Cape Town - Been there, done that...but could easily go back again!

Despite the forecast showing rain over most of the Country and predicting rain for the remainder of our trip, we were pleasantly surprised when we neared Cape Town and were greeted by sunlight. This was great because we had accepted that we would just be doing everything we had planned wearing rain coats and long sleeves.

Within minutes of arriving at our hostel we had organized four days of activities. It took maybe twenty minutes for it to sink in that we had just bartered off all of our free time in Cape Town. After discussing it together we headed back to the front desk and asked if it would be okay if we cancelled a couple of things and make for a little more free time. All though the man working at the front desk always seemed displeased we were forgiven for our transgressions.

We were told by tons of tourists and locals that if a calm and sunny day were to arrive in Cape Town, we should head first thing to Table Mountain as the weather can change at the drop of a hat. It was explained that if the weather wasn`t great then the cable car would not operate and you would have to walk both up and down and we weren`t so keen on that. Luckily, the day we arrived had been the first time in five days that the cable car had been open due to weather. The other scenic type things we had been recommended were to see Cape Point and the penguins at Boulder Beach. Unsure of the order we made our decision based on the advice of the hostel staff that we shouldn`t view the sunset at Cape Point for fear of driving the route home in the dark.

Heeding the staff’s advice, we headed to Cape Point first taking the Chapman Peak scenic route (supposedly one of the top five scenic drives in the World). I (Jeremy) feel that I should be supplying references to all these things that I am saying (training I guess) but I have no backing for this statement other than the fact that it was so beautiful. Paranoid me was just wanting to rip to Table Mountain because if weather became bad, we were not really going to have any other time to do it. But Katie persisted that we stop every two minutes to take pictures of the coast line. Although, it did eat up our time and give me a bit of the sweats, it was so worth it. The views from the highway were worthy of postcards and advertising for travel brochures (not sure if that really makes it seem all that special but it was something that everyone should see). The neatest part about Cape Town is that it is an extremely short distance from the coast to the mountain range, something that I have not seen before. The route wound around the mountain range with the coastline just below the highway. At times proper beaches would entertain our eyes or jagged cliffs with blue to clean green (rhymes) water beating against scattered rocks just offshore.

Rather than navigating to the Cape Point we took a slightly incorrect turn and ended up at the boulder beach which was of no concern because we had planned it as destination two. Boulder beach was a wake up call because I figured that penguins were native to only the colder climates such as Antarctica and the Zoo. Well was I completely wrong because not only do the penguins habit this African shore but they love to suntan and play in the waves. Truly we weren`t interested in learning much about their way of life...we just wanted pictures as it was way too hot out.

After rerouting we made it to Cape Point to find the view here even more spectacular than the drive especially after climbing the small hill at the end of the Peninsula which housed the blind Lighthouse (named this because it was always shrouded in fog and had to be relocated after many boats had crashed into the shores below). After competing with the picture taking type of tourists (probably enough said – but in their defence they are only slightly more photo crazy than Katie and I who have been known to capture pictures of food) ...anyways...after we had managed to take enough pics to fill a small Curio Shop (name for a souvenir shop) we headed on to Table Mountain.

We arrived at Table Mountain with just enough time to do the climb which we had been told was better than just taking up the cable car. Despite not being in great shape we pretty much ran up the steps - okay we ran in between good breaks – and made it to the top in just over an hour and a quarter. This is even while carrying a jug of water and a rather clumsy bag...not to mention carrying rocks for protection. Katie was in combat mode the entire way up. The walk up was worth it but would have been just as good if we would have taken the cable car. However, climbing justified spending a little extra money and consuming calories on some snacks at the top. At first we were a little disappointed to see that one side of the mountain had had its view of below blocked by cloud cover but were quickly to change our opinion as the fading sunlight made the clouds look like ocean in constant motion. The day could not have ended any better and this could not have been a better and more romantic way to end the day (I should have been a little more cunning and thought to bring a picnic basket...however, it is funny to note that Katie thought a family with a picnic basket was selling food and we preceded to ask how much for beer and pizza).

