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Published: June 22nd 2016
It’s been 6 months since I’m back in Curaçao and I’ve been quite busy...and also quite lazy to be honest. Therefore it took SO long to publish this entry.
We were in Coffee Bay and got an invitation to stay at a house of Greg’s uncle in
Chintsa. We took the Baz Bus and met Greg. We had to walk across the beach towards the house. Nydia had a large suitcase which Greg carried it all the way to the house. It was a though walk with all the luggage but we made it. The house was nicely located with a nice view over the ocean. We had a wonderful two days there with Greg, Alex and Franziska (both Germany) and Hilde (Finland). We ate, drank, danced, chilled at the beach etc. Chintsa itself is a village with barely 2000 people and there isn’t too much going on there except for the beautiful coastline. The weather was either rainy or cloudy while we were there, except for the day we arrived. Greg is one of the coolest persons you’d meet and is friendly to everyone; he became like a little brother to Nydia and I. Nydia wanted to go
to East-London next because there is a lion-sanctuary nearby which has cubs (baby-lions). We decided to move on.
East London has about 300.000 people. The hostel we stayed at was located right at the beach which was really nice! We asked information about the lion sanctuary and were told that the sanctuary wasn’t open during those days. It was a pity since that’s the reason we stopped in East London. We had bad luck because the Baz Bus wasn’t running that day and we had to spend two whole days there. The weather was crap during almost our entire stay which didn’t help much. We went for a short walk into town, one of the few times it was dry, and spent most of our time chatting with people at the hostel or playing pool. Especially two of the employees, Sisanda and Stera were really nice. We learnt that the next Baz Bus was full and I immediately started looking for alternatives because I didn’t want to spend two more days there. I booked a bus for later that night but had to pay when boarding. When Baz Bus came in the evening, luckily enough they had two
spots so we rushed and boarded the bus. We went to Port Elizabeth just to spend one night and then take the bus again the next morning.
We continued to
Plettenberg Bay. Because of the rush when leaving East-London, Nydia forgot her purse at the hostel there. We called the employees and arranged with Greg to pick it up for us. Greg was going to Jeffrey’s Bay, one stop before Plettenberg Bay. He gave it to another passenger who brought it to our hostel.
Plettenberg Bay has about 35 000 people and is part of the so called Garden Route, which is most of the southern coast of Western Cape. Many South African students were staying in and around Plettenberg Bay and partying because it was the end of the schoolyear and most hostels were fully booked! We found a hostel up on a hill, far from town which sucked! We didn’t do anything that day and the next morning we got a ride with a guest to town. We checked-in at another hostel and then walked through town a little bit. It’s a small but nice town and the beaches look pretty nice too. Nydia wasn’t
feeling well so she remained at the hostel for most of the day. In the afternoon I went to do some kayaking, starting at Central Beach and paddling all the way to the middle of Robberg Beach and back. Not far out of Plettenberg Bay they have one of the highest bungee-jumping sites in the world but I couldn’t be bothered. I decided to visit the Robberg Peninsula to do some hiking while Nydia explored town instead, since she’s not a big fan of hiking. The Robberg Peninsula was definitely worth a visit and offers many spectacular views with its many sandy bays. I was able to see the seals from a distance; the Cape fur seals which are found in South African and Namibian waters. There wasn’t a lot of other people around which I thoroughly enjoyed. The Nelson Cave, where they have an archaeological excavation, was pretty interesting! Archaeologists recorded information about Stone Age inhabitants of Nelson Bay which are displayed at the site. At one particular area there were a lot of seagulls flying around and one of them pooped on me. It scared me off a little since it happened all of a sudden and it
hit me on the back of my cap, my neck and shoulders. It felt like a warm mess, hahah. After a nice few hours at the peninsula I got a ride back into town.
Then we continued towards
Cape Town; a long drive that took us through stunning landscapes while witnessing a beautiful sunset. We arrived very late in the evening and checked in at our hostel. Cape Town is the second largest city in South Africa and has about 3 million people. It’s a very popular destination and I’ve heard many good things about it so I had a certain expectation and I wasn’t disappointed! The first morning in Cape Town we went on a tour which lasted for most of the day. We drove along the gorgeous coast towards Hout Bay, where I took a 40min. boat-trip to Duiker Island which is well known for its large colony of seals. We then continued through Simon’s Town and headed to Boulder Bay to visit the little, protected Boulders Penguin Colony. Many African penguins, only found along the coasts of South Africa and Namibia, are found on the beach here. It’s the first time I saw penguins in
their native habitat and I loved it! The beaches in the area are beautiful but the water is too cold for me, unfortunately. We then went to Cape Point Nature Reserve, where we cycled through a part of the park but I was disappointed since the cycling didn’t last too long. At the end of the cycle-tour we had a nice lunch and headed to Cape Point. There is a hill with a lighthouse on the top but I didn’t bother to go all the way up; just halfway. There are several baboons living in this area and sometimes they attack people or try to snatch belongings (mostly food) away from them. One of them also hit me on my shoulder but it was nothing serious. Our last stop was the famous Cape of Good Hope, the most south-western point of the African continent. Back at the hostel, a guy climbed to see Nydia naked in the shower and she immediately came back to the dorm and told me what happened. When I went outside I didn’t see the guy anymore but I had seen him earlier. The next day we told the receptionist and it turned out to be
an employee who did this. We immediately left the hostel and walked to the well-known Long Street where we checked into another hostel. Long Street is the place to be for night-life as the street has several pubs and clubs and it remains lively until late hours on the night.
