PG Tops

England vs South Africa Rugby Test Tour 23 June

PG Tops — Sun, 15 Apr 2012 17:52:12 +0000

Check out our epic two test 10 day tour on http://pgtops.com/england-vs-south-africa-rugby-tour-2012

For the second year running, PG TOPS will be going to go watch the Springboks face off in an international rugby test against a top international side. England this time, and the final test of a three match series due to take place in Port Elizabeth 23 June 2012. England vs South Africa Rugby Test action! Epic!

South Africa vs England Rugby, 3rd Test tour itinerary:

22 June: 12pm pickup in Cape Town for drive on the Garden Route. Tonight we sleep at the epic Afrovibe Backpacking lodge in Sedgefield, on the beach!

23 June: Early morning start to get to Port Elizabeth by noon, where we soak up the pre-match atmosphere at Barney’s before moving to the stadium for the 5pm kickoff. Tonight we party in PE and J-Bay, rooms reserved on one of the world’s most famous beaches!

24 June: After breakfast (and maybe a quick surf for those with not too much of a hangover), we head back to Cape Town, we should be back by 6/7pm.

Price R1950pp includes test tickets, transport, private room sharing.

April 2012 Newsletter!

PG Tops — Thu, 12 Apr 2012 12:03:31 +0000

Howdy Sports fans!

Friday the 13^th is almost upon us. It will be Yolanda’s birthday, duly celebrated with some langarm sokkie throwdown at the Klipwerf Dance Hall, Brackenfell. Wait till the Afrikaner faithful meet my Peruvian sidekick…

In the meantime, here’s what’s been happening at PG TOPS:

March was super busy. 1

Welcome to my life. 1

MARKETING SOUTH AFRICA.. 2

PG TOPS EXPANSION.. 4

MAKE TIME FOR PLAY. 4

HOW DO YOU FIND US?. 5

BUDDY’s FINAL THOUGHT. 5

March was super busy.

We celebrated our third best month to date, World Cup June and December 2011 still the gold standard. A big shout out goes to all my loyal supporters, thanks for all your amazing contributions.

Welcome to the PG TOPS fold: Asia to Africa, Nici and the Chalmers collective, the crazy Canadians, Angela and the Mallorcan mountain goats, Peter Haarhof and Angela Dykstra, Jenni Jones and Yvonne van der Westhuizen.

And as always, a big thanks goes out to the loyal girls of CPR, Clive de Bruyne, Warrick Mulder, A2B, Adam Karen and Warren, Yolande West, Martin Verhage and the Dutch bachelors (way to go Stijn, it takes a real man to wear pink except if it’s on a Bulls Stormers rugby derby day (Frik du Preez must be going nuts over those pink jerseys…)

Welcome to my life.

At PG TOPS, we count ourselves super lucky to live in Cape Town. And lucky to have good friends who punch in to add that little extra to our client experience. Massive thanks this month goes to Andy Higginbotham, who not only is the man with the key to my sister’s heart, but has some pretty strong legs and showed Jaime and Bruno, the Mallorcan Epic riders, how we do it in Tokai forest.

You gotta love Uncle Fritz, who came out to help with braai duties as we hosted over fourty people for the epic Stormers Bulls derby at Newlands. I wasn’t even there… booo…. but we won… yaayy….

We also made some time for some epic sunrise hikes on Lions Head and I led the team for a first climb up Table Mountain via India Venster. Well done Yolanda and Roelf for making it up, there were some grunts and complaints but in the end we made it just fine!

Speaking of hikes, our new team mascot, Buddy Boulders, also did the hike. Check out Buddy’s Facebook profile on http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100003682661126. Buddy is quite the cultured penguin, even taking some time off from wine tasting at La Vierge at Hemel en Aarde to play some Boule with the Chalmers kids…

Buddy was supposed to be a gift to some lucky punter at the TNT London Travel Show, but we were unable to give him away, now he’s a permanent member of the team…

MARKETING SOUTH AFRICA

And now, Yolanda’s contribution: TNT TRAVEL REPORT!

London Bridge is falling down, falling down….

No wait…

That didn’t happen! But what did happen was that together with other members of SAYTC (South African Youth Travel Confederation) Pieter and I got the chance to go to London during the first week of March to once again represent PG TOPS and South Africa at the LONDON TNT TRAVEL SHOW 2012!

This time I was the only one of the group that was there ‘for the first time’, but completely felt comfortable to follow the crowd, not being left behind for anything.

At the travel show on Saturday 3 March, all the South African’s were armed with brochures, whites shirts, loads of pictures showing the beauty of our country and of course Buddy…. the penguin! What made this show different from WYSTC (World Youth and Student Travel Conference) that I attended in Sept 2011 in Barcelona, was that instead of people from the industry meeting one another, this time the public came directly to us. Australian, New Zealanders, English, Scottish, Spanish, Asian and even South Africans. Now, with Buddy on my back or Pieter stalking by passers with his “You can’t say no to me” face, we were able to speak to quite a few potential PG TOPS clients. Those that didn’t think about coming to South Africa for a holiday…. Are definitely googling their options now!

I took the liberty of extending my time there with 3 days and was hosted by previous PG TOPS clients, the McParlands, McDonalds and Shreya Patel. They took care of my accommodation, outings to Cotswolds, Stonehenge (and many more) and some awesome food. Michael McParland also armed me with books and guides to send me off into the city. I explored the Tower of London, London Eye, Buckingham Palace, National Gallery, Madame Tussauds and the British Museum. O yes, and now I know the Underground routes like I know my way around Cape Town!

