It’s great to see my home town as part of a store name— so far away from home. There are 54 Starbuckses in South Africa (but the first one opened only in 2016). The Seattle Coffee Co. franchise has been around a lot longer. The first store opened its doors in Cavendish Square, Cape Town in November 1997.I stopped at a branch of the beleaguered South African Post Office. It was supposed to have completely run out of money and options to stay open by the end of October 2024, and go into bankruptcy, but now it is unclear what the new ‘Day Zero’ is. Do you have any postage stamps to sell to me? I inquired. I came away with this sheet of woodpeckers (issued 2020), one of the last sets of stamps issued by the South African Post Office. No new issues appeared after 2020. 😱Hey! We still have Toys “R” Us in South Africa. (On June 29, 2018, Toys “R” Us permanently closed all of its remaining U.S. locations, after 70 years of operations).And here is what I acquired to add to my collection of African animals: king cheetah (distinctive coat pattern due to a recessive gene; there may only be 10 or so in the wild, with some 50 or so more in captivity); black wildebeest, springbok antelope, and African penguin (these are the ones found in the Boulders Penguin Colony in Simons Town, South Africa).My quest for a six-pack of Beck’s Blue (Beck’s non-alcoholic beer) continues. This store did not have any. Beer and hard liquor are only sold in dedicated liquor stores in South Africa. Wine may be sold at grocery stores as well as at liquor stores. The “YOU HAVE REACHED THE SOUTH POLE” is just a little joke, indicating that the walk-in refrigerated room with chilled beers is right there below the sign.
