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Published: August 31st 2010
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Finally in Cape Town, it's been 10years and looks very different but most of the old haunts still exist. After an awful night in a desolate campsite between the snow capped mountains of Worcester, we decide to forgo the cost and check into a hostel, the luxury of a bed and a hot shower are delightful.
A scenic drive around brings all of the memories back, Signal Hill to see Lion's Head and a panoramic view of the whole city including the new stadium, we also see Chris Hollins from BBC Sports News but he's quite grumpy so the England Band can't convince him to get me on the telly, boo! Then off down the coast to Camps Bay for a great fish dinner in one of the beach front bars. My Aussie mates are in town, having a break from their fanatics tour, so we gatecrash their venue. Turns out to be an exclusive PowderFinger gig, no problem though I managed to blag us in without even paying, perfect! While having a second dinner we get chatty with the restaurant owner in some fancy place near the club, turns out he also owns The CodFather, a laani restaurant in Camps
Bay, not a Chip Shop as I first thought, so he books us in there for the next night.
It's a clear day in Cape Town, what a great day to go up Table Mountain... it seems every other tourist thought the same, doh! After a 90minute wait we finally get the cable car for the 4 minute journey, this is much more pleasant than the hungover climb I did 10 years ago! But how the summit has changed, it's now tourist central. Abseiling sessions off the side, shops, restaurants, man-made jettys for viewing and photos, a whole different experience. Still great views though and a must do. With it being such a good day we also make our way down the coast to Cape Point, the most South Westerly point in Africa. The optimum viewing spot is the Lighthouse up the hill, but there is also the official Cape of Good Hope down by the sea, we visit both. Despite the scaremongering signs we see no baboons, but luckily someone does spot a Puffadder snake which can apparently kill with one bite! It was camouflaged in the soil so could have been nasty for someone if not spotted
and the centre of photographs instead.
Due to the debacle finding Soweto, pre sat nav, I book a township tour. We visit Langa and Khayelitsha, the latter having 1.5million residents. There is much more organisation in the townships that I expected. The shacks are the newcomers who have moved to the cities for employment and education for their children, but these aren't illegal dwellings. They are power cables and the area is provided with portable toilets, running water and electricity. The people that live in the shacks are entitled to these provisions if they earn less than R3000 per month, and they then enter a waiting list for the UK equivalent of a council house, although much smaller, often 2 room houses. There are also the hostels, these are purpose built buildings which have a communal kitchen, dining room and bathroom. The rent is R20 per bed, there are 3 beds per bedroom and usually there is one family per bed. We see a 3 bed room which houses 16 people. The parents sleep in the beds and the children will usually sleep on mattresses and the tables in the communal dining room. It is snug to say the least.
Often families would rather stay in shacks than move to the hostels due to the lack of privacy. There is also a richer part to the township, known as the Beverley Hills of Langa, this has larger houses, at least 2 bedrooms and is where the doctors and teachers live. In Khayelitsha we visit Vicky's B&B, this is where you can stay for overnight tours, she has recently appeared in the Daily Mirror so is booked up for the World Cup. She also helps to raise money for the children in the creche and schools, to take them on educational trips around Cape Town. In the creche the children sing us many songs and crowd to have their photo taken to see it on the camera screen. The creche is privately run for 0-6yr old children, they pay R5 per month and this also covers 3 meals a day so they rely on donations heavily.
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