South Africa - 15 to 21 September 2013

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So it is time at last to start our journey into Africa and as our son-in-law, Geoff drove us to Dubai Airport the sun was coming up and there was a lovely view out over the desert. The roads had just started to get busy and we overtook a lorry and sat in the back was two Camels (mother and baby) - they were just looking around calmly at the desert sands (probably wishing that they were there) - as we passed all your could see were their heads peaking out over the top of the lorry - quite surreal.





So we were off but we nearly didn't leave Dubai as Paul was initially refused exit out of the country.......... I had gone through the passport security check no problem just before him only to turn around and see that he was not being allowed through....... He had to go to a 'little side room' and was asked where he had come from etc etc - he thinks there was something wrong with the entry procedure when he came into Dubai a month before as they seemed to think that he had not come into the country at all!!! After some discussion they stamped his passport and let him through which was just as well as I did not really want to travel to Africa without him! I had to stand and wait and hope that he would reappear - it seemed like ages but it was not too long and at least we did not have a long wait at the airport before boarding...........





After a ten hour flight, most of which was flying over the length of the continent of Africa we had our first glimpse of a cloud covered Table Mountain, which dominated the skyline in Cape Town which fits snuggling in its basin. The Cape Peninsula is a dramatic range of mountains penetrating into the desolation of the southern Atlantic Ocean. Often referred to as the "Mother City" the main heart of which is the Victoria & Alfred Waterfront with crafts markets, shopping malls, theaters and live music as well as plenty of places to eat. South Africa's historic emergence from the Apartheid era has created a country with eleven national languages and many more cultures and we could not wait to explore the region and its people.





We were picked up at the airport by a friendly driver who gave us heaps of information about the country before dropping us at our accommodation. The Cape Cadogan Hotel was in a prime location for city sightseeing. Sitting in front of a roaring log fire the receptionist explained to us what was on offer in ‘her’ city. It was strange after leaving 40 degree temperatures in Dubai and now we were so cold - I always thought Africa was warm! The receptionist said she said it was really cold at night so they would be putting a couple of hot water bottles into our beds!





After a good nights sleep and a huge breakfast we set off to explore the city. To get ourselves orientated we decided join an open top Red City Tour bus comprising 17 stops within the city which included the V&A Waterfront and Table Mountain Cableway as well as some of the coastal suburbs of Camps Bay, Clifton, Sea Point and Green Point. It was a cloudy day and although we could see the bottom of Table Mountain the top was covered in a blanket of cloud and it was a shame but it remained like that for the whole of the day and the cable car was closed which was probably just as well as there would not have been anything to see...... At the waterfront we wandered around this area stopping to have coffee and lunch at a small cafe - the food was excellent and the prices really good compared to the UK - wine is cheap to so good news all around - apart from the weather that is.







From the bus drop offs there was plenty to see and we were able to take in the rich history and heritage stopping at various museums and architectural talking points. The District Six Museum, Castle of Good Hope, South African Museum and St George’s Cathedral were all close by. We found the District Six Museum to be particularly moving and enlightening. The area which was named the Sixth Municipal District of Cape Town in 1867 was originally established as a mixed community of freed slaves, merchants, artisans, labourers and immigrants, and was a vibrant community with close links to the city and the port. By the beginning of the twentieth century, however, the process of removals and marginalisation had begun. The first to be 'resettled' were black South Africans, forcibly displaced from the District in 1901. In 1966 it was declared a white area and by 1982, the life of the community was over and 60,000 people were forcibly removed to barren outlying areas aptly known as the Cape Flats. Whole streets of homes were demolished along with shops, hotels and pubs - a whole community was uprooted and buildings demolished just to then abandon the land - one of the Mother City’s liveliest areas was now completely dead. The District Six Museum, established in December 1994, works with the memories of these experiences and with the history of forced removals telling many sad stories of its former residents. Even now in September 2013 the area is still looking pretty bleak, with the land still barren but we were told that after centuries of neglect District Six is now redefining its identity, lets hope so.





We stopped at the Chavonnes Battery Museum, Cape Town’s oldest cannon battery built in 1726. The heavily armed battery guarded Cape Town from attacks by the English and French East India Companies. In 1860, the cannon disappeared, only to be recovered during excavation in 1999. On the waterfront the Yellow Clock Tower is a historic landmark, characterized by Victorian-gothic style architecture and standing near the new swing bridge. Nearby in the form of a crescent with Table Mountain in the background were four sculptures of the Nobel Peace prize laureates. Albert Lithuli, who was a South African teacher and politician. Desmond Tutu, South African activist and retired Anglican bishop who rose to worldwide fame during the 1980s as an opponent of apartheid. FW de Klerk, who was the seventh and last State President of the apartheid-era South Africa and best known for engineering the end of apartheid, and supporting the transformation of South Africa into a multi-racial democracy by entering into the negotiations that resulted in all citizens, including the country's black majority, having equal voting and other rights. The last statue was of Nelson Mandela, known to most people all over the world. He was arrested and convicted in 1962 of sabotage and other charges, and sentenced to life imprisonment, he is often known as Madiba, his Xhosa clan name; or as tata (Xhosa: father). These four remarkable men fought for their beliefs, even during times of struggle and hardship. Each individual's preferred quotations are engraved, in their chosen languages, in front of the sculptures. The Peace and Democracy sculpture, nearby is a narrative work which acknowledges the contribution of women and children to the attainment of peace in South Africa - some extremely moving sculptures exhibited in the heart of this beautiful city.





