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Cape Town, South Africa

So, it’s 11pm and 10 of us are lined up a metre away from a picturesque bar on the Orange River. A local is teaching us how to do a proper Springbok shot, also known as a springbok trying to get water from the watering hole. “Springboks have horns” he says, we all point our fingers above our heads like horns, with a slight bend in the back ready to pounce. Springboks look for lions he says, we all look to the left then to the right for leopards. Springboks bounce, we all bounce forward still with our horns pointed. Right before the springboks have ‘white bums’ came we attempted to have a delicious shot from ‘the water hole’ with no hands. Another S.A shot came Dave said, but it was past my bedtime and by the sounds of the lightening of shots on nipples I’m glad it was!

“A Random Thought #32: All of us have been downing the exorbitantly priced malaria tablets for the last month, yet there has been not one mosquito seen. I think mosquitos have shares in the malaria tablet company”

One day to go – 1 last day of tent up tent down, 1 more day of mattress on the floor, 1 more day of awesome food and company and the last day of an epic road trip from “Victoria Falls to Cape Town”:
This morning we had our first good bye. Our Kenyan driver Ben, who can change a truck’s suspension over lunch on the side of the road, cannot drive us to Cape Town. The South African government requires us to hire locals therefore our very awesome Kenyan chef Dan can’t cook for us either. He cooked about 21 soups for us ear with a different flavour every night! We hope next year Ben and Dan visit us all around Aussie. Dan could give me cooking lessons and Ben driving lessons in exchange for surf lessons – kidding. These two are so hard working and really fantastic guys. I hope they get a well deserved holiday.

With a new truck (literally, it’s a month old) and driver we cross the border into South Africa, it’s a normal border crossing but also a police record check. Immediately the vegetation has changed, still mountain ranges and vast land, but we see green shrubs everywhere. A colour that we have not seen anywhere for weeks. Just after the town of Springbok we pass the area of Namaqualand which is well known for flowers. Yip we have changed countries, quite obviously. Even the towns are far more developed than Namibia or Botswana. It was 6 hours into our drive before we saw any trees: heaps of greenery and mountains but no trees. When we stopped at the campground for the final night in the tent, we were all a little peeved that we couldn’t just keep driving for 3 more hours until we reached Cape Town. After we put tents up for the final time and headed up to the bar, at that moment we were all thankful we had stopped. The campground was smack bang in the middle of a vineyard. For $7 we did wine tasting around the fire, although it was pour your own wine I can still remember it was the best wine we have ever tasted. The beautiful wine cellar, turned bar certainly set a picturesque and perfect place for a dance floor. Another tour group was staying there also. For the five minutes we saw them it was so obvious that they were on day one. You can tell this by the way one dresses. They were clean and had handbags. Anyone that puts makeup on on an overland trip I’m sure is laughed at by the lions and hippos, who just don’t care. This came to mind as our group, who are at the end of either 45 days (from Nairobi) or 21 days (from Vic Falls), were dancing away in the wine cellar to the best of 70s &amp; 80s music in our trekking boots and dirty trakkie daks. I had the absolute best time of my life. They even played Run To Paradise! On a side note, I was telling Hailey that back home I have enough clothes to wear for 4 months straight, countless pearl necklaces and 50 pairs of heels. Her response to “Julia on an overland trip” was priceless. “Really I wouldn’t see you as that type of person”. And that’s what I love about these types of trips!

ARRIVAL DAY – a bed – a shower – clean clothes – I may even look like a lady for the first time in a month:
I remember writing yesterday that South Africa is so green…. Well that’s because it rains! 4am in the tent the rain started, and it was still raining at 7am when we were putting down the tent. For the last 3 weeks in Botswana and Namibia there hasn’t even been one cloud in the sky. In fact we haven’t had rain since Hong Kong. Super thankful the breakfast is included up in the restaurant – so no flapping in the rain. After 3 hours under sleeping bags, hung up in the truck we arrive into Cape Town.

So the question is, would we have done it any other way? No way, those experiences and things we have seen far,far out way the inconveniences of living without modern comforts. In the mirror I look unrecognisable, yet I feel completely myself. Plus, you don’t realise what you miss until it’s gone – I will miss sitting around campfires each night over a posh restaurant any day.

