At the Tip of Africa

Let me just start by saying OH MY GOODNESS! Cape Town FAR exceeded my expectations. I'm already planning for my family to go back so they can experience how wonderful it is (be ready Mom, Dad, and Ian).

All the greatness had a rough start though. We were told that coming into this port would be beautiful and that we should be outside on the decks at 6 am so that we could watch the sunrise. My roommate and I woke up at 5:30 because we wanted to be ready with our cameras and a cup of tea. So when our alarm went off early in the morning, we sat up in bed ready to go...except the sun was already up and we were already in port. Oops. -10 points to SAS. Oh well. It was still gorgeous.

 

                                                                                                                                                Table Mountain covered by a table cloth of clouds

We started the immigration process at 7, but had to wait for the whole ship to be cleared before we could get off. By the time we got the all-clear at 9:30, we were all anxious to be out in the city. My first stop was the Victoria and Alfred Waterfront. I spent the morning walking around the mall and sitting by the water, just people watching. There was a belly dance show going on that was pretty entertaining.

After lunch, we made our way over to Long Street and the Greenmarket Square. The weather was absolutely gorgeous and we spent the rest of the afternoon exploring the area. We made it back to the ship in time for dinner and an early night in.

  

The next morning we slept in until 10 and then made a stop at a grocery store for some picnic foods. Then we made our way to the Table Mountain hiking path! Table Mountain is a flat-topped, 3,558-ft high mountain just on the edge of Cape Town. It's usually covered by clouds (the "tablecloth"), but the day we went had clear blue skies and the view of the city was absolutely breathtaking. We spent a while walking around before taking the cable car back down to the city.

view before the hike - at the cable car station

half way up!

                                                                                                                                                                    there's the ship                                                                                      the view from the top

 

That night John and I went out to dinner and a movie on the waterfront. We sat outside at an Italian restaurant overlooking the water and drinking South African wine - not too shabby.

We had an early morning the next day - we were picked up at 8:30 by a wine lord from a company called Wine Flies. Our tour for the day took us to 5 different wine estates in different regions, and our group was made up of people from all over the world. The estates we went to were mainly family-owned and most of their farming was natural; one even used ducks to eat the bugs and slugs from the vines rather than use insecticides. I learned a surprising amount about wine throughout the day (my team won the trivia game!). And we tried LOTS of different types - the day started with champagne and ended with port. My favorites were the pinotage and a sweet dessert wine that we tried at the first estate.

                                                                                                                                                                                            our wine lord

When we got back from the tour, we all went to dinner at a restaurant on Long Street where you cook your own meat. I ate ostrich, zebra, warthog, springbok, and kudu. I'm still not sure how I feel about it all...zebras are some of my favorite animals and the warthog just made me think of the Lion King. The ostrich was actually pretty delicious though.

My fourth day in Cape Town was spent on a SAS field program. We spent our morning on a tour of Robben Island. It's a natural island off the coast of Cape Town that served as a prison during the apartheid era. At the maximum security prison, tours are led by men who were imprisoned there. Our guide spent 8 years on the island as a political prisoner after being tortured for a confession and information. He was so inspirational - someone on the tour asked him if he harbored any anger for being treated so poorly just because he was black, and he said that the whole point of his political involvement was to ensure equality between all people so it would be counterproductive to remain angry about it. Our last stop on the island was the cell where Nelson Mandela was imprisoned for 18 of the 27 years he spent in prison.

  

                                                                                                                                                               our tour guide                          maximum security prison                      Nelson Mandela's cell

Next we took a bus to Langa township - the oldest in Cape Town. It was established in 1927 as a designated area for Black Africans to live before the apartheid era. We went to a restaurant there that a woman runs out of her home. She was one of the best people I've met - so funny and such a happy attitude about life. She talked to us about "time" and how ideas about it differ depending on where you're from. She made fun of us as Americans for living life by the watch and of the Swiss for creating a watch that only counts to 12 when there are 24 hours in a day. Then she served us lunch from a HUGE buffet with all different kinds of food while a band played us some great music. Really an amazing lunch.

When we finally finished eating, our tour guide showed us around Langa. He's lived there his whole life and his love for the community is so evident. The township was not at all what I expected. It looked like what I pictured, but the attitude from people was so different. The community was so strong and everyone looks out for each other. The tour guide told us that the children are allowed to go wherever they want and it's the responsibility of all the adults to look out for them. Everyone is so proud of where they come from and want to work to make it better. They still follow a lot of the traditions form the tribe they came from. Living conditions are crowded and not very sanitary, but the people are so happy. So inspirational.

                                                                                                                                                                                        our township tour guide      cooking "smileys" (lamb's head) - a local delicacy                        

The next morning we woke up and headed out to breakfast around 10. Then we went back to the market so I could get more African art - I might have enough to decorate a whole house now. But shhh no judgment. After I spent most of my remaining rands, we made our way to the waterfront mall to pick up some groceries. Then one last stop for gelato before heading back to the ship for a late lunch.

I have never been so excited to go through ship security in my life...because as soon as I turned the corner, there was Archbishop Desmond Tutu! How cool is that? He talked to the shipboard community about being good people and doing inspirational things. He has a lot of hope for us all and our ability to change the world, so that was pretty uplifting.

 

We are now on Day 2 of 12 of the Atlantic crossing on the way to Buenos Aires...the longest stretch at sea. Wish us luck.