Thank you to everyone who hosted and fed us and generally just had a great time with us!

-Yolanda

PG TOPS EXPANSION

While it seems (*&&(*) impossible to get a second hand Quantum in this country, and the search continues for our next vehicle, the time has come for Roelf to go to tour guide school – that will be kicking off in May. Yolanda is forging ahead with her graduate studies, and yours truly? Still learning at the school of hard knocks, kids…

BUT I am happy to report that the PGSAFARI brand is ready for launch at May’s Indaba. There are some great properties in Sabi Sabi and Kruger that compliment our family friendly and honeymooners business in Cape Town, and we’ve decided to contract with some choice partners to give our clients a holistic SA solution. Check it out on www.pgsafaris.com!

MAKE TIME FOR PLAY

Although we worked most of Easter in massive stormfront that hit Cape Town (yep, I ran the Two Oceans, sogging wet – was fun though), I took the time the previous week to visit the folks, and shoot a beautiful 79 at the epic Simola Course in Knysna. The team moved office for a few days to epic Afrovibe Lodge, thanks as ever Lyle Enver Katzen for your hospitality! www.afrovibe.co.za.

HOW DO YOU FIND US?

Check out the number 10 company in Cape Town on Tripadvisor for custom private tours: http://www.tripadvisor.com/Attraction_Review-g312659-d2437464-Reviews-PG_Tops_Travel_and_Day_Tours-Cape_Town_Central_Western_Cape.html
Become our Facebook fan: http://www.facebook.com/pages/PG-TOPS-TRAVEL-AND-TOURS/110729918944980
Follow us on Twitter: PGTOPS_CAPETOWN
Or just call! 0832884944, or skype me pieterg36!
Oh, and if you insist… email info@pgtops.com…

BUDDY’s FINAL THOUGHT

Where do all the hamsters live in Europe?

…

Hamsterdam, of course!

Take care,

Pieter G

www.pgtops.com

Welcome to my life…

Cheese Festival!

PG Tops — Wed, 11 Apr 2012 11:15:59 +0000

The annual Agri Cheese Festival is coming up again in April and we will be providing daily transport from Cape Town CBD and Durbanville (Toys R Us) to the festival at R150.00 per person return.

We will depart for cheese festivities at 09:00am from Heritage Square in the city and 09:30am from Toys R Us in Durbanville we will return from the Cheese festival the afternoon at 16:30pm.

To book call Pieter on +27 (0)83 288 4944

For more information on the festival click here or Contact us!

PG TOPS NEWSLETTER

PG Tops — Fri, 16 Mar 2012 11:28:31 +0000

Hi Sports fans,

March. It’s a good month in Cape Town.

I’m going to format this month’s newsletter from wisdom seen at the Cape Argus expo courtesy of the local Rotarian club (organizer’s of the world’s largest individually timed cycle race):

THE FOUR WAY TEST

IS IT THE TRUTH?

IS IT FAIR TO ALL CONCERNED?

WILL IT BUILD GOODWILL AND BETTER FRIENDSHIPS?

WILL IT BE BENEFICIAL TO ALL CONCERNED?

IS IT THE TRUTH?

The truth is, it’s been a crazy few weeks. In a leap year, we really needed that extra day. Yolanda started her graduate studies, I came back from an overindulgent family holiday to get back into cycle training, we made time for a quick trip up the Garden Route, we’ve been running around after all kinds of clients, we’ve already been on a marketing trip to London and back… it’s been wild.

THE TRUTH IS we love what we do. In the last month, we’ve taken Brazilians bungy jumping, Germans for muffins in Kalk Bay, Americans shark cage diving, introduced Brits to sangomas, honeymoon couples to braai culture, fed Spaniards samoosas. Every trip is different, every trip is a chance to learn something new. Personally, I really really enjoyed showing honeymoon couple April Keenan and Joe Taylor around. They made some awesome selections, and I got to explore a new spot or two (do yourself a favour and visit the Saturday market at Laborie, Paarl. Good stuff…)

IS IT FAIR TO ALL CONCERNED?

PG TOPS has an ongoing commitment to be part of the solution. That means spread the good news, exceed expectations and welcome people to our life. The more people we get to spread the good word about SA, the better for all of our people, the more jobs we can create, the more opportunities we can foster.

I’m lucky to work in an awesome network of people – once again a massive thanks to Sarah Culhane, Clive de Bruyne, the girls from Cape Point Route, SAYTC, HOTSPOTS2c, Warrick Mulder, Tusk Event Management, A2B Transfers, Friends of Dorothy, Marco Corrales, Donavan Miehl, Pam McConie, Tony Barwick, Tish Rabie, Cape Turismo, Giltedge, Kaylin, Triumph, Marine Dynamics, Seth Kaplan, Asia to Africa, Angie Tranter and all our various friends and family who support us so much.

IT’S FAIR TO ALL CONCERNED because we love that word: SYMBIOSIS. PG TOPS works in one of the most dynamic and fun industries in arguably the world ‘s most beautiful city. Our clients love us. Our colleagues love us. Our competition (that’s you other long haul destinations) maybe like us less. That’s ok. Dont’ hate us cause we beautiful, we can’t help it…

WILL IT BUILD GOODWILL AND BETTER FRIENDSHIPS?

