CPT Brew – 9th Sept | Drones, Marathons & City Gems

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Hey {{first_name | Brew}}

Weekend's shaping up nicely, Brews. We've got a drone that talked a stranded hiker through the night, a rainbow crossing gone all Lisbon pink, and Cape Town landing its own leg of a brand new global marathon series.

On the plans front: a torchlit wetland walk on Intaka Island, ghoema jazz from Hilton Schilder, a slow burn dinner thriller worth booking quick, and a free peek through a century old telescope. Plus a gallery worth ducking into, a new coffee stop in Wynberg, and a Sichuan spot hiding in a house in Sanddrift.

Here's what's brewing.

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Headlines

3 reads

A hiker got properly stuck above Newlands on Sunday night, cliff face, dying phone, no light left. Then a drone started talking to him, Wilderness Search and Rescue's way of saying help was close while rope teams abseiled down through the dark. By dawn he was off the mountain, uninjured and a little rattled.

Cape Town's rainbow crossing in De Waterkant got vandalised over the weekend, and the specialist paint needed to fix it properly is three months out. The City's fix in the meantime: paint the whole thing Lisbon pink. Ward councillor Ian McMahon promises the rainbow is coming back, eventually.

Cape Town just became launchpad for a new global running series. The inaugural Nelson Mandela Marathon hits the streets on 18 October, tracing the Castle of Good Hope, Company's Garden, Bo-Kaap and District Six, with Nairobi, Paris and Berlin to follow from 2027. Entries are open for anyone keen to make history out of a Sunday jog.

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Events

4 plans

Fri 11 Sep, 18:30 R145	Spring Night Hike on Intaka Island walks the wetland reserve tucked inside Century City after dark, rangers pointing out spring blooms and birdlife across 120 species, torch required.
Fri 11 Sep, 21:00 R200	Hilton Schilder Quartet brings four decades of ghoema and Cape jazz to Athletic Club and Social, the Genuines legend leading a combo that never repeats a set.
Sat 12 Sep, 20:00 From R250	The Craving drops you inside a fictional restaurant where an avant garde seven course meal is really the front for a slow motion psychological thriller.
Sat 12 Sep, 20:00 R50	Cape Town Open Nights opens the old Royal Observatory for a look through the historic McClean telescope, a wander through the museum, and stargazing if the sky plays along.

Hidden Gems

3 finds

Berman Contemporary sits in the Silo District showing Thirza Schaap's After the Tide, on through 28 November. Open Tuesday to Friday 9 to 6, Saturday 9 to 2.

Platō's brand new Wynberg branch opened 1 September on Wolfe Street, open Mon-Sat 6am-6pm and Sun 7am-6pm, another stop for a coffee chain quietly becoming one of the more reliable brews in the city.

Hot Chinese Food hides in a converted house in Sanddrift, no storefront and no listed hours, call ahead before you go. Think rabbit hot pot and pig ear in chilli oil.

Fact of the Day

Boulders Beach in Simon's Town started its African penguin colony with just two breeding pairs in 1982. The waddling crowd now numbers somewhere between 2000 and 3000.

That's your sip, Brews. Go be nosy somewhere nice.
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CPT Brew – 9th September, 2026

Every headline satisfies an opinion. Except ours.

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