CAPE TOWN (11-16 November 2007)

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Arrived in Cape Town Sunday morning (11 November) and spent my first day with my great Uncle Les who I've only met a couple of times before. He drove me around the centre of Cape Town and showed me where all the tourists head to down at the Waterfront. Cape Town is a busy but beautiful city, sunny but quite windy too. The sight of Table Top mountain looming so large over the city is so much more incredible than you would believe from the photos.

Les dropped me off at his daughter Judy's house where I would be staying for my first few days. I haven't ever met this side of the family before (except her son Nick who spent some time in England) so it was quite strange at first but they made me so welcome. They presented me with a Springbok Rugby cap and made a few cracks about the final but they weren't as bad as I was expecting given that they are all mad rugby fans!! They cooked me up my first "brai" (or BBQ) on Sunday night with plenty of "Boer-worst" (really tasty farmer sausage). They live in Blouberg which is right across the other side of Table Bay to the City Centre and it seems so much more laid back. Theres some awesome beaches, nice apartments and holiday homes...it's just a lot less busy than the City...but they have the best of both worlds because the city is onlya 20 minute drive away.

Jono (Judy's son), who is about my age, agreed to act as Tour guide for my time in the Cape and we actually got on really well. It probably helped that he is about as big a fan of rugby and sports in general as I am so we always had something to chat about over beers. We got up early and headed straight for Table Mountain while the weather was good. Everything out here is so dependent on the winds...if it blows one way its warm and dry...if its blows the other it turns hideous!

Table Mountain was cool...we got the Cable car up to the top because Hiking up it looked a little too hard! The views from the Top are pretty spectacular as you can see. Table Bay is so much bigger than I expected...and then over the other side of the Mountain is a whole other side to Cape Town that I hadn't realised was even there - Camps Bay and Clifton - both very smart looking and expensive areas dominated by the English.

On Monday afternoon we drove back to the Waterfront which is really well developed and very touristy. There's loads to do and see down there...always some group or other playing African music, dancing or limbo-ing under flaming poles! Me and Jono went to the Aquarium which was actually very cool...I didn't realise how dangerous some of the fish round here are...some even have to be kept in special tanks on their own because they can crack the glass of normal tank!! Maybe I'll think twice before going for a swim at the beach!!

On Tuesday I headed out on my own and caught a big open top sight seeing bus round the city which was great because you can just hop on and off as you please. I went to the Castle and all the big museums, including the District 6 Museum which is quite moving and really makes you think about just how bad life was during the Apartheid...some of the stories there are really quite shocking. I had lunch in a restaurant in Camps Bay (other side of the Mountain) overlooking the sea and the beach...it's really quite a beautiful place considering it's such a big city!

That same evening I met up with Jono and caught the ferry to Robben Island (big prison on an Island near Cape Town where Mandela and lots of other Political Prisoners were kept during the years of Apartheid). Our guide was a young guy who had lost his father during that time and so gave a very passionate and moving speech about racism and how there is still so much of it going on in the world and that we cannot simply stand by and let it happen again. We did the mandatory trip (with an ex political; prisoner as a guide) to see where Mandela broke the stone in the quarry and filed past his tiny cell where he spent 18 years of his life. It's an interesting trip and one which you feel you have to do whilst in Cape Town but afterwards you couldn't help but feel that all the information given to Tourists at the museums and Robben Island is very biased. For example the ex-prisoner showing us round claimed he was arrested for simply being "active in Soweto"...but when pushed further had to admit that he had been sent to training camps in Germany to receive guerilla warfare training and that when he was arrested for being "active" he was in possession of a huge amount of ammo and guns. That actually means he was little more than a terrorist...albeit fighting a very evil regime...but the point remains that they tend to skip over the fact that "comrades" such as him actually bombed innocent people to get their point across. Its also quite funny how they openly call each other "Comrade" yet strenuously deny they were trained by or supported by Communists....

On Wednesday I had my final lunch with Judy and Jono...really glad I've met this side of the family as they are all so friendly and welcoming. It's a shame I cant spend more time with them in Cape Town but I was keen to move on. But before I left for the hostel I had one more exciting trip planned (see the next entry).

After moving into the Ashanti Hostel in Cape Town on Wednesday night, and a pretty heavy night down Long Street (main party street in the Cape) I was up early on Thursday for a trip down to Cape Point. We stopped off in Hout Bay to catch a ferry to see 20,000 seals and stopped in Boulders (near Simon's Town) to see a Colony of very cute Jackass Penguins on the beach. We had lunch at Cape Point overlooking the sea (where the two oceans meet), hiked up to the lighthouse for a spectacular view and then walked round the bay to the Cape of Good Hope...the most South Westerly tip of Africa. Spectacular views and the whole area is a nature reserve colonised by Ostrich, Baboons and loads of other animals so it's quite nice to walk around.

There's a really cute story about Simonstown in WWII. Basically there was this huge great dane dog that lived somewhere in Cape Town (no one knows where). And every day he used to catch the Train (by himself) all the way from Cape Town to Simons Town, and have fun with all the Sailors riding the train. They all really loved him and he used to go out drinking with them all night and then catch the train back home whenever he fancied. This went on for years...but eventually the train company got fed up with this huge great dane taking up three seats on the train and started kicking him off at every stop...but he would just wait on the platform for the next train and sneak his way back on. The Sailors hated this and so decided to see if they could do something about it...so they tried to raise money to buy him tickets for the train so he couldnt be kicked off but couldnt raise enough....so they thought and thought and eventually some bright spark came up with an idea....Sailors ride for free on the train...so they enlisted the great dane in the Navy!!! When asked for his name...they said "oh he's just a nuisance"...so there you have it...check the history books....ABLE SEAMAN JUST. A. NUISANCE...he even got a uniform and a hat to wear! And for many years after Just A. Nuisance rode the trains each day with his Sailor friends and there was nothing the train company could do about it!! In the years to come Just A. Nuisance settled down and believe it or not had a full wedding (paid for by the Navy) and sired many more mischievous dogs. When he died many years later...he received a full military burial attended by every sailor in every level of authority in the whole of Cape Town. What a legend!! There's even a huge bronze statue of him in the Town square!!

I finally left the Cape on Friday morning after a very late night down Long Street with a Kiwi, an Irishman, two Danes and welsh girl....some interesting cultural differences...but strangely everyone seems to enjoy drinking!!

Had a fantastic time here and will definitely be coming back to vist the family sometime soon.....but I left on the Baz Bus really excited about the rest of my time in SA!!

Next Stop Hermanus...to see some Whales!?!

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Photos

The Waterfront
View over the Waterfront to the spectacular Table Mountain

Blouberg Beach
Uncle Les shows me my first beautiful SA Beach

Stretch the Tortoise
Judy's hungry little tortoise

The Cable Car
Table Mountain...the easy way.

Table Bay
Beautiful....

Cape of Good Hope
The most SW point of Africa

Comments

[Alex]

cheers mate
Cheers Dan, Let me know when you do the smoking crack and sleeping with Thai 'hostess's' part of travelling, its an absolute 'must-do' when you get to Asia! X

[Alex Neale]

Awesome!
Ok, AMAZING pics! and that story about the dog (see i did read it!)is right up my street! looking forward to the next installment.. looks like youre having an amazing time! take care out there and enjoy yourself... very jealous... thisis once in a lifetime stuff!! i bumped into ben thomas on teh tube yesterday morning which was random! im attempting to steal him out of his job at RBS... mwu haha! miss u, come home soon! kisses, Al. xx

[matt]

really enjoying reading these, sounds like your having a great time- im am incredibly jealous. keep it going and enjoy it!