We had a great time at the TNT Travel Adventure Show on 3 March in Earls Court London, where Yolanda and I was part of another awesome SA delegation courtesy of the folks of the Department of Trade and Industry and SAYTC (South African Youth Travel Consortium). Big thanks to Deborah Smook, who wasn’t to sidetracked by recent nuptials to her tall dark and handsome and relocation to glamorous Richards Bay to still put on a great effort to get us all out there selling South Africa.

I used the opportunity to catch up with old friends, and to have a splendid reunion with my beloved KUUUUDDDUUU group from the British and Irish Lions Tour 2009 in Bath.

Yolanda took the opportunity to see all the sights London has to offer, and then went to go visit clients the McParlands and the McDonalds in the Cotswolds, taking in Stonehenge along the way.

Back home, Roelf and Sophie minded the store admirably, and I jetted home just in time for our first A-list client. More on that in a bit.

Also, Starting this weekend, we have the Cape Argus (the world’s largest individually timed cycle race) on Sunday – and I’ll be doing my 10^th race. Challengingly, I have spent the last three years since I rocked a sub3 doing social rides and generally slacking off, which means I have to start all over again back in M group. Bring it on.

PG TOPS will have the privilege to host TWO epic Super Rugby Events at Newlands, first to watch the Stormers take on the Blues on 16 March, then the epic derby on 31 March against arch-foes the Bulls. I’ll be selling tickets to these tailgating epic parties for about R300 a pop – whatta bargain!

WILL ALL THIS TRAVEL, REUNIONING and SETTING UP AWESOME EVENTS HELP FOSTER GOODWILL AND BETTER FRIENDSHIPS????

…. what a question…. JA! SI! YES>>>>>>

Finally,

WILL IT BE BENEFICIAL TO ALL CONCERNED?

Well, let’s ask the question:

Who do international pop stars go touring with when they come to Cape Town?

PG TOPS, of course. I’m way too old to actually appreciate the celebrity that is Usher, but there was enough mobbing of the man to convince me he is a big deal. Thanks to Clive for the lead in, and fellow pros Godfrey and Pam for fielding this one for me (I would have love to do some red carpet shoulder rubbing, but I was personally engaged to a retired Brazilian church group).

The fans benefited (he was mini-swamped on Table Mountain), the Anatolian Sheepdogs at the Cheetah Sanctuary benefited from the bucks they spent petting Cheetahs at Spier, and Usher seemed to enjoy the owls at Eagle Encounters the most. Good day out for all concerned!

Looking forward? I don’t want to get ahead of myself… Sophie has left us after being our awesome intern for a couple of months, and we are back to a team of three in the office (plus adhoc IT Leon, unofficial mascot Fico, kitchen support Mildred and garden supremo Michael). However, I am cooking up some big plans, more on this as we amble along into what is turning out to be a cracker 2012 so far…

So take care of yourselves, folks. Live like the Mayans are on the money, dance like you’re an Afrikaner, sing like you’re Usher or Kurt Darren, love like you’ve never been hurt, enjoy like it’s going out of fashion.

And if you happen to want to do something awesome in Cape Town? Or on safari? With you family? Your spouse? Your retired church group? Your corporate office? You might just want to think about giving us a call…

Pieter G

www.pgtops.com

+27 83 288 4944

Welcome to my life…

Comparison South Africa, USA and UK

PG Tops — Wed, 07 Mar 2012 08:38:54 +0000

Society and People

	South Africa	USA	United Kingdom
Population	49,004,031 (July 2011 est.)	313,232,044 (July 2011 est.)	62,698,362 (July 2011 est.)
Abolition of the slavery	1833 (was decided by the Brits)	1865 (after the American Civil War 1861 – 1865)
Ethnic groups	black African 79%,white 9.6%,colored 8.9%, Indian/Asian 2.5%	white 79.96%,black 12.85%,Asian 4.43%,Amerindian and Alaska native 0.97%,native Hawaiian and other Pacific islander 0.18%,two or more races 1.61% (July 2007 estimate)	white (of which English 83.6%,Scottish 8.6%,Welsh 4.9%,Northern Irish 2.9%) 92.1%,black 2%,Indian 1.8%,Pakistani 1.3%,mixed 1.2%,other 1.6%(2001 census)
Birth rate	19.48 births/1,000 populationcountry comparison to the world: 3	13.83 births/1,000 population (2011 est.)country comparison to the world: 148	12.29 births/1,000 population (2011 est.)country comparison to the world: 161
Death rate	17.09 deaths/1,000 populationcountry comparison to the world: 3	8.38 deaths/1,000 population (July 2011 est.)country comparison to the world: 89	9.33 deaths/1,000 population (July 2011 est.)country comparison to the world: 64
Religions	Protestant 36.6% (Zionist Christian 11.1%, Pentecostal/Charismatic 8.2%,Methodist 6.8%,Dutch Reformed 6.7%, Anglican 3.8%),Catholic 7.1%,Muslim 1.5%,other Christian 36%, other 2.3%,unspecified 1.4%,none 15.1%(2001 census)	Protestant 51.3%,Roman Catholic 23.9%, Mormon 1.7%,other Christian 1.6%, Jewish 1.7%,Buddhist 0.7%,Muslim 0.6%,other or unspecified 2.5%,unaffiliated 12.1%,none 4%(2007 est.)	Christian (Anglican, Roman Catholic, Presbyterian, Methodist) 71.6%,Muslim 2.7%,Hindu 1%,other 1.6%,unspecified or none 23.1%(2001 census)
Life expectancy at birth	49,33 yearscountry comparison to the world: 215	total population: 78.37 yearscountry comparison to the world: 50	total population: 80.05 yearscountry comparison to the world: 28
Maternal mortality rate	410 deaths/100,000 live births (2008)country comparison to the world: 35	24 deaths/100,000 live births (2008)country comparison to the world: 121	12 deaths/100,000 live births (2008)country comparison tothe world: 141
Infant mortality rate	total: 43.2 deaths/1,000 live birthscountry comparison to the world: 58	total: 6.06 deaths/1,000 live birthscountry comparison to the world: 175	total: 4.62 deaths/1,000 live birthscountry comparison to the world: 189
Drinking water Source	urban: 99% of populationrural: 78% of populationtotal: 91% of population	urban: 100% of populationrural: 94% of populationtotal: 99% of population	urban: 100% of populationrural: 100% of populationtotal: 100% of population (2008)
HIV/AIDS – adult prevalence rate	17,8%	0.6% (2009 est.)	0.2% (2009 est.)
People living with HIV	5,6 million (2008)	1,2 million	85,000 (2009 est.)
HIV deaths	310,000 (2009 est.)	17,000 (2009 est.)	fewer than 1,000 (2009 est.)
Literacy	definition: age 15 and over can read and writetotal population: 86.4%male: 87%female: 85.7% (2003 est.)	definition: age 15 and over can read and writetotal population: 99%male: 99%female: 99% (2003 est.)	definition: age 15 and over has completed five or more years of schoolingtotal population: 99%male: 99%female: 99% (2003 est.)
Unemployment, youth ages 15-24	total: 48.2%country comparison to the world: 3 male: 44.6%female: 52.5%	total: 17.6%country comparison to the world: 66 male: 20.1%female: 14.9% (2009)	total: 18.9%country comparison to the world: 63 male: 21.7%female: 15.6% (2009)