The following morning we were destined for a township tour which was going to be a major eye opener for us.

#16) Now there is a big difference between a township and a village. It is not so much in the customs which defines the two but it is in the way in which they came to be. Many of the townships were created when the powers to be figured that the only way to control the colored, black and asiatic populations would be to remove them from the city limits. So they forcibly removed these people from their homes to designated areas. That is how these areas came to be in the past. In the present these townships have grown as farmers and villagers from rural areas have come closer to the city centers in search of work but cannot afford to live in the city. Some of these townships are extremely large and the actual populations are unknown because it is hard to keep track of everyone. One of the most famous is Soweto which has approximately 1.5 million people living in it. Now people say that Soweto is a dangerous place, which it may very well be, but it is supposedly becoming better than Johannesburg in terms of safety and after driving through Johannesburg during the day it truly feels that it could not be any worse.

Nlanga (Lawn –ga) was the township which we visited. When we were getting ready for the day it was hard to know what to bring along with us. One of the hardest things to decide was whether we were to bring a camera. Not that we were worried about it getting stolen but we were worried about what it would feel like, to us and the residents, if were to start taking pictures. I don’t know how I would feel if a group of tourists showed up at my house and began to take pictures. And I would never have to think like that because I cannot see any reason why anyone would want to take pictures of my house because I would consider it normal. However, if the people of the township were to come and see our home they would probably want to take pictures because they would be in awe at how we lived but if this happened I doubt they would have brought a camera or own one.

Our first stop on the tour was the District Six museum. As we learned district six was one of the locations within Cape Town that had its people forcibly removed from the city limits. The residents were given very little notice and no choice but to move. The white people told them that they had to move because they were going to develop this area but really they just wanted them out. After these people had been moved from their homes they were bulldozed and nothing was ever rebuilt there. Although, they did not seem to feel any sympathy to hide what they had done they constructed apartment towers in front so that visitors would not see the rubble that remained where these people once lived. Our stop here was very short as we had much more to see and to fully capture all of what happened in this area would take many many hours.

From the district six museum we passed through its location it in present day where the rubble still lies. We continued to Nlanga. Our tour guide filled us in on the many questions that were probably roaming through all of our heads:

Q) Is it okay that we are going to tour through people homes because they are a tourist attraction to us.

A) Yes it is ok. After working with the local people the tour guides have worked in agreement with these people to help them understand that the world needs to see how they live so that help can be given. Further the money generated from the tours is given primarily to the townships. Also throughout the town we are going to have the opportunity to purchase souvenirs and will also help the villagers.

Q) Can we take pictures or better yet should we take pictures?

A) Yes pictures are okay because again we will catalogue the injustice that is still going on in this part of the world. Even though we can take pictures we can only freely take pictures of buildings and children but adults must be asked before we can take pictures.

So we were dropped in the village and handed over to one of the villagers to tour us around. We started off in a shebeen (shhhh bean) which is the irish (not sure why) name for a pub. We were seated around and were given our second chance to try traditional maize beer. This one seemed a bit more appetizing and so I tried it again while Katie said she was good. Although, it looked much more pleasant it didn’t taste any more appetizing and I was good with one chug (should you ever have the chance to try it remember that it is always taken from the same jug it is never poured into cups and in some places it is customary to pour some on the ground for the ancestors).

The remainder of the tour is really hard to describe. The surroundings are not what are hard to describe. The village is made of small and dilapidated wooden framed structures with tin roofing and are mainly barren inside with the exception of the warm and pleasant demeanours of the people who were housed there. The path is littered with trash and people are everywhere.

#15) We have been given many explanations as to why there is always trash in local areas and the best answer that we have been given is that this is just customary. Why customary? Well when the locals inhabited the land many hundreds or even thousands of years ago when they threw something on the ground it would break down and would go back to the earth. That was long before they had plastic but that custom continued at first because no one knew any better. Best we can tell is that it wouldn’t matter because if they did want to get rid of it they would have to burn it because there is no one to come and collect it.

