Cape Town March 2005

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I got back from my (short) trip to Cape Town last week and had a great time when I was there. Cape Town, still recovering from the dark days of apartheid, is totally separated, culturally, racially and economically, which became apparent to me only when I took a guided tour of the townships. The townships were set up to "house" the non-whites during the Apartheid seperatism and are basically sprawling shantytowns. Seeing the township and meeting the people of the townships is something every visitor to Cape Town should do, rather than confining themselves to the expensive suburbs, beaches and wineries enjoyed largely by white people. Before I went, I thought of this tour as extreme tourism, but when I was there I realised that the people, despite being really poor and unemployed, have built a community where they generally live in harmony with each other, it was good to meet them.


The day after I did my extreme tourism amongst the vice of the townships, I thought I'd try a bit of extreme sports, so I went off for a day along the coast for a surfing lesson in Big Bay, near Bloemfontein. This area didn't seem to have as many surfers as other beaches, but dozens of Kite-surfers who are bloody scary when they dart across the water. The instructor told us that they know what they are doing and have never collided with surfers, which didn't help. After spending most of the day being thrown around by the waves, I did, just about get the hang of surfing and was able to stand up on the board and surf a little. Unfortunately though when I was surfing in shallow waters, I fell off the board and slammed my heel into the compacted sand that caused a bit of pain for the last few days left of my trip.

Unfazed by this set-back, I bought a walking stick and still managed to climb (hobble) the 1000m up Table mountain. Something I couldn't miss out on, no matter how bad my injury was, it became a mission! The long walk up was certainly worth it as the views over the city, across the Indian and Atlantic Oceans and down the Cape Peninsular were spectacular. I bought the walking stick the day I visited Robben Island. This is situated about 5 miles off the coast of Cape Town and is where Nelson Mandela spent most of his time as a political prisoner. Having to hobble around seemed insignificant in comparison to the conditions the prisoners’ were subjected to, and it reinforced my opinion that Geri Halliwell had a real cheek to liken the spirit of girl-power to the struggle against the Apartheid regime!

Other trips out included a visit to a Penguin colony, 5* lunch in a Winery restaurant and a visit to the Cape of Good Hope, which is considered the most south-westerly point of Africa next to Cape Point where the two oceans meet. A lot of people visiting South Africa go on Safaris - I didn't. There were plenty of animals around, I saw Monkey's, Penguins, Baboons, Zebra, Ostriches, Kudu, Seals, Dolphins, dozens of weird birds including my favourite - the Blue-helmeted Guinea-fowl. But not a single shark!


Cape Town is a great place to visit, as it has such a diverse culture, a (shaded) history, and natural landscape for various activities, not to mention fantastic beaches and great restaurants. Definitely somewhere I’d go back to. Was a shame that my walking stick couldn’t help me blag a free upgrade to Business class for the flight home - it would’ve paid for itself then - but you’ve got to try it on, haven’t you?

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