Geography

	South Africa	USA	United Kingdom
Area	total: 1,219,090 sq kmcountry comparison to the world: 25 and: 1,214,470 sq kmwater: 4,620 sq km	total: 9,826,675 sq kmcountry comparison to the world: 3 land: 9,161,966 sq kmwater: 664,709 sq kmnote:includes only the 50 states and District of Columbia	total: 243,610 sq kmcountry comparison to the world: 80 land: 241,930 sq kmwater: 1,680 sq km
Land boundaries	total: 4,862 kmborder countries: Botswana 1,840 km, Lesotho 909 km, Mozambique 491 km, Namibia 967 km, Swaziland 430 km, Zimbabwe 225 km	total: 12,034 kmborder countries: Canada 8,893 km (including 2,477 km with Alaska), Mexico 3,141 km	total: 360 kmborder countries: Ireland 360 km
Climate	mostly semiarid; subtropical along east coast; sunny days, cool nights	mostly temperate, but tropical in Hawaii and Florida, arctic in Alaska, semiarid in the great plains west of the Mississippi River, and arid in the Great Basin of the southwest; low winter temperatures in the northwest are ameliorated occasionally in January and February by warm chinook winds from the eastern slopes of the Rocky Mountains	temperate; moderated by prevailing southwest winds over the North Atlantic Current; more than one-half of the days are overcast
Terrain	vast interior plateau rimmed by rugged hills and narrow coastal plain	vast central plain, mountains in west, hills and low mountains in east; rugged mountains and broad river valleys in Alaska; rugged, volcanic topography in Hawaii	mostly rugged hills and low mountains; level to rolling plains in east and southeast
Natural Resources	vast interior plateau rimmed by rugged hills and narrow coastal plain	coal, copper, lead, molybdenum, phosphates, rare earth elements, uranium, bauxite, gold, iron, mercury, nickel, potash, silver, tungsten, zinc, petroleum, natural gas, timbernote:the US has the world’s largest coal reserves with 491 billion short tons accounting for 27% of the world’s total	coal, petroleum, natural gas, iron ore, lead, zinc, gold, tin, limestone, salt, clay, chalk, gypsum, potash, silica sand, slate, arable land
Coastline	2,798 km	19,924 km	12,429 km
Highest Point	Njesuthi 3,408 m	Mount McKinley 6,194 m	Ben Nevis 1,343 m
Natural hazards	prolonged droughtsvolcanism: the volcano forming Marion Island in the Prince Edward Islands, which last erupted in 2004, is South Africa’s only active volcano	tsunamis; volcanoes; earthquake activity around Pacific Basin; hurricanes along the Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico coasts; tornadoes in the Midwest and Southeast; mud slides in California; forest fires in the west; flooding; permafrost in northern Alaska, a major impediment to development	winter windstorms; floods

