syrup and sugar in a heavy saucepan. Sift the flour and the ginger into the syrup and add the brandy. Beat well. Grease a baking sheet and drop a teaspoonful of the mixture on the sheet. Repeat this process, leaving plenty of space between the mixture, so as it can spread. Bake for ten minutes at 180 degrees Celsius or until a golden brown colour all round.Take out of oven and when cool enough to touch, fold each one around the handle of a wooden spoon, or a cone shape. If they become too firm to roll, simply just place them back in the oven to soften. Store in an airtight container until required.

Brandy Snap Cones

Creme Patisserie:

500ml Milk
6 Egg Yolks
150g Sugar
50g Sifted Cake Flour
1 Vanilla pod, split lengthways

Whisk the eggs and sugar until light and fluffy, then gradually add the flour. Scald the milk with the vanilla pod and then place in a glass bowl. Slowly whisk in the egg mixture. Place the glass bowl on top of a double boiler ( a pot of boiling water underneath) and continue to boil gently. Remove from heat, once it has thickened and sprinkle with a little Castor sugar, to prevent a thick skin from forming.

Assembly:

Place a little of the creme patisserie on a plate to stop the brandy snap from slipping. Fill the brandy cone with the creme patisserie and place in the middle of the serving plate.

Decorate and fill with fresh summer fruit and a sprig of mint. Remember to choose colourful fruit to set off the plate and make it attractive.

Cape Winelands Constantia

Constantia is famous for exporting the first bottle of wine to Europe from South Africa and you can hear the stories of how Napoleon sought out the sweet wines of Constantia in the early days of wine production in this country. There is a museum at Groot Constantia and also the historical homestead of the first Governor to the Cape, Simon van der Stel. To end off your tour, why not linger on and have lunch at one of the much acclaimed café’s, restaurants and bistro’s situated on the wine farms within easy access of the Lodge.

Special Offer *: Stay for three nights for two people sharing in a Superior Bedroom on a Bed & Breakfast basis, with an all included tour of the Constantia Wine Route for the fully inclusive package price of R3660.00 per couple for three nights. Code: 03ABP1

* This offer is only valid for booking between the 1st August and 30th September 2011 and may not be combined with any other discounted or special rates.

John Cleese Cape Town Tour

Don’t miss an evening of well-honed anecdotes, psychoanalytical tit-bits, details of recent surgical procedures, and unprovoked attacks on former colleagues, as only John Cleese can describe in his special, entertaining way.

For the first time ever, lovers of Monty Python, Fawlty Towers and the South African film ‘Spud’ will enjoy John Cleese’s unique intimate comedic perspective. From writing to starring in plays, musicals, theatrical and comedy productions, to films such as a ‘Fish Called Wanda” and sitcoms, Cleese has done it all, and now it’s time for him to tell you about his jam-packed life. BIG Concerts, South African promoters of the John Cleese Alimony Tour
announced that owing to popular demand, a third performance has been added to the tour

Presented by 567Cape Talk and SABC3, the Alimony Tour, opens in Cape Town on the 21st Oct to 23rd Oct 2011

Catch this once in a lifetime show – Very limited availability – Contact Glen Avon to book your accommodation and tickets.