The reason it is hard to describe the village tour is because it creates so many emotions when you think about what you are actually seeing. For example, at one point we visited a small apartment that should normally house maybe three or four small families. However, we were shocked to discover that it actually housed 16 families. Why you may ask? Well these apartments used to be for migrant workers or miners but after the people were allowed to relocate they were told they could bring the rest of their family to come live with them. Therefore, one room which had housed three to four workers now became a home for three to four families. The size of the room was shocking. If you can visualize the size of my bathroom, that is about the size of a room that would be for three or four families. Each family would have one bed with a rooftop over each bed to house all of their belongings. All of the families would share one kitchen and one bathroom. When we were there we seen a girl, about our age, leave from one of the rooms. We were shocked because she was dressed just as us. I do not mean this in a bad way by any means it just it harder to comprehend our way of life. Not to mention whenever we were in town we could never be sure if the person at the grocer or the person at a restaurant was having to make the long trek back home at the end of the day after watching us move from place to place, watch us enjoy gourmet food and spend money like there was no end. Like they say here...although much of the racial segregation has ended there is no end to the continuing financial segregation. Even the Beverly hills of the township (known as by the locals) was what we would consider the government housing back home.

We also met a local Sangoma (this was a Khosa village) who had his hut in a C-can (trailer container) and was filled with all sorts of dead animals just hanging from everywhere. Every nook and cranny was stuffed with bundles of herbs and roots that would be used to help heal the sick. It was surprising that more people didn’t get sick just going in there and it was hard to move without bumping into a monkey hand (no doubt which was real) or something else. I am not meaning to offend how he lived but rather just describing how where I have been raised makes me see this very different way of life. That is probably the most important thing we are learning, is how different an equal human being is living their life somewhere else in this vast world. Despite everything that we seen most of the people that we met along the way were incredibly friendly to us.

The only place along the tour that we felt was proper to take pictures was when driving where we seen goats eating the trees that had been planted by the city or when they were climbing on cars (haha hilarious) and at the kindergarten. At the kindergarten every little child was so happy to have their picture taken and wanted to see themselves after on the little screen which was followed by shouts of glee. It was quite an experience and one we were happy to have. Quickly all of the somewhat sleepy children were jumping all over us and a better description of us rather than tourists would have been human jungle gym’s. We didn’t mind and had a lot of fun playing with so many adorable children. I felt sorry for the two girls who would look after all 40-60 of them for 12 hours each day of the week because they were so full of energy.

We also drove through two other townships (another Khosa and a colored township – back in the day they were purposely separated) which were obviously not as accustomed to tourists because we never stopped and our driver repeatedly asked us to lock the doors and ensured that the AC was on so we could close the windows.

After the tour we had two hours to kill before heading to Robben island so we were dropped at the VA waterfront to have lunch. It was especially hard after our morning tour to really enjoy the ‘modern’ beauty of the waterfront with its very fashionable buildings and shops. Us middle class Canadians live like kings compared to some people here.

The ferry to Robben Island was very quick and it didn’t take very long to get to the island. Once at the island we jumped onto large buses and were taken around the island by a former prisoner. He was more of a poet than a tour guide and described much of the island in such a way that he would have given Paulo Coelho (author of the Alchemist) a run for his money. The tour took us from the location where the prisoners first entered the island to the little cells where they spent many years of their life and obviously the most famous of them all Nelson Mandela, who had spent 18 years of his life (you are probably thinking 27 years but not all of his sentence was served here). We also visited the cave where much of the ideas that formed on this island originally came to be and the most famous of all, “Each one, teach one”. This was the motto that gave the inmates the strength to carry on and to be courageous enough to accept their guards and those who had locked them away and to give them forgiveness. Although, the inmates had earned much respect by some of the guards they had been wise enough to use their disadvantages to their advantage...no white many could enter a black mans toilet which is what the cave was. The tour was well worth it despite many people telling us we would not see anything because of the throngs of people but we would definitely recommend it to anyone else visiting the Cape.