Government

	South Africa	USA	United Kingdom
Country name	Republic of South Africa	United States of America	United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland
Government type	Republic	Constitution-based federal republic; strong democratic tradition	constitutional monarchy and Commonwealth realm
Capital	Pretoria (administrative capital) note:Cape Town (legislative capital); Bloemfontein (judicial capital)	Washington, DC	London
Administration divisions	9 provinces: Eastern Cape, Free State, Gauteng, KwaZulu-Natal, Limpopo, Mpumalanga, Northern Cape, North-West, Western Cape	50 states and 1 district:Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, District of Columbia*, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia, Wisconsin, Wyoming	England: 27 two-tier counties, 32 London boroughs and 1 City of London or Greater London, 36 metropolitan districts, 56 unitary authorities (including 4 single-tier counties*)
Independence	31 May 1910 (Union of South Africa formed from four British colonies: Cape Colony, Natal, Transvaal, and Orange Free State); 31 May 1961 (republic declared); 27 April 1994 (majority rule)	4 July 1776 (declared); 3 September 1783 (recognized by Great Britain)	12 April 1927 (Royal and Parliamentary Titles Act establishes current name of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland); notable earlier dates: 927 (minor English kingdoms united); 3 March 1284 (enactment of the Statute of Rhuddlan uniting England and Wales); 1536 (Act of Union formally incorporates England and Wales); 1 May 1707 (Acts of Union formally unite England and Scotland as Great Britain); 1 January 1801 (Acts of Union formally unite Great Britain and Ireland as the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland); 6 December 1921 (Anglo-Irish Treaty formalizes partition of Ireland; six counties remain part of the United Kingdom as Northern Ireland)
Legal System	mixed legal system of Roman-Dutch civil law, English common law, and customary law	common law system based on English common law at the federal level; state legal systems based on common law except Louisiana, which is based on Napoleonic civil code; judicial review of legislative acts	common law system; has nonbinding judicial review of Acts of Parliament under the Human Rights Act of 1998
Constitution	10 December 1996; note – certified by the Constitutional Court 4 December 1996; was signed by then President MANDELA 10 December 1996; and entered into effect 4 February 1997		unwritten; partly statutes, partly common law and practice
Suffrage	18 years	18 years	18 years
Executive Branch	Chief of state:President Jacob ZUMA (since 9 May 2009); Deputy President Kgalema MOTLANTHE (since 11 May 2009); note – the president is both the chief of state and head of governmentHead of government: President Jacob ZUMA (since 9 May 2009); Deputy President Kgalema MOTLANTHE (since 11 May 2009)Cabinet:Cabinet appointed by the presidentElections:president elected by the National Assembly for a five-year term (eligible for a second term); election last held on 6 May 2009 (next to be held in 2014)Election results:Jacob ZUMA elected president; National Assembly vote – Jacob ZUMA 277, Mvume DANDALA 47, other 76	Chief of state: President Barack H. OBAMA (since 20 January 2009); Vice President Joseph R. BIDEN (since 20 January 2009); note – the president is both the chief of state and head of governmentHead of government: President Barack H. OBAMA (since 20 January 2009); Vice President Joseph R. BIDEN (since 20 January 2009)Cabinet:Cabinet appointed by the president with Senate approvalElections:president and vice president elected on the same ticket by a college of representatives who are elected directly from each state; president and vice president serve four-year terms (eligible for a second term); election last held 4 November 2008 (next to be held on 6 November 2012)Election results: Barack H. OBAMA elected president; percent of popular vote – Barack H. OBAMA 52.4%, John MCCAIN 46.3%, other 1.3%;	Chief of state:Queen ELIZABETH II (since 6 February 1952); Heir Apparent Prince CHARLES (son of the queen, born 14 November 1948)Head of government: Prime Minister David CAMERON (since 11 May 2010)Cabinet: Cabinet of Ministers appointed by the prime ministerElections:the monarchy is hereditary; following legislative elections, the leader of the majority party or the leader of the majority coalition usually the prime minister
Legislative Branch	bicameral Parliament -National Council of Provinces (90 seats; 10 members elected by each of the nine provincial legislatures for five-year terms; has special powers to protect regional interests, including the safeguarding of cultural and linguistic traditions among ethnic minorities)National Assembly (400 seats; members elected by popular vote under a system of proportional representation to serve five-year terms)Elections:National Assembly and National Council of Provinces – last held on 22 April 2009 (next to be held in April 2014)	bicameral Congress consists of the Senate (100 seats, 2 members elected from each state by popular vote to serve six-year terms; one-third elected every two years) and the House ofRepresentatives (435 seats; members directly elected by popular vote to serve two-year terms)Elections:Senate – last held on 2 November 2010 (next to be held in November 2012); House of Representatives – last held on 2 November 2010 (next to be held in November 2012)Election results:Senate – percent of vote by party – NA; seats by party – Democratic Party 51, Republican Party 47, independent 2; House of Representatives – percent of vote by party – NA; seats by party – Democratic Party 192, Republican Party 243	bicameral Parliament consists of House of Lords (741 seats; consisting of approximately 625 life peers, 91 hereditary peers, and 25 clergy – as of 15 December 2010) and House of Commons (650 seats since 2010 elections; members elected by popular vote to serve five-year terms unless the House is dissolved earlier)Elections:House of Lords – no elections (note – in 1999, as provided by the House of Lords Act, elections were held in the House of Lords to determine the 92 hereditary peers who would remain there; elections are held only as vacancies in the hereditary peerage arise); House of Commons – last held on 6 May 2010 (next to be held by June 2015)Election results:House of Commons – percent of vote by party – Conservative 36.1%, Labor 29%, Liberal Democrats 23%, other 11.9%; seats by party – Conservative 305, Labor 258, Liberal Democrat 57, other 30
Judical Branch	Constitutional Court; Supreme Court of Appeals; High Courts; Magistrate Courts	Supreme Court (nine justices; nominated by the president and confirmed with the advice and consent of the Senate; appointed to serve for life); United States Courts of Appeal; United States District Courts; State and County Courts	Supreme Court of the UK (established in October 2009 taking over appellate jurisdiction formerly vested in the House of Lords); Senior Courts of England and Wales (comprising the Court of Appeal, the High Court of Justice, and the Crown Courts); Court of Judicature (Northern Ireland); Scotland’s Court of Session and High Court of the Justiciary
National Symbol	Springbok, Antelope	Bald eagle	Lion (Britain in general); lion (England); lion, unicorn (Scotland); dragon (Wales); harp (Northern Ireland)