Now the tour is over, we are on our own. We have 3 full days to explore Cape Town before we farewell Africa. So here goes:

Im unsure how words can describe a day like today.Whether right or wrong or anything in between all I can write is the world through my eyes.
As in most towns, we jumped on the Red Hop On Hop Off bus. Except, as per always we had no time to hop off. So very much from the eyes of the roof of this bus we saw the most beautiful city we have ever been in. I was worried about the safety side of Cape Town but it is not JoBerg! Cape Town is a town which has it all. It has the Sydney Harbour or Auckland Viaduct at the V&amp;A Waterfront but with so much more beauty and personality and the size of 180 rugby fields. It’s no wonder its South Africa’s number one most visited destination (over Kruger N.P) with 23 million visitors annually. Its got the beaches at the city’s doorstep. All four beaches, one for each personality: for the locals, for the younger generation, for the pretty people buff body builders, and one for the families. It’s got the millionaires coastline of stunning, restaurants bars and mansions. It’s got the small town feel yet it’s big enough to spend hours wandering and boutique coffee shops. It’s got the amazing mountain range secluding the city, Table Mountain, Lions Head and Devils Peak. Right in the heart of the city, ‘the guide coming from our ear phones’ shocks me when she says the Strand used to be waterfront, now it’s in the middle of the city. Similar to Holland, the town was built on reclaimed land from the ocean, 400ha in fact. With a city this perfect it’s nearly possible to miss the signs of a dark past. The racially separated amenities, District 6 and the slave lodge are pointed out. On face value of what you can see and where you choose to look, it’s not hard to see why it’s ranked one of the most beautiful cities in the world and has been ranked number one city to visit.

As contrasting as black and white or the flipping of a coin, we started the afternoon tour. A tour of the Township, Langa. There are some townships in outer Cape Town that I’m told police won’t go into, let alone tourists, but this one, Langa, with a local guide was fine to walk around openly. To gain an appreciation of the situation first hand we started at the start. District Six is an area in the heart of the city. Prior to 1901 District Six was a community situated in prime real estate. It was made up largely of coloured residents who included a substantial number of coloured Muslims, black Xhosa residents and a smaller numbers of Afrikaans, whites, and Indians. From my understanding the government used the outbreak of the bubonic plague in 1901 as an excuse to forcibly remove the first people from District Six. As the City and population of District Six continued to grow, the municipality did not provide adequate water and refuse facilities. Roads were left to deteriorate and landlords took little interest in the maintenance and upkeep of their houses. The government used this neglect to refer to District Six as a slum to justify the removal
s based on race.
In 1950 the Apartheid government passed a law which forced people into racial grouping. They also passed a law, the Group Areas Act, which made it illegal for people of different races to live in the same area. In 1966 District Six was declared a “whites only” area. Between 1966 and 1980 60,000 people who lived in District Six were forcibly removed and the houses and shops bulldozed to the ground. The government wanted to remove all evidence of District Six, except for a few religious symbols. District Six was one of many areas around Cape Town which had settlements split up. Family and friends were split up by a pencil on their head test to determine if you’re black or coloured. If the pencil rolled off your hair it would determine your colour / race (this was one of many ways). You would then be given your ID pass with your race identified accordingly. So these people were sent to one of 50 odd townships which were created as living areas for non-whites. The Langa township is one of the townships we visited today that sticks with me the most. My first feeling was one of invading these people’s privacy. Driving through, taking pictures as if they are animals in a cage. When he stopped and said “get out we’re now walking”, I then went to being scared, but at ease when I knew these people where ok with us for three reasons: they are happy we want to learn about them by talking to them not just through a lens and the other reason is 30% of our tour price goes into community projects which is run by one of their own who lives inside. Although it’s been many years since the law was abolished and people can live wherever they like, the reality is they cannot change their life overnight or their living conditions or culture. It will take many years of education, knowledge and money and even then there will be problems along the way. We got dropped off outside a place where they were cutting up sheep’s heads for food. You can tell that we have been travelling a while when you don’t even notice the sheep’s head is being steam cleaned but Mr Louis Vuitton shoes who was on our tour certainly did!
There are many hostels or flats in the townships throughout Cape Town. They were originally for the black or coloured workers, then for their families as well. The one we visited had 5 rooms, one bathroom, one kitchen for 16 families. So each room, the size of a normal bedroom, has 3 families, each with 3-4 people on one single bed. This is an unbelievable fact, until we sat on the bed and talked to a man who is living there, on one single bed with his wife and two kids. I will never forget that. Slowly, over many years on the waiting list they will get relocated to a slightly bigger house. He has been in that room for 19 years….
We saw what many have done in a desperate hope for privacy and that is living in homemade slums. Still 14sqm but it’s their own. The problem with this is the threat of fire and flooding. No floors, leaky wood or tin roofs with non legal electricity. There are millions of people living this way. When handing out apples to the kids, I couldn’t help but think of the children back home. I have never seen kids run for a free apple or patiently waiting their turn in a line, desperate for food. 81% of a survey reported insufficient food and 70% reported hunger.
On to the visit to the kindy, another place that touched my heart. To sit and be cuddled by these beautiful little children who sang us a song about education and how it will provide them with a future. Schooling and food while at school is free for South African kids, however there is a 29% drop out rate and something like another 30% will have aids or teenage pregnancy by the time they are 16 – so why is this the case? Why is it that 98% of people with HIV have been educated about it and free comdoms are everywhere? Why? There is also free accommodation for those at their poorest in S.A, even though it’s in a shoe box. No monetary pension is given to the unemployed. Our local guide said the problem is if you give money to some people, they may spend the kid’s food money on booze, you give them a job it will last a week before they quit.There’s gangs, drugs and family violence so what is the way to fix this? He seemed to think it was fixing the morals. I can obviously see the issues they are facing but at least it’s in harmony with equal rights now. Maybe the answer lies with a non corrupt government, who I’m told are the one stuffing their pockets.
For locals that I have spoken to, I can tell the past is the past and they have well and truly moved on. Every person has a different story and perspective to tell. I have not lived in this country or experienced these difficulties, therefore it’s not my right to judge or make assumptions. All I can do is write what I observe and hope for a happier future from a dark past. I will never categorise. Those children I met don’t deserve that. My observations of the day and deep thoughts were summed up by one: Dave and I went on a date tonight to one of the most exquisite tapas bars in Cape Town. As we sat there drinking a fine bottle of red around the fire place I couldn’t help but look around and notice people enjoying finer things in life, yet in the townships today, this very day, people are living in squalor. There seems to be the very wealthy and the very poor. That says to me, there is some way to go for a better, happier future for the kids of tomorrow.