The next day we took two “free walking tours” (tip-based) through the city centre which was definitely worth it. The first tour started on the Greenmarket Square, an ideal square if you want to shop for souvenirs, clothes, handicrafts etc. The square is surrounded by some colonial buildings, including the Old Town House, built by the Dutch in 1755. We walked past the St. George’s Cathedral where Desmond Tutu was the first black archbishop in South Africa from 1986 until 1996. Tutu was a strong opponent of the Apartheid Regime and St. George’s Cathedral was a gathering point for activists of all races who were against the Apartheid. We passed by the High Court and then walked through the Company’s Garden (Central Park), which used to be a vegetable garden of the Dutch. Near the Church Square there is a little concrete stoop where they used to auction
enslaved Africans. The tour finished in front of Cape Town City Hall where Mandela gave his first speech after being released from prison in 1990.
We then headed back towards Greenmarket Square to join another walking tour, this time to Bo Kaap. This neighbourhood is well-known for its colourful houses and is full of history! Bo Kaap has always been multicultural, mostly inhabited by descendants of enslaved Africans from several countries, enslaved Indonesians and Malaysian people brought to South Africa during the 16
th and 17
th centuries by the British and the Dutch. Therefore, there are several mosques in Bo-Kaap and the neighbourhood basically developed its own character and culture. A walk through Bo Kaap somehow feels like a walk through Willemstad in Curaçao because of all the colours! Bo Kaap shouldn’t be missed when in Cape Town and it’s better to do it with a guide to have a better understanding of the neighbourhood.
We visited the Iziko Slave Lodge (museum), which was very interesting! While we from Curaçao know more about the Trans-Atlantic slave trade, in which our island played an important role as a trading centre in the Caribbean, this museum was dedicated to the
Indian Ocean slave trade. The museum gave us a very good insight about this slave trade which was, for a large part, done by the VOC (Verenigd Oost-Indische Compagnie) which means: Dutch East-India Company. The Iziko Slave Lodge was built in 1679 and is the place where the slaves were kept at night while not working.
After strolling around the V&A Waterfront and having lunch we took the ferry towards Robben Island, known as the island where Nelson Mandela was imprisoned for 18 years from 1964 to 1982. People were imprisoned at Robben Island since late 17
th century and our guide was a political prisoner at Robben Island, therefore he was able to give us an excellent tour around the complex. Of course you’ll be able to see Nelson Mandela’s cell and the whole experience was awesome; not to be missed! Again I was wondering what the hell the minority government was thinking during that time. Today Robben Island has about 120 residents, including our guide.
In the evening we met Ashika, a former colleague I worked in New Zealand with. She came with three friends and we had a nice evening clubbing in Long Street. I
left Nydia with them and went back to the hostel since I wasn’t feeling well. The next day I was pretty sick with a bit of diarrhoea and threw up a couple of times. I felt better the day after and we took a train to Stellenbosch where Sanna and her boyfriend picked us up. Sanna is friend of another former colleague I worked in New Zealand with, Benine. Stellenbosch has roughly 150.000 people and is known for its Dutch influence. We just walked around a little, had something to drink and then drove to Worcester to meet Benine. We spent most of the afternoon driving around the Breedekloof Wine Valley, stopping at several vineyards tasting wine. At the last one we also had a delicious cheese platter (I love cheese!) before we went back to Benine’s place where we had a “braai”. Braai is an Afrikaans word for barbecue which is commonly used all over South Africa. Sanna and her boyfriend drove us back to Cape Town since they didn’t want us to go by train that late in the evening. I truly enjoyed catching up with both Ashika and Benine and it was nice seeing them both after
more than a year.
Cape Town was definitely worth visiting. We didn’t get a chance to go to Table Mountain since it was either too windy or too cloudy during the days we were in town. Nydia left for Australia the next day while I left for Brussels with a stop-over in Ethiopia. Next blog will be out as soon as possible!
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Ake Och Emma
Ake Dahllof and Emma Holmbro
Some bad luck you had
Sounds like you ran into some bad luck: closed lion parks, bird poop, your travel companion being ill and lousy weather. Sometimes those things happen and that is also part of the experience. It might not be very fun right there and then but when you think back you will remember the good parts stronger than the bad ones. /Ake