Communication

	South Africa	USA	United Kingdom
Internet Users	4,42 million	245 million (2009)	33.32 million (2010)
Telephone- Main lines in use	4.225 million (2010)	151 million (2010)	80.799 million (2010)
Cell phones- Main lines in use	279 million (2010)	50,373 million (2010)	51.444 million (2009)

Transportation

	South Africa	USA	United Kingdom
Airports	578 (2010)	15,079 (2010)	505 (2010)
Pipelines	condensate 11 km; gas 908 km; oil 980 km; refined products 1,382 km (2010)	petroleum products 244,620 km; natural gas 548,665 km (2010)	condensate 8 km; gas 14,071 km; liquid petroleum gas 59 km; oil 595 km; refined products 4,907 km (2010)
Railways	total: 20,192 km	total: 224,620 km	total: 16,454 km
Roadways	total: 362,099 km	total: 6,506,204 kmcountry comparison to the world: 1	total: 394,428 km
Ports and Terminals	Cape Town, Durban, Port Elizabeth, Richards Bay, Saldanha Bay	Cargo ports (tonnage): Baton Rouge, Corpus Christi, Houston, Long Beach, Los Angeles, New Orleans, New York, Plaquemines, Tampa, Texas Citycontainer ports (TEUs): Los Angeles (7,849,985), Long Beach (6,350,125), New York/New Jersey (5,265,058), Savannah (2,616,126), Oakland (2,236,244), Hampton Roads (2,083,278) (2008)cruise departure ports (passengers): Miami (2,032,000), Port Everglades (1,277,000), Port Canaveral (1,189,000), Seattle (430,000), Long Beach (415,000) (2009)oil terminals: LOOP terminal, Haymark terminal	Dover, Felixstowe, Immingham, Liverpool, London, Southampton, Teesport (England); Forth Ports (Scotland); Milford Haven (Wales)

Military

	South Africa	USA	United Kingdom
Military Branches	South African National Defense Force (SANDF): South African Army, South African Navy (SAN), South African Air Force (SAAF), Joint Operations Command, Military Intelligence, South African Military Health Services (2009)	United States Armed Forces: US Army, US Navy (includes Marine Corps), US Air Force, US Coast Guard; note – Coast Guard administered in peacetime by the Department of Homeland Security, but in wartime reports to the Department of the Navy (2011)	Army, Royal Navy (includes Royal Marines), Royal Air Force (2010)
Military service age and obligation	18 years of age for voluntary military service; women are eligible to serve in noncombat roles; 2-year service obligation (2007)	18 years of age (17 years of age with parental consent) for male and female voluntary service; maximum enlistment age 42 (Army), 27 (Air Force), 34 (Navy), 28 (Marines); service obligation 8 years, including 2-5 years active duty (Army), 2 years active (Navy), 4 years active (Air Force, Marines) (2010)	16-33 years of age (officers 17-28) for voluntary military service (with parental consent under 18); women serve in military services, but are excluded from ground combat positions and some naval postings; as of October 2009, women comprised 12.1% of officers and 9% of enlisted personnel in the regular forces; must be citizen of the UK, Commonwealth, or Republic of Ireland; reservists serve a minimum of 3 years, to age 45 or 55; 16 years of age for voluntary military service by Nepalese citizens in the Brigade of Gurkhas; 16-34 years of age for voluntary military service by Papua New Guinean citizens (2009)

PG TOPS TOURS THE GARDEN ROUTE

PG Tops — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 11:25:25 +0000

PG TOPS IN LONDON 3 MARCH!

PG Tops — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 11:21:25 +0000

PG TOPS FEB UPDATE!

PG Tops — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 09:16:23 +0000

Hi there sports fans

6 February, 2012. By all that is sacred, how did we get here so fast?

The rollercoaster continues. January was another massive month for PG TOPS, although I must admit that things have slowed down to a more manageable pace after 5 Jan. Good thing too, as I took some time to go enjoy the best ski season in years in the Austrian Alps.

The PG TOPS team welcomes superstar intern Sophie Reichelt to our ranks, at least until the end of Feb. I am not biased towards Germans who take to the music of Kurt Darren, and I can objectively say Sophie has already added massive value, as evidenced by the following:

The PG TOPS German version website: http://pgtops.com/de/comments and critique welcome, we can take it! WHY NOT!

Awesome multimedia presentation of the PG TOPS teambuilding trip up the Garden Route this weekend, where we danced our way through forests, dodgy bars, wine farms, monkey infested bridges, even waterfalls and now… SOPHIE CAN’T STOP HUMMING LOSLAPPIE!

I want to extend the usual thanks to all you amazing people who have supported us so well this month: The usual suspects ranks are being swelled by new suspects, part time suspects and prime suspects: Capetowntourguide.com for such amazing support, Sal Barbs Ange and now LAUREN! from Cape Point Route for a steady stream of support, Jessy Lippertz, Cape Turismo, Telematics, A2B, Warrick, Charl and Erna van Tonder, Werner, the McDonalds for referring the McParlands, and everyone else that contributed with so much heart.

