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Sunset at Dune 45, Namibia
We climbed this dune to watch the sun set at the oldest desert in the world.. incredible. Capetown, South Africa and the beginning of the safari (April 25-May 7)
Capetown... it conjures images of incredible natural beauty and the hope of a new South Africa. But it also lives with the scars of being home to apartheid and the scorn of the world not but 20 years ago. I was incredibly excited to get there and could hardly rest on the flight but did hit the ground running, wandering around Long Street and down to the waterfront. One of the highlights I also did on the first day was to go to Tabletop Mountain for sunset, which showcased incredible views of the city and the oceans. From the top one can see not only the whole city and bay but the surrounding suburbs with their beaches and all the way down to the Cape Point where the Indian Ocean meets the Atlantic Ocean.
The most interesting day I had was when I went on a tour of the townships of Capetown and a sad look at the history of apartheid. I’ll take a minute to walk through the day as I thought it was particulary interesting and told some of the story of the struggles of
Capetown Township
These were created outside of the city during the apartheid area to forcibly move out blacks, a sad note on their history. South Africa. As most people know, through most of the 20th century, South Africa was dominated by a white oppressive government. Some of this dates back to the “discovery” of Capetown by the Dutch in 1652 and subsequent ruling by both the Dutch and British over the next 300 + years. The city of Capetown had been split in to 6 “districts” over the years, most for the whites, 1 for ‘coloreds’ (non-black) and District 6 for blacks. With the election of an Apartheid government in 1948 they destroyed District 6 and created ‘townships’ outside of the city for the blacks to live.. and they further made people carry identification cards- once again denoting black, colored (usually Malays or other darker skinned people) and whites- an ugly system of classification. And so the powerful white government systematically moved out all the blacks into these townships outside the city, 3 of which we visited that day. They’re extremely poor areas with multitudes of people living in very close proximity and only basic services. Hundreds of thousands of blacks currently live in these ghettos and struggle to improve their lives, which are marked by high unemployment, alcoholism and AIDS. However, with the
Township sprawl
The township is home to hundreds of thousands now, made up of various materials. new ANC government in place, there is a new push to improve living conditions and they are building more housing for these people.. but today it is bleak. It was a fascinating day for me as well as an eye-opener to the evils of the past. While Capetown is a beautiful, modern, European-looking city, it is so with the scars of the past years of apartheid and racism. Later that day I went to the Slavery Museum in the heart of the city, which contained quotes from leaders throughout the world calling for a social movement among the citizens of the world to recognize the labors of the many struggling souls throughout the world. I can honestly say it was a day that I will never forget- especially as along my travels I have laid witness to the hardships of honest people who work incredibly hard for the most basic dignities we take for granted.. can something be done in our world to make it more equal?
The heart of Capetown is similar to many European cities- modern construction, nice restaurants, pubs along Long St, beautiful homes and a developed waterfront of shops and restaurants.. although it was a
Bishop Tutu
"People are fundamentally good. We are made for love, for generosity, sharing and compassion, for transcendence. We are made to reach for the stars."
Captions like this lifted my spirits at the Slavery Museum and made me want to take action. bit odd to get used to them driving on the opposite side of the ride, like the British. We went out to see some of the nightlife along Victoria Waterfront and on Long St but not much as jetlag affected me and I was getting ready for our 21-day safari to start on Sunday, something I had been looking forward to for months.
The first week of the safari was the start of an incredible journey north from Capetown to take us through Namibia, Botswana and Zimbabwe. We took off with our crew of 8 along with our guide (Jo), driver (John) and cook (Mikey) in the Africa Travel Company truck, which had capacity for 28 but thankfully only had 9 with us. There were a number of misperceptions I had going in to the trip, the first of which was that I was not going to drink- impossible with Brits and Aussies on the trip.
Our first days we got acclimated to the trip- setting up to eat, putting up tents and driving on the truck, which handled well. I wasn’t sure what to expect with money, drinking water, sleeping conditions and the like but found it
Far way from home
This sign at the waterfront reinforced that I was about as far from San Francisco as I could be. to be much easier than I thought- Africa is now well developed, especially for overland tours like ours (we crossed paths with a number of tours like ours). The vistas were amazing as we headed north on the truck and I jogged at dusk, working off the good meals and living a dream about wandering through Africa. And with the moon was at a low phase, the sky at night was an amazing canvas of black spotted with an array of stars and galaxies as far as the eye could see.
The camps were great, with full accommodations and usually a small bar at which to meet other overland travelers. As we eased into the trip, we took canoeing trips, saw the deserts of Namibia and got to do tours with the local bushmen to understand their history and land. I was surprised at how well developed the little towns were, with paved roads, small stores and a general sense of development similar to a small town in Ohio.. charming. We ended the week in a coastal resort in Namibia called Swakopmund, which was a former German town and perfectly built for tourism. Among our options I chose to
Modern Capetown
At shot of the buildings of Capetown indicates how modern and new the cultural capital of South Africa is. quad-bike during the twilight hours, which was a blast. I also chose to go sky-diving for the first time of my life.. I can't begin to explain what an experience it was, an incredible rush down to the desert with a view of the ocean. I can honestly say I was not that scared going up and it was one of the most incredible adrenaline rushes I have ever had.
The first week of the safari went as planned, which I did not expect in Africa. I had met a bunch of great other travelers with whom to share the experience and looked forward to the next part in which we’d have much more interaction with the wildlife of Africa.
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Angie
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I did the same trip but started further north in Nairobi. What a great experience!