Cape Town, South Africa

We have spent the last week in Cape Town, South Africa! It has been amazing! We flew in from Victoria Falls via Johannesburg, and arrived late Monday night. On the way, we met a nice South African couple who took us into the British Airways executive lounge while waiting for our first flight, which was much nicer than waiting out with the masses. We went straight to our very comfortable bed and breakfast in the heart of the city. Our hotel is in the Bo-Kaap district, an area of the city characterized by colorful row houses. This district was populated by freed slaves who were not allowed to wear colors and therefore rebelled once freed by painting the houses many colors.

Cape Town is a metropolitan city on the southwest portion of South Africa, and reminds us a lot of a cross between Northern and Southern California with some New England influences as well. Our first day, we took the hop-on/hop-off double-decker tourist bus around the city to get a better feel for the various areas and also for some history of the area, including important events during the end of apartheid that occurred in Cape Town. We drove through District 6, which was a site where many black people were evicted to make way for white housing during the apartheid movement. The city was up in arms about this and the planned developments were eventually stopped. The area is still left desolate and unbuilt as a tribute to that event. We stopped at Table Mountain, a very famous rocky mountain with a flat top resembling a table. When the wind blows the fog off the bay, it sits on top of the mountain like a tablecloth. We took the cable car up to the top of the mountain and explored. We also took the bus to the Camps Bay beach area which is sort of like Sunset Boulevard in LA, lots of fancy restaurants, nightclubs, cars, and famous people sightings, along with a sandy beach. Finally we walked around some of the historic sites, including the old Company Gardens (the Dutch East India Company’s gardens which date to the founding of the city), and then we had dinner at a Malaysian restaurant by our B&B (where it took all 6 waiters, the cook and the owner the better part of an hour to figure out our bill).

The next day, we woke up early and took the ferry to Robben Island, the site of the maximum security prison in which Nelson Mandela was held for 17 years (he was held for another 10 years in other places in the area). He was held along with many other political prisoners of the apartheid period. The Island is very big, and we took a bus around to see the various prison sites. The tours of the maximum security prison were given by former political prisoners, who now reside in the small community on the Island (along with some former prison guards- interesting dynamic). This day was Human Rights Day, a holiday in South Africa celebrating aspects of the end of the apartheid period, so there were many people there to visit the island and reflect. Compared with Alcatraz, Robben Island seems more like a holiday destination more than a prison, however being held anywhere against one’s will in confinement would be prison no matter where you are.

Afterwards, we had lunch at the waterfront and watched some street performers and also had ice cream cones which were made amazingly better by the fact that they put a giant stick of chocolate in the middle of each one! We then went for a hike up Lion’s Head mountain, which is a rocky mountain similar to Table Mountain, but a lot shorter (named for its resemblance to a

lion when viewed from far away). At the top, you have to scramble up the rocks using ladders, chains and footholds stuck into the rock. We hiked up in late afternoon, so it was nice to see the late afternoon sun over the city. We tried to find our way back to our hotel by walking down the mountain, which didn’t look like that far of a distance from the top, however about halfway down we couldn’t find a trail and we had to get rescued from the side of a busy road by a nice taxi driver. That night, we went to GOLD restaurant, which was in the Gold of Africa Museum/working Gold Studio. The dinner was a 10-course pan-African feast and also had live music and dancers. Joe even got pulled into it and danced a bit.

The following day, we rented a car and had our first experience driving on the “wrong” side of the road. We had very few mishaps, despite turning on the windshield wipers every time we wanted to signal a turn. We only drove on the wrong side of the road once! Joe is a pro now.

We drove to Cape Point and went to the Cape of Good Hope, the most southwesterly point of the African continent. We saw the famous colorful beach houses along the road. While driving in the national park, we turned a bend and found a bunch of ostrich walking down the road. We also finally found the famous South African dassie, which is a small guinea pig sized rodent that is apparently the closest living relative to an elephant. We then went to Boulder’s beach which is famous for its African penguin colony. It was really cool to see the penguins along the beach and

diving into the surf. We were even allowed to go on the beach and sit/swim with them as we pleased. It was pretty cool!

Today we went on a wine tour, visiting three different areas and three different wineries. The wine here is pretty good, although not quite comparable to Napa. It was a very relaxing day. We also visited a cheetah conservation center, and saw a lot of cheetahs.

Observations:

-It is VERY windy here- there are many trees along the beach

that are permanently blown horizontal to the ground because of the wind. The most expensive real estate is the “no wind” areas with views of the sea.

-The food here is really, really good- fresh seafood, African cuisine, Malaysian cuisine, and continental. It is pretty affordable as well, as long as you are willing to wait because service is extremely slow. It’s definitely on African time.

-There are people who will “watch your car for you” when you park in certain areas, in exchange for a small tip. We weren’t sure on the etiquette, so we just parked really far away from places to avoid this altogether. Also, there are gas station attendants that pump the gas for you!

-There are still a lot of residual elements of racism in South Africa. It was really interesting coming here from Victoria Falls where we met a few older (white) couples from South Africa who had witnessed the apartheid period and the end of the period, and it was interesting to hear

their feelings on the changes in the country. There seems to be a lot of bitterness and misunderstanding from both sides, and it is unfortunate that there is still so much tension in such a wonderful place. However, we have also seen a very one-sided view of Cape Town- all the picturesque views and fancy restaurants etc. These are the places that are still predominantly white. On our way back from Cape Point, we drove through the outer suburbs of Cape Town

known as the “Townships,” where the majority of the black residents live. These places are extraordinarily impoverished, and it is sad that with so much wealth in the area there is still such a dichotomy in the haves and have-nots.

-However, we really do love this city and it is one of the few places we have been that we could actually see ourselves living one day (perhaps once the social situation has stabilized more).