Lookout Deck

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So I'm about 2 weeks into my 6th or 7th trip down to Cape Town, luckily the folks have a holiday home and have no problem shelling out for flights! Was chilling out in the Lookout deck down by the harbour in Hout Bay, just having a few beers while the kingklip dinner settled. One thing struck me about the place, there's something very neo-old-world about, gave me a real colonial vibe. I'm writing this so long after because I just read 'North of South' by Shiva Naipaul, and he pretty much describes the hotels and their bars as being the last bastion of the settlers. Well I got this vibe from the Lookout. A band was playing, well one guy with a guitar and a drum machine, and everybody was up dancing, mainly old folks and 100% White. This was a couple days after the election, Zuma was just elected, a man that has roundly been condemned and demonized by some in the white community, and also claimed that Afrikaners were the only 'true' white Africans. And there these people are dancing to some clapped out American 80's rock. Kinda struck me that whoever is in power, it won't blatantly affect their lives, the DA reigns supreme in Cape Town. The only people of colour in the restaurant were the waiting staff and barmen, even though it just borders the 'Coloured' area. Made me think that Cape Town is still just as divided and conservative as the rest of the country.

Anyway after that I went down to the Hout Bay local, a nice bar called the Workshop, I know alot of the people down there from being an irishman frequenting it, and it's one of the most welcoming places if the locals don't recognise you, pretty sure there's nowhere in Ireland which would even compare. Great thing about it though is that it's almost completely openair, so you can enjoy the smell of the sea and the warmth of the air. Supposedly it's the smallest pub in Africa, but I reckon shebeens are smaller.

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