Our third day in Cape Town was spent on our own. We headed to the market place to see what we could add to our large pile of souvenirs before finding some way of sending it back home. We managed to find many great things some made of wire and recycled cans and caps. After we were satisfied that we had purchased more than enough, to cover almost our entire house in treasures, we located a shop dedicated to us dedicated shoppers, that would send all of our stuff home for only one arm and a leg. We had decided that we would not use the post to send our stuff home as many people had informed us that if we did some of the workers might find that they rather like our possessions and would take them into their possession. At Excess Baggage we met a nice man who happened to actually paint many of the pictures at his mothers shop right next door. We treated them to a coke and were very rewarded by their niceness and were informed that as we had suspected we had been ripped off in the market. We had been told by one the shop workers that he and his brother painted all of the works. He even used the name on the painting to sucker us in and because it was the morning we had not walked around enough to discover that this name was on most of the paintings. Beware of those that say the first sale in the morning is good luck. This just means that they don’t want you to head to the competition and find out they are lying. Because of how nice the man and his mother were we managed to buy to two of their paintings and were given one which were immediately added to our huge pile of souvenirs and quickly packed away.

The evening was spent on Clifton beach, which is as the locals describe a very posh beach hidden below the mansions from above. There is three or four beaches nestled in between the rocks. We spent most of our time here snapping pics of us playing in the waves with the sun low over the water and reading. What a great way to end our day.

The last of our days in Cape Town was to be spent bicycling around Stellenbosch area on a wine tour. We had asked many times how we could possibly bike after consuming wine but we were told that it would be no problem. We were driven to an inner part of Stellenbosch and dropped off to begin our tour. We jumped on our bikes and were told if we wanted to get pictures we should stop because many people had tried while riding but had fallen in the process...we did it anyways. The ride only took about ten minutes and after the first leg we decided that our choice of bringing sandals on a bike ride was ok.

Our first stop was Lanzerac which was the only vineyard in the world that produced a honey liqueur. The setup was very nice and the wine was very good and properly spaced out. We had a great lunch and sampled five wines and one honey liqueur which only I ordered and even with the help of everybody we could not finish...no wonder it is the only vineyard to make it.

To our surprise and dismay the first leg of our biking trip was the last. I guess the driver figured we were too intoxicated to bike anymore. Despite how many times we had asked we had been told that we would be biking. The bikes became a souvenir on the back of the trailer for the rest of the day.

The second stop was a statue of Nelson Mandela which seem to be all over South Africa, illustrating his importance here. We then headed to Frenchoek to the Delmas vineyard. This stop was the end of enjoying wine because here we had limited time but our guide still told the taster (popeye lookalike) that we could sample eight wines which turned into nine in twenty minutes or less. I think most of us left feeling sleepy and a bit sore in the stomach. Fortunately, our last stop, St. Paarl, was combined with cheese tasting. We loved the cheese (Katie more than I) and Katie bought some nice gruyere cheese and cream cheese for our picnic to come.

We had worked hard in the morning to prepare food for a picnic at the beach after our day of wine tasting. Everything was going according to plan until I realized that we were a camera short. We called our tour driver and Sele said he had our camera and told us to meet him. So we drove to location one surprised not to find him there. We called and he had had to go rescue one of his colleagues whose vehicle had broke down on the freeway full of tourists. We spent the next hour and a half driving around and even twenty minutes camped out on the side of a very busy freeway waiting. It didn’t matter because at the end we got our camera. But my forgetfulness or at least lack of care, ruined our picnic. But at least we got to leave Cape Town with our camera in hand and several bags of souvenirs lighter. We had now discovered why Cape Town had been praised by so many people and were finding it hard to leave.