Saturday, Oct 2.
Arrived in gorgeous Cape Town very early in the morning before sunrise. Too early to get up to watch the arrival.We had an early diplomatic briefing which scared us all . Highest crime rate in the world, " You think its a first world country until you scratch the surface and you find it is very much a third world country","don't go alone anywhere". "always go in groups""hide your camera, don't look like a tourist, be careful", credit card scams, muggings etc etc. We wondered if we should get off the ship. But it was a beautiful day, and as soon as we landed, the city is so clean and beautiful and looks so benign that we forgot all about the warnings!
A day to go to Table Mountain. Three of us took a cab to the cable car. What a view!. We could see 360 degrees from the mountains in the west through downtown Cape town and then down the peninsula to to the Cape of Good Hope and around up False Bay. Absolutely fantastic. I hope I got good pictures. Haven't had time to look at them yet. This tripis a must for anyone coming here. Table Mountain is named because it looks like a table, but also because it gets a tablecloth of mist almost every afternoon. It also gets very high winds and is very often shut down.
In the evening we went to the gorilla theatre in District 6 for and evening WOZA. District 6 is the area in which in the 70's during apartheid, the government decided that only white people should live here, so they removed all the colored, black and asian community to various parts of the outlying districts of Cape Town called ''CapeTown flats", a bare and sandy area where little grows. There was no adequate housing,it was miles from transportation and had no infrastructure. They just dumped the people there. The whole area of the district was then bulldozed so that there was no return. A couple of churches(like the catholic and baptist who had international connections) were
left. This is prime real estate but it has never been redeveloped because there was too much protest. The theatre was very good, told the stories of three of the residents with dance, story and music. We had a delicious dinner of antelope, crocodile etc. stew and hamburger.
Sunday,
I had signed up for this trip because it was supposed to go to Robben Island (where Nelson Mandels was incarcerated for 27 years)but the ferry was broken so instead we went to the District 6 Museum. a tour of the city, and a Township.
Last year, when I went to a Township, we went with a local guide and saw some horrible conditions (three families to a bedroom, no water etc.) This trip was a very sanitized version of the Townships. We did not get out of the bus until we came to our restaurant, and did not go anywhere near the squatters areas. We did see however, the positive side of the Townships which demonstrated the resilience and energy of these black communities . The restaurant was a concrete building which had been added onto bit by bit. It was not very large, just room enough for our group. Very clean, very nicely decorated. A local band played for us. The lady who had made it told us her story. She worked as a maid in the 50's or e60's for 40. rand a month (about $5.00)and one day she came across a receipt for wine and cheese for the household for 40 rand. She said to herself "I am worth more than a piece of cheese and a glass of wine" She got another job in addition to starting night school and over the years began to build onto her house. She started various little businesses selling secpmd hand items and went to cooking school. She now has this restaurant, which won an award for the best ethnic restaurant in Cape Town plus a small gift shop with local art work. Locked iron gates guard the premises and she let us in and out. An amazing lady.
Tuesday. A day of rest. Went to the Mall (just like a US mall) and bought a new toothbrush. I was very tired from the first two days.
Wednesday.
Went on the Cape Peninsula Tour. We drove south to the Cape of Good Hope and around the peninsula to come up the other side of table mountain. The scenery is indescribable (at least by me!) Great mountains rising out of the ocean. Picturesque little villages. Bishops Corner, the "old money" part of Cape Town. Very upscale areas and miles of lovely beaches. A mediterranean climate with lovely bright spring flowers. A place one would really like to live. A place to die for. Much nicer than La Jolla or S. Calif but then, once again, men sitting at the side of the road trying to get a day labor job Here an there a Township too far from possible employment for people to get to work even if they were able to find employment.
Thursday.
This was the day we were supposed to go Great White Shark cage diving. It dawned cloudy, windy and nasty. Diving was cancelled I had mixed feelings about it. I really wanted to go, but on the other hand I was afraid of getting cold or not being able to get into the cage. As it turned out, some people did go the next day and froze in rough seas and did not see any sharks. I spent the day recuperating again, and went to the modern dance African version of the opera "Carmen" produced by Michael Williams ( our spring preport lecturer, and director of the Cape Opera) at the University Theatre. Very good with a pre-performance lecture by Michael and a delicious spread of wine and hors d'oevres.
Friday
Went to Stellenbosch with the SAS trip. Another place to die for. We had been here briefly last year but had not had time to look around. Stellenbosch is a University town with old Dutch and Victorian buildings ,tree lined streets and quaint shops. I think everyone felt immediately at home here. If I were going to a college, this is the place I would choose to go for good feeling. Later we went forwine tasting to the Neetlingshof Winery in another lovely setting of gardens, lawns, vines and view stretching over the valley to the mountains beyond. I bought some wine. Later, back on our dock, we went to lunch at a fancy restaurant in the mall, I bought some Christmas presents and we returned to the ship in time to leave for Mauritius. Again, I think all of us felt that we had not had long enough in this beautiful but tragic place.
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