A huge thanks to industry colleagues and mates: Hendrik Homer Human from Earthstomper Tours (for giving me a great excuse for a fish braai, introducing us to the Waterfall in Wilderness, and looking after my Guatemalan group so well), and to Lyle Enver Katzen – the man who is taking Sedgefield to the next level! Love your work boet, and thanks for the hospitality – check out his spot on www.afrovibe.co.za.

A big high five to Patrice, who got us started on the Tripadvisor road. All our guests who took the time to go give us a write-up, it is much appreciated! It not only helps pumps us up to know that we are succeeding in our goal of making your trip pure awesome, but also helps us get some business. The reviews below, feel free to write one if you haven’t done so yet!

Tripadvisor Reviews PG Tops.

What’s coming up for PG TOPS in Feb and March?

More awesome day trips in and around Cape Town, but also check out our continuously developing Garden Route and Safari product on the website. Private custom tours remain our focus, and we are dealing both with a lot of families and small groups who prefer the flexibility and warm approach of the PG TOPS team.

Valentines Day. The Cape Argus. Weddings. Birthdays. Trips!

Speaking of trips, look out for us at the TNT Travel Adventure Show in Earls Court, London, on 3 March 2012. Yolanda and I will be the really really ridiculously good looking folks in the lime green shirts…

Finally, huge thanks to my team for making my life easy. Yolanda, Roelf and Sophie (supported by Mildred and the Gentleman): We have a lot of fun, I believe we’re making a difference, and I’m grateful.

Take care of yourselves, and each other!

Pieter G

www.pgtops.com

+27 83 288 4944

Cape Town, South Africa – home to Table Mountain and PG TOPS!

THE SEVEN HABITS OF HIGHLY EFFECTIVE CAPETONIANS

PG Tops — Thu, 05 Jan 2012 08:35:37 +0000

Hi sports fans,

I had a newsletter all written out, but it got lost in the madness that was December. Ooms hallo, and we are already full steam in Jan, and PG TOPS is thankful for a bumper summer but even more thankful for normality’s return.

Hence, I would like to share with you my thoughts on why this summer was/is/will still be awesome, as attributed to the good people of Cape Town.

THEY ARE PROACTIVE

I was super proud of my team Roelf and Yolanda, especially on New Year’s Eve, where they battled road closures, irate client liaisons, disorganized Italians and even flat tires to not only deliver our motherload of Italians to the ball on time, but pick up some errant reveller business along the way, and get a temp tire swopped out before midnight. Sterling work guys. I was out dancing to a DJ that looked like a pink elephant. Go figure.

THEY BEGIN WITH THE END IN MIND

It’s as if the whole of South Africa decided to make Cape Town its favourite holiday destination this year. So in addition to a plethora of international visitors, we were also graced with hordes of sunseeking funloving binnelanders. Everybody was booked up months in advance, and yet we still managed to find resources to deal with a horde of last minute requests. I was happy to work with great companies like Chanti, Rumadani, FS Tours, Cape Town Tour Guide, Guide Connection and Cape Point Route who dealt with any and all requests with grace, patience and the belief that we can service the clients no matter what it takes.

THEY PUT FIRST THINGS FIRST

Welcome to my life. No matter how busy we get, it’s important to have a good time as well. If you can do it while on the job, even better! Ask Luke Scott, my architect friend, who helped out with a private yacht request on 2 January!!! He took our clients for an exclusive cruise around the harbour, mooring to listen to the live bands off Camps Bay and for a sneaky sundowner at Basquille. Rock Star living at its best, and he did it because he also felt like getting out there. Thanks Luke!

THEY THINK WIN-WIN

I’m super fortunate to work and network with a bunch of companies like PG TOPS in Cape Town. Symbiosis is the name of the game, and Clive, Warrick, Sal and Barbs, Donavan, Pam, Charl and Tish, Hendrik, Norman, Jacques, Marco… you know it! Whether it was referrals, helping out with vehicles, guiding or just moral support, it’s been great working with you folks. Special mention to Petrie from Rumadani for coming out on New Years Eve to lend us a spare tire. Above and beyond… Let’s keep on being awesome in 2012!

THEY SEEK FIRST TO UNDERSTAND BEFORE BEING UNDERSTOOD

Communication is the name of the game. Whether it be in broken Spanish, English or even Afrdutch, it’s been fun sharing cultures, challenges, stories and experiences with our visitors this summer. I think we hit a diversity record on 3 January, with PG TOPS out touring with five different groups – 5 Guatemalans, 6 Americans, 2 Indians, 2 Canadians and 8 Brazilians. In addition, we dealt with Mauritians, Brits, Dutch, Germans, Spaniards, Mexicans, Peruvians, Swiss, locals, corporate year end parties, transfers, cruises, New years bookings and all kinds of adventure activities! What a trip, and it was tough to keep it all together, but I think we managed…

THEY SYNERGIZE

Everyone pulled their weight, even the Big Guy, who gave us less wind and more beaut days to go up the Mountain this year. From the smiling petrol attendant to the receptionist at the hotel to the reservations girl at the agency to my girl Friday for picking up the cupcakes… if we weren’t in perfect sync, we were damn close most of the time. Solid.

THEY SHARPEN THE SAW

On a personal note, January is still nice and busy, but I will take some time to get back into cycle training, go on a ski trip with my folks and enjoy the spoils of a good summer. Hopefully the team will make some time (along with German intern Sophie, ETA 15 Jan) to go chill out on the beach at Afrovibe (and maybe play some beer pong). We’re gonna need all our strength for the challenges of 2012, which include:

Mayan prophecies – start building the survival boat
Dog rearing– February. Gumtree. Lab puppies. The search for the PG TOPS mascot is on.
Intern mentorship. Roelf you’re up, time for the student to become the teacher. Very zen.
More flat tires, flat batteries and flat egos.
Being less awesome. But we can’t help ourselves.

