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Published: June 17th 2017
01 Breakfast
I am reading the tourist brochure at Mr Pickwick's while we waited for our breakfast.Geo: -33.979, 18.5102
This morning we got up early and headed out to find some breakfast on Long Street. We liked the look of Mr Pickwick's menu and the venue. There was no-one there, probably because it was early on a Sunday morning. After breakfast we walked along Long St. This place is so different than it was last night. All the weirdos must have been sleeping in. At the end of the street we walked along a block and then caught the bus to the Waterfront area.
It was about a 10 minute drive. We got off the bus at the Victoria Wharf Shopping Centre and had a walk through. We were mainly looking at souvenirs. When we walked out of the centre we came to the water. Further along we saw signs for a visitor information centre. In here we made plans to do a few tours - an afternoon visit to the townships and a day in the winelands region tasting lots of wine and not having to drive. The staff in here were very helpful. We choose to do the township tour this afternoon.
As we wandered about the Waterfront area filling in time until our tour, we
02 Breakfast
A hot cup of tea and their menu. came across Noble Square. It is a small area by the water with four large bronze statues and a sculpture completed at the end of 2005 on Reconciliation Day. The statues were built in honour of South Africa's four Nobel Peace Prize winners, a place for reflection and contemplation.
There is the most well known – Nelson Mandela, FW De Klerk, Desmond Tutu and Albert Luthuli. Nelson Mandela was a political prisoner on Robben Island for 27 years and a former South African president who jointly won the Nobel Peace prize in 1993 with FW De Klerk. FW De Klerk was a former South African president who started the process of dismantling apartheid. Desmond Tutu – an archbishop, who fought against apartheid and condemned violence, won the Nobel Peace prize in 1984. The last person is Albert Luthuli - a chief who joined the ANC political party and argued for a united, non-racial South Africa.
The sculpture is titled 'Peace and Democracy'. It acknowledges the contribution of children and women to the attainment of peace in South Africa.
From Nobel Square we could see a huge red statue. It intrigued us, because of its design and size. Between the statue and
03 Nobel Square
The square had the 4 statues of the Nobel Peace Prize winners and a sculpture. Nobel Square we came across the Robinson Dry Dock. Today there was no ship in there. It is oldest kind in the world and has been operating since 1882.
We crossed over the Bascule Swing Bridge to get a closer look at the red statue. As we got closer I could see that it was made of Coca-Cola crates and was created to encourage recycling. It was titled 'Elliot' and appeared here in 2010. To make him it took about 42,000 plastic crates and the height is just over 12 metres. The medals around his neck represent the medals that South Africa won in the 2012 Summer Olympic Games.
Rach and I spent the next half an hour looking at the souvenir shops. It was such a miserable morning, too much rain and it looked like the afternoon was going to be the same. At five to one, we walked to the Victoria & Albert Hotel and waited there for our tour guide to pick us up.
He arrived soon after in a little mini-van. There were only a few of us on the mini-van. The tour started with the history of the multiculturalism of Cape Town. We slowly drove through District
04 Sculpture
This sculpture is titled 'Peace and Democracy'. Six as he explained the history to us. There was a lot of information to take in. This area was occupied by Black Africans and under the 1923 Urban Areas Act they were forced to leave and live on the outskirts of Cape Town. Unfortunately the District Six Museum was closed today as it was a Sunday and there wouldn't have been any time to visit during this tour. It sounded interesting, so I hoped that we would have a chance to visit it during our stay.
We continued on and drove on the highway in an easterly direction for 11 kms. Our destination was the township of Langa. It is Cape Town's oldest township and means 'sun'. We drove for a little while through the township in our warm and dry comfortable mini-van and decided it would be a more real experience if we get out and walked among the locals.
Nearby we watched and then spoke to some ladies that were cleaning sheep heads to cook and then sell. As we slowly walked through the township we asked our guide many questions and learnt a lot about living here. There was such a diversity in housing and our guide
05 Statues
The four statues with Elliot in the background. explained that there are three types of housing in this township; fully serviced houses, hostels and informal settlements. The fully serviced houses were given to the residents during Apartheid to rent and once it ended they were given ownership. Hostels were built for single migrants, mainly men, these days they face problems such as overcrowding, crime and deterioration. Informal settlements are spontaneous buildings, made from scrap materials without regulation. They do not have water or legal electricity.
Our guide took us into a hostel. On the ground level is the communal kitchen. These days the hostel is occupied by one family in each tiny room. One of the residents was there and she was more than happy to show us where she lives with her family. It was a tiny room that held all their possessions. It was hard to take in and very eye-opening to see how these people live. I hope that the government soon assists in building more suitable accommodation.
We didn't mind getting wet by the drizzling rain as we walked around, because we knew that there is a warm and dry mini-van waiting for us. Back in the vehicle we continued driving around and observing
06 Quote
A quote by Nelson Mandela. life in the township. We then arrived at a very grim looking part of the township - it was the informal settlement. The houses here are so basic and don't seem like a long term solution or place to live.
We were then led into a shebeen. The shebeen was in a shack like building. There were about 6 men in there drinking beer. The local beer is made from maize and sorghum and looks like a milkshake as it is all frothy. It was served to us in a bucket and there was no way in hell I was going to try that. So many reasons, but mainly because I am very particular about who I share drinks with. Only one man in our group tried it and he said it must be an acquired taste. We didn't spend very long in there.
Back in our vehicle we continued driving around the township and saw the many churches, school, health facilities. Rach and I would have been very interested in visiting a school, as we are both teachers, but as it was a Sunday it was not possible. We also stopped in and visited a traditional healer. His
07 Me
I am standing in between Nelson Mandela and FW De Klerk. place was very interesting, lots of dead animal parts around. I do wonder if it was more for the tourists than the locals.
Our last stop for the day was another township, it was about a half an hour drive away. When we arrived in Khayelitsha just before 5pm we went straight to Vicky's B&B. Here we were greeted the owner - Vicky. She welcomed us in and took us upstairs to the lounge room and shared the history of her B&B as we ate vetkoeks and had rooibos tea. Vetkoeks are a traditional Africaans fried dough bread and can be eaten either as a savoury or sweet dish. It translates as fat cakes, probably because eating too many will make you fat! I like rooibos tea and the translation is red bush, also high in antioxidants. Vicky explained that her B&B started off as a one storey building made of wood and corrugated iron. It then became popular and they built a second storey. This place gives tourists a chance to experience the culture in the township.
Just after 6pm we were dropped off back in the heart of the waterfront area. We choose one of the waterfront restaurants
08 Dry Dock
Robinson Dry Dock - the oldest in the world. for tonight's dinner and drinks and then caught the bus back to our hotel.
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