Back at the hotel we chatted over canapés and drinks with a couple from UK and a couple from New York. There was a small honesty bar where you wrote in a book what you consumed but as there was no beer Paul asked the young receptionist for some draught ‘warm’ beer - she said they only had bottles and she actually went off and soaked a bottle in hot water for him!





Our last day at the hotel and the sun actually came out at last and cleared the blanket of cloud from Table Mountain and we could see it in all its glory - majestically standing above the city - hopefully we would get to go up to the top when we return to Cape Town in November. We decided to walk to the city and visit Charly’s Bakery made famous on the TV and Cape Town’s premier chocolate wedding cake bakery. It is in the District Six area and in a small brightly coloured painted pink and white building on its own behind a large carpark - a very strange setting. According to their website the story of the bakery all began with Charly, a 16 year old boy looking for work in a small desert town called Swakopmund (which we are to visit later). He swept the floor, made puff pastry, and washed dishes day in and day out under the stern guidance of the German Master Baker, until he was allowed to learn the cakes: classics like Black Forest cake and Sacher Torte. As with most good stories, there is woman, with long dark hair and a helluva cleavage who shows up and stirs the pot. Her entrance and their union, resulted in two beautiful daughters and a move to Cape Town. The bakery grew and became famous in 2011 but sadly Charly died the following year. On a blackboard in the shop there is a moving announcement which reads in part: ‘2012 and a time of great sadness came upon us. Our Tata Charly who brought us so much became ill and left our world but not our hearts............we miss our Charly everyday and continue to make the magic he created ..........we will meet you again.......somewhere over the rainbow.





After sitting in the sunshine outside the bakery sipping some delicious coffee I wish I had room for some cake but breakfast was only a little while ago......... We continued walking and ended up on the waterfront so decided that we would cross over to Robben Island, once “home” to some of South Africa’s most famous political prisoners, including Nelson Mandela. The Island is situated about five and half miles off shore. Dubbed “Robben” (“the place of seals”) by Dutch settlers, the island was declared a World Heritage Site in 1999, and over the centuries has been used as a prison, a hospital, a mental institution, and a military base. It is most famous for being a political prison during apartheid, an era of racial segregation in South Africa, when many of South Africa’s most prominent freedom fighters spent time here. Nelson Mandela spent 18 years of the 27 years he was imprisoned here.





The ferry crossing afforded wonderful views of the Cape and it took about 30 minutes to make the crossing. The island was a lot larger than we had thought and once there we boarded a bus for a tour around the main sites finishing at the maximum security prison itself. We were then guided around the prison and Nelson Mandela’s cell by a former political prisoner who relayed the history of the island, together with first hand accounts of prison life, which ensured a very personal and poignant tour. We visited the lime quarry where Mandela and his fellow prisoners did hard labour as well as stops at the Kramat (shrine) of Tuan Guru (a Muslim leader), the Lepers’ Graveyard and the house where Robert Sobukwe lived in solitary confinement for nine years. The island dotted with beautiful bright yellow flowers and there was lots of birdlife and we even saw two small tortoises moving around the lime quarry - not sure whether they were native or not. We also saw the Red-winged Starling which we had seen on the mainland, the male has mainly iridescent black plumage, with chestnut flight feathers, which are particularly noticeable in flight and the female has an ash-grey head and upper breast.



Back in Cape Town we passed the Town City Hall (1905) where on 11th February 1990, only hours after his release from prison, Nelson Mandela made his first public speech from the balcony. Nearby was the building where as South African leader between 1994 and 1999, he spent many years presiding over Parliament. Mandela led his party in negotiations that led to the establishment of democracy in 1994 and as President, he frequently gave priority to reconciliation, while introducing policies aimed at combating poverty and inequality in South Africa.