Also don’t forget to check out our revamped website www.pgtops.com, being my friend or fan on Facebook, reply UNSUBSCRIBE if you don’t want to hear from me again and check out this awesome perspective on armaggedon:

Be cool, stay in school.

Kind regards,

Pieter Geldenhuys

PG TOPS TRAVEL AND TOURS

Cape Town, South Africa

www.pgtops.com

+27 83 288 4944

BBM 21e7bd12

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/pages/PG-TOPS-TRAVEL-AND-TOURS/110729918944980

Cape Point Penguins Winelands Sharks Whales Safari Friends Fun Cheese

Your attitude in life will almost always determine your altitude…

PG TOPS MOVEMBER

PG Tops — Thu, 01 Dec 2011 10:52:11 +0000

Hi Movember people

For no clearly understandable reason, I battled with an ungrateful public and a highly incongruent bit of upperlippy facial hair for a whole month. There were very few admiring looks, quite a few tut tuts from disapproving siblings, grandmas and would be interested female parties, and just an overall sense of inadequacy, especially when measured against the champ. But I did my part raising awareness for prostate cancer, and now I can go back to not worrying about pieces of chips in my mo or feelings of inadequacy because of the champ. November 2011 is no more…November was not just about man bonding over moustaches, though. Here’s what else we got up to!

11.11am on 11.11.2011…

what was I doing? Stuck in traffic in St James (roadworks again!) I was leading a convoy of vintage cars towards Cape Point though, and seeing as the Swiss incentive group had plenty of booze to keep them going, there were few complaints. Awesome to enjoy a picnic out at Cape Point though, and a great day for it even if the weather was kinda weird all week…

24/7!

That’s the workload at times, and we love it. I took a week off to go check out some nuptials in tropical North Dakota, leaving Yolanda to carry the load, which she did brilliantly. I reciprocated while she was out on a jolly on the Garden Route with the Earthstomper Hendrik Homer Human, and in between, we managed to do lots of transfers, see loads of penguins, go on safari, flip some helicopters, run away from some sharks, see a few whales, etc…

But that’s the boring stuff. What’s REALLY EXCITING IS…

I.T! As in INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY!

My auditor has for some time threatened to put out a hit on me, so I have taken the plunge and taken on a proper backed accounting package (PASTEL). There are some growing pains while refigure out how to do double entry accounting, automate invoice and actually calclulating my VAT as opposed to just guessing it. While this has been going, I’ve also gone to more sophisticated backend on my Webpage, giving greater functionality to my frontend user experience and helping to… wait. Ok, don’t close the email. I’ll stop! Here’s some more good stuff:

JOKE OF THE MONTH:

You heard about the two antennas that got married? The wedding was ordinary, but the Reception was brilliant!!!!!

NEWBIE ALERT!

Our team of two and a half men was broken up when Tony Barwick decided to go and be glamorous on a ski resort in the USA instead of being glamorous on Clifton 2^nd here. Dude. WTF??? He’ll be back though after a few months, older, wiser, and readier to put some more awesomeness on our clients.

In the meantime, we welcome Roelf Hamman to the team full time. Hailing from the HOPSY town of George on the Garden Route, Roelf was also my student when I lectured (badly), but his appraisal of my professorship hasn’t stopped him from bringing his own brand of zing to PG TOPS. Looking forward to seeing what he brings to our ongoing commitment to WELCOME you TO OUR LIFE!

You’re skinny and pretty… no you are!

Now that I’ve got a proper accounting system (I’m so proud) I realize how grateful I am to have such awesome support from my clients, network support and friends. Particularly Cape Point Route with Barbs, Sally and Angie really coming through this month, a continued great relationship with Warrick Mulder, Clive de Bruyne, Kaylin, Ikapa, Telematics, Marc Algranti, Johanna Stamps, Francois van Binsbergen (LORD Francois to you), Hendrik Earthstomper, A2B, the Tour Guide Institute, Google Adwords, Marco Corrales, Charlee Scholtz, Giltedge Travel and everyone else who’s out there spreading the good word.

What’s NEXT, I hear you say?

Well, I figure we got about a year left before the Mayans stop counting. And those Mayans… you know they were always right.

So let’s make the most of it! For December, I plan to cycle in the winelands, go to back to back weddings to celebrate reconciliation, be super busy with the business, braai on my porch, train the living crap out of Roelof to make him even more awesome, spread some Christmas good cheer in our own non-promotional but still rewarding way. Did I say We’re gonna be super busy! Yolanda is going to go spend some time with her little brother (YAY) before going canopy ziplining, hot air ballooning, deep sea fishing and lord know what else with Freddy Hirsch, I’m gonna go watch Kurt Darren under the stars in the Paarl (DOUBLE YAY), Roelof is going to look for a decent priced room in Cape Town (TRAFFIC BOO), we’ll all go watch some Kirstenbosch summer concerts, play Frisbee on the beach, sip Sauvignon Blancs, eat lots of calamari and figure out Pastel! Super busy!

AWESOME.

I’ll be checking in just before the big fat guy comes through your chimney…

www.pgtops.com

+27 83 288 4944

Cape Town Day Trips. Fun. Friends. Cheese!

Welcome to my life…