Capetown again...one last look

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Back in Capetown and on my own once again. The others continued on down the Garden Route - so jealous! Spent part of the day doing boring things like laundry etc. Had an entertaining visit to the Mozambique consulate to get my visa. Was really good just to walk around the city on my own. Went to an African Music Store, few antique shops and the District Six Museum.

The District Six Museum is dedicated to the memory of the people that used to live there. The area was demolished as a result of the Group Areas Act during the Apartheid Era which designated the area a "White Area." This resulted in the forced removal of thousands of black/asian people and the subsequent demolition of their homes. It was very sad.

Hung out a bit with the crazies in the hostel. Had a funny conversation with a couple of girls about how the demographic of the backpacker has changed. Of the people in my room, one was a corporate lawyer and the other two worked in management consulting at McKinsey. As the Dutch girl said "Gone are the days of the hippie backpacker ja?"

My experience of backpacking in Africa so far has definitely been different to that in say Europe for instance. A lot (not all) of backpackers here are tacking on travel to the end of their volunteer work or something in that vein. I have met canadian and german doctors training in African hospitals, a dutch lawyer teaching kids about their human rights, an american guy conducting a program in zambia for empowering girls through sport, people volunteering in National Parks, a guy from Norway building an orphanage in Mozambique, two Australian girls as a compulsory part of their optometry study have to work on the health train between Durban and Jo'Burg. I have met amazing people that are giving freely of their own time, normally at their own cost. So great to know there are still so many good people in the world!

Anyways, I gave Long St one last look and went to bed.

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