The next morning we left the comfort of our hotel and got a taxi to take us to a local Guesthouse where we were going to join our first safari. At the guesthouse we met up with five of our fellow travellers for the first time, Peter and Isobella from Poland, John, an Australian but long time living in USA, Catherine also from USA, Fabian from Sweden, first person who I have ever met with the same name as my father. Another Peter from Germany was going to join us later as there was a delay on his flight. Our guide and drivers were Albert and Chris both of whom came from Zimbabwe. Our accommodation for the next few weeks was parked down the hill from the guesthouse and on our first sight it looked just like a red fire engine so at least we would spot it from a distance. It had seating for 12 so there was plenty of space for us all. We spent the first day with the group on a tour of Cape Point but the weather was dreadful which was a shame as we were missing some spectacular scenery as we travelled along the Chapmans Peak coastal road. which follows the rugged Atlantic coastline with its towering mountains and white sandy beaches. Our first stop was at Hout Bay, an historical harbour and fishing point, overlooked by the impressive Sentinal peak. Some playful seals were swimming around the harbour and small market stalls were dotted along the waters but quite empty because of the bad weather we just dived into a nearby shop to keep dry.





The road hugged the near vertical mountain face as we continued to the Cape of Good Hope part of the Table Mountain National Park, a UNESCO World Heritage Site rich in floral biodiversity with the most common vegetation type called fynbos (fine bush). Fynbos is an ancient yet unique vegetation type and has developed over millions of years dating as far back as 60 million years. It consists of four major plant groups, Proteas, Ericas, Restios and Geophytes. Fynbos is a fire-dependent vegetation that needs to burn around every fifteen years to stimulate new growth and ensure that plant and animal communities remain healthy and indeed the park was covered in a healthy growth of plant life as well as as a number of animal including vicious Baboons.



We stopped to have a photo taken at the famous Cape of Good Hope sign before wandering along the rugged shoreline where the huge waves crashed against the rocks. We then had the option to walk up the cliffs and on to Cape Point which all in the group decided to do whilst Chris and Albert (our guides) drove the bus to meet us there for lunch. They said the walk should take about 30 minutes but it took a while longer mainly due to the climb and strong winds. It was sometimes quite a battle to just stay on the path without being blow over the cliff edge as the wind was so strong - the scenery was spectacular though and all around we were surrounded by colourful wild flowers. At Cape Point we took the funicular up to the Old Lighthouse but the rain and wind started to gust - you could see why this rocky outcrop was known as the Cape of Storms, due to the number of vessels that where shipwrecked along this stretch of coastline. After lunch we continued along False Bay, through the historic navy base and Simons Town before stopping at Boulders Beach to get our first glimpse of an African Penguin. This is the only penguin that breeds in the region, it is 60-70 cm long and weighs about 5 kg. It is an endangered species with the population fallen by half since 2004. Even though it poured with rain we saw a small colony nesting on the beach and along the sand dunes. Some young penguins were nearly fully grown so we were surprised when we saw an egg get washed out as a wave hit the nest. Before you could blink a Seagull scooped it up and flew away whilst the poor mother hopped around frantically - hopefully she would build her nest further up the beach next time - a hard lesson though.

The next day we boarded our ‘little red fire engine’ again and set off towards the Cedarberg Mountains, a rocky wilderness with sandstone boulders which have been sculpted by wind and rain into bizarre and artistic shapes. We passed through huge orchards of oranges and mangoes before pulling off the road but we found the route to our campsite was closed due to flooding so had to go around the long way which added another couple of hours to our journey. The scenery was spectacular and the landscape was carpeted with lovely flowers of brilliant yellow, orange, purple and soft pink. We continued north stopping for a picnic lunch and in the trees were a number of Cape Weaver bird nests hanging from the branches with the colourful yellow birds hovering in and out to feed their young. This small bird is quite large with a pointed bill and the male has a notable white eye.





The weather was still not good (is this really Africa) and we finally arrived at our first campsite alongside a raging river with tall mountains all around us and was that snow we could see on the tops - yes it was. The whole area was waterlogged but this is where we were going to camp for the night...........Chris and Albert gave us a demonstration on how to erect our tent, no easy task..... on the soaking wet grass. The tents we had in Australia were so much easier to put up but we all finally managed to have a roof over our heads but by now everyone was wet and cold and my feet were soaking wet! We had not brought our large hiking boots as we did not think we would need them but I would have paid a fortune for a pair right then........The plan was to set off for a walk up the mountain to see a spectacular waterfall which we could see in the distance but just as we were about to set off it started to hail and Chris said that it would not be safe to proceed. We were quite glad as I did not fancy a walk with wet feet and it was getting dark by now! Everyone helped erect a makeshift awning to the bus so that we could try and keep dry whilst we had dinner. Albert lit a fire but everyone ate quickly and got into their sleeping bags to try and get warm as the rain did not abate. Our first night under canvas and it was a very cold night as we had only brought lightweight sleeping bags, but we finally got to sleep in ‘five layers’ of clothes. (Rae - I wish we had bought a beany too). After a very cold wakeful night we awoke to more cold and rain, so had a quick breakfast before heading north and into Namibia hopefully it would get warmer, it is Africa after all - see you there.

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Comments

[Bronwyn & Alan]

Travels in Africa
Hi Guys - very much reminds me of our trip to Africa in 2008 although our weather was much better. Enjoy yourselves. Isn't the scenery in Namibia gorgeous and ever-changing? Flap those dishes!!