The end of the road

No matter how long you spend in any place, at the end you always run out of time. This was the case for my three-month stay in Cape Town. The last two weeks were an absolute whirlwind of activity. During that time I managed to cross some major goals off of my list. To begin with I finally managed to go into the Kyalitsha Township with Debbie Goetz. Debbie is a friend from camp who started a women’s support group in the township years ago. She used her nanny as her resource, as her nanny lives there and managed to make many friends and contacts. People that she regularly goes to visit. So I went along for one such trip and was absolutely blown away. When you drive along the highway, Kyalitsha appears as a massive, sprawling squatter camp of tin shacks. But inside it is a real community. Compared to the rest of gated Cape Town, Kyalitsha is the only place that one is guaranteed know their neighbors. Children play in the streets and everywhere was the sound of music and laughter. We visited on a Sunday and it was wonderful to see everyone dressed in their church best. We met several of Debbie’s friends, but one stood out to me in particular. Vivian is both street smart and has a university education. She has opened an orphanage and runs a soup kitchen that feeds over 250 people daily. By working with a private Swedish donor she has even managed to expand her project and renovate her home to include space for more children. She is incredibly warm and is definitely a go to person for anyone wishing to volunteer in the township. Her organization’s webpage is now a link.


Vivian outside her house


Sunday best


a child playing in the sand

Another thing on my list to do was hike up Lion’s Head Mountain. Jon and I had to make two attempts at this. The first time we tried we had to turn back as we started too late in the evening and it was getting dark. So we went again a few days later and it was absolute madness. It was the day after the lunar eclipse and so the mountain was popping with people waiting to see the moon rise. Everyone and their dog were there and I even saw one of my campers. Not wanting to get caught in the dark, we descended shortly after we hit the peak only to meet serious traffic. As we were coming down, hordes were still going up! Indeed you could see torches on the mountain well into the night. What a scene!


on top of Cape Town


Jon and myself at the top


Table Mountain in the back


re-fuelling

And finally, on the Monday, two days before I left I went with my granny to Robben Island. This is where Nelson Mandela and other political prisoners were oppressed during the fight to end apartheid. It was a fascinating tour and I only wished for more time in the prison to look at the artifacts and hear stories from our guide, who had himself been a prisoner there. He told us some shocking stories of injustice. For instance when his own father had asked to come visit him, the wardens went to the father’s house and shot him eight times; all for the non-existent crime of wanting to visit his own son. They deemed this ‘fraternizing with a terrorist’ and have not been reprimanded for this crime up to this day. They remain successful businessmen while our tour leader’s father was in a wheelchair for the rest of his life.


the lime quarry where Mandela worked


Mandela's cell

In the end it was difficult to say goodbye to the many friends I had made. I hosted a farewell tea to do so and am certain that I will be back in Cape Town sometime soon. Certainly sooner than the eight years between this visit and my last one!


farewell tea


Goodbye!

Yacht Racing!

Myles hooked Jon and I up big time and we got to go on a yacht in the weekly sail race. Our boat was called Thunderchild and we had once hell of a time racing around for 2 hours with the crew.

Here are some gorgeous shots from the ship.


View of Table Mountain


the race!


jon


the captain

The ‘They’re not the way they were’ Tour

Even though I’ve been now in South Africa since the end of November, there is still much of Cape Town I have not seen. To be fair, I did spend a considerable amount of time in Onrus and Hermanus for camp and afterwards went straight to Plett for ten days, however my Granny was rather unimpressed with it all. Therefore she rallied her ‘young friend’ Myles to take me on the ‘Orientation Tour’. Miles is a contemporary of my Aunty Lol and has been working for and with my Granny for years now. They get on like a house on fire. So we set out to see the sites. We started out at 8:30 am from my Gran’s house in Seapoint, on the Atlantic Seaboard and made our way to the Indian through False Bay where the two oceans mingle. First we drove past Muizenberg beach which back in the day was the absolute place to be. Myles said he used to take the train there all the way from town at age 14 with his surfboard, because it was just that safe. Nowadays he reckons you’d get mugged within an inch of your life; and so began the ‘they’re not the way they were’ tour. Things have changed a lot in South Africa since apartheid ended fourteen years ago, and like anyone else whose been witness to it, Gran and Myles have a lot to say about it. To begin with the current governing party’s presidential candidate is facing fraud charges. Then there’s the recent Eskom energy crisis has everyone here hopping. For it seems the Government did not pay heed years ago when it was warned that the energy systems needed to be expanded. Therefore today’s system is inadequate and there are massive daily power cuts in an attempt to load shed the overwhelming energy demands. The cuts are so heavy that the mines which contribute so heavily to this country’s GDP, can only use enough energy to safely maintain the mines. Therefore nothing is being extracted and no gold melted. People are also missing out on wages and the ripple effects of this disaster are untold.

Next we went to Kalk Bay for breakfast. We went to this little hole in the wall place called the Olympia Café that serves the most incredible smoked salmon omlette croissant. Their adjacent bakery is so divine that it’s just indecent. We popped into Fishoek beach next and then past Misty Cliffs to Scarborough. All the way driving along a panorama of stunning azure ocean views and pro kite surfers. Then we went to Scarforth and Boulder’s, which is home to the South African penguins. According to Gran this has been vastly commercialized. Afterwards we went to Simon’s Town for a lunch of fresh fish at Salty Dog. I had the Snoek. It was delicious. Then I bought a beautiful copper painting and we drove back to town over Chapman’s Peak, which has been slightly marred by unsightly and debatably efficient boulder-catchers. But which is still home to rip-tide seeking surfers. Next we past Haut bay, which to me is one of the most beautiful beaches. However Myles tells me that one can’t swim there as the disease-ridden runoff from squatter camps is deposited in those waters. Finally we drove through Camps Bay. Which in my opinion is like the Kits beach of Cape Town. You know, where people go to see and be seen. There Granny was shocked by the fact that her friend’s ex-next door had managed to get permits passed which enabled them to not only partially block her drive-way, but also made completely obsolete the stunning ocean views of the house directly behind it.

After expressing such opinions one might be misguided to think that my Granny and Myles do not actually like Cape Town much at all. But then perhaps you might have missed out on just how stunning the whole day’s adventure was. And how neither my Gran or Myles, both whom have traveled the whole world over, would rather live anywhere else. This is the fascinating paradox of this country, for it definitely has it problems and it’s future remains unpredictable. Yet it is one of the most beautiful places that I have ever been and a whole lot of people feel precisely the same.


Myles and Gran


just stunning!


penguins!

Dinner at Moyo

Last Saturday my Granny treated Jon an I to dinner at Moyo. Moyo is more than a restaurant, it is an entire indigenous experience. It offers authentic African music, sublime pan African cuisine and true hospitality rooted in the ancient cultures of Africa.

There are 3 Moyo locations in South Africa and the Moyo in Cape Town is located at the Spier Winery.

"In a garden where a 300 year old Oak tree stands as confirmation of Africa's greatness, moyo nestled itself amongst the surrounding tree tops in 2004. Tree house, gazebo’s and Bedouin tents created an enchanting African wonderland on the Spier Wine Estate. This 1000 seater sensory experience, with a buffet span of 25m soon became a 'must-see' on any winelands tour."

Needless to say we had the most incredible evening full of eating and relaxing. Thank you Granny Dor!


The 300 year old Oak


beautiful Moyo atmosphere!


entertainment


chilling by the tree