Khayelitsha

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We rushed out of the house on Monday morning in order to make it to our Robben Island ferry on time. I was quite excited as last time I was in Cape Town I didn't go to Robben Island and I regretted it. This time I was determined to go. We got to the dock and lined up for the 10 o'clock ferry, only to be told once we got to the front of the queue (15 minutes later) that the ferry had been cancelled and could we please rebook our tickets. Sigh. The only available tickets would be for Thursday afternoon, our last day in Cape Town. Slightly irritated, we changed our tickets to this date. I am no less determined to see Robben Island so please keep your fingers crossed.

We headed to the Cape Town Visitors Centre for inspiration and discovered a whole lot of great things to do. We booked onto a Township Tour, then caught a taxi to the District Six Museum. Our tour would pick us up from this point but we had two hours to kill. The District Six Museum was quite interesting. It told the story of the thousands of residents of the area who were forced to move when the apartheid regime decided that the area was to be designated 'Whites Only' housing. Their homes were bulldozed and they were moved to the Cape Flats area. Until this day some of the bulldozed areas remain vacant.

After a quick lunch, we met our guide, Babi. Our drive in his van took us through the townships of Langa, Guguletu and Khayelitsha. We spent most of our time in Khayelitsha (population of 2 million), visiting a community centre, a lookout over the township, a braai (takeaway food), barber shop, homes and a shebeen. The community centre was set up to teach people valuable skills like sowing, woodworking or metal working. There was also a store which sold crafts made by the people in the local area and used the money for various community activities.

The shebeen was interesting. James ordered a beer only to be suprised that it only came in a longneck. We watched some of the guys playing pool and cards while speaking with the owner. He took us out the back of the building to show us his shed, in which he uses 'herbal' remedies to cure various ills (including a hangover - smart guy). This seemed to be a lucrative sideline for his other business.

The tour was quite an eyeopener, showing us that the townships are huge and although the government has started building houses (tiny, tiny houses) to replace the shacks that many people live in, there is still a long way to go.

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Photos

Cure for a Hangover
The owner of the shebeen showed us his herbal remedies for a hangover

Comments

[Martin]

aisee
aisee! hujambo? sijambo. You may need an interpreter. I am insanely jeleous from all your blogs. Next time you go to africa...i am joining you, even if i have to sleep on the end of your bed. Hope you well. Keep the updates comming as I think they're great. Best wishes. Martin