Our next venture out was to Cape Point and Cape of Good Hope. The two Simons and us hired a private driver for the day to take us out to the peninsula and out to the penguin colony. The drive out past Cork Bay and Simons Town reminded me Port Charmers Dunedin. On the way back driving along the coast line was like the Great Ocean Road Melbourne. I loved the little fishing villages with seals swimming around through the moored fishing boats. There are hundreds of bays around the coastline of Cape Town and even more mansions with pristine views lining the hills. I have actually never been to a city with that many large beautiful houses. I found it hard to appreciate its beauty after seeing how the other half live. 12 people in one bedroom is not uncommon for hundreds of thousands – yet hundreds of thousands have mansions with many bedrooms that could house so many. I’m on my high horse again.Back to today. We walked up to Cape Point which is where the Indian Ocean meets the Atlantic. Some say you can see where exactly, but the only thing we saw was whales. My body the following day (today) tells me we also did the hike across to Cape of Good Hope, the southwestern tip of Africa and famous for its wind. With no hand rails and one hell of a strong wind we made it to the look out point.
What better way to end our trip to Africa than a night out dancing with the people from our trip who still remain in Cape Town. A fantastic night out and I’m ok with the fact that all tours today, our last day, have been canceled. It’s Day 99 today for us and we have had only two ‘Virtual Sundays’ of no sightseeing since we started this, although it’s only half a day as we fly to London this afternoon for an overnight flight. Due to the weather conditions I can’t get to Robin Island (Mandela’s former Prison) and Dave’s shark diving is cancelled and the cable car at Table Mountain is closed for maintenance.

Africa is a place we have made a promise to come back to. South Africa is a must. There is this amazing lady who manages the hotel we are staying in. I have spent hours chatting with this woman. Warm and mum like, she reminds me so much of Carol Taylor. She even has the same mannerisms that I love about Carol. The locals have the same characteristics and values as so many of our South African friends. They are ridiculously helpful, go out of their way to lend a hand, that’s our friend Adriaan to a tee. They are intelligent, kind and caring like our friend Brad. We love these friends of ours and it’s amazing to see a country full of people like this.

Travelling is like a Pandora’s box, once you start you want to see more, find
out more and experience more. I haven’t felt as if I have fully understood South Africa and it’s people yet and it’s one of those places that will stay with me for a long time to come.

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