Our trip to Egypt having been cancelled, we finally boarded a flight to South Africa and our first trip to the African continent. A short stopover in Doha, Qatar proved to be quite interesting. The airport is basically a big glass rectangle in the middle of the desert. It was new and modern, possibly in preparation for their hosting the World Cup, but alas very poorly designed. There were no jetways to any of the planes, which meant everyone had to be bused out onto the tarmacs to board the airplane. The infrequency and limit of the buses, combined with the fact they only used 1 door at a time meant a normal 30-45 minute boarding process took about 2 hours instead. I don’t want to image what that place will be like during the actual World Cup.
We arrived in Cape Town in the evening, and were picked up by a kind driver we had arranged in advance through our hostel. We stayed in an area called Observatory, slightly out of town on the metro, but a quiet area near the local university. This did not mean, however, that we would be away from the social scene as upon arrival we were invited out for drinks by one of the hostel staff, Warren, and another American staying there. Quite tired from traveling all day, we declined that evening, as I was hoping for a good night's sleep. Just our luck, we had a 5th person join our room at the last minute--they slept right below me and they were a snorer. Of course. Another roommate who also snored went out to party all night and came back in the morning only to literally sleep the entire day. At least our schedules were opposite--I could work with that.
The next day, our new friend Warren took us on a short neighborhood tour and showed us some great places to eat as well as places to avoid at nighttime. The weather was perfect--sunny in the mid 70s. We stopped for a great burger and beer, and couldn’t believe how cheap it was! Literally $2-3 for a glass of decent beer.
The rest of the day was spent walking around the Observatory neighborhood and relaxing at the hostel to plan the rest of our week in Cape Town. We chatted with a very nice French girl in our room, and the snoozing guy, Max, finally roused from this sleep at around 7 in the evening.
The following day was spent exploring more--this time closer to the coast in an area called Kalk Bay.
Our tour guide that day was a young local South African guy, who called himself “Bones”. He was very nice, a real artsy/alternative kid, but his family was part of one of the local tribes so he still participated in the traditional rituals, including one similar to the Australian “walk about” in which younger boys head into the mountains to go on their journey to manhood.
Kalk Bay was a quiet, quaint beach town with lots of nice shops and cafes. We headed down to the pier where you could see seals hanging out in the harbor.
Next Bones took us to a famous fish n’ chips joint at the pier called Kalky’s, where we got huge portions of both.
Next we decided to taxi to a place called Boulder’s Beach where we could see African penguins. The driver, however, was a little crazy (and not nearly as nice as the one who picked us up from the airport.) He talked about taking mushrooms and eating penguins, and drove kind of erratically, so we were relieved to get out of the car when we arrived at our destination. You could see the penguins from a lookout point without having to pay the money necessary to enter their little park, so we were able to get some pictures of this rare penguin.
Heading back we tried to catch the train from this end of Kalk Bay. However, the scheduled train took ages to arrive and we had to wait for quite a while. Our friend Bones chalked this up to “Africa Time.” When the train actually arrived it was a madhouse to get on board as quite a crowd had begun to pile up on the platform in anticipation of the train. People were running, pushing, elbowing others out of the way. No one wanted to wait another hour for the next train to arrive. Luckily, we elbowed our way to the first class car which was virtually empty and for which the ticket only costs a few dollars more.
We made it back quite late to our hostel, and decided to skip dinner since we had had such a filling and late lunch. However, our usual night owl friend decided to stay in for the evening and kept everyone awake that night with his snoring. We had to wake up early again the following morning to catch an early train to the beach for our surf lesson.
I was less than enthused about surfing that morning, due to the fatigue, and indeed we had to wait even longer for the class to start as a group of kids who were signed up were late because they were hung over.
My fatigue was quickly relieved once we got into the water, which was so cold even with full wetsuits on! Eventually I got used to it, however, and the instructor was very good so it was actually a lot of fun. I got up a few times, and also swallowed lots of water in the process.
After a sleepless night and physical activity we decided to take it easy that evening, as I planned out our second jaunt to Japan to finish our round-the-world trip. We were meant to have a typical Brai (South African BBQ) with everyone but it got cancelled in favor of a party. This was not ideal as it meant a bunch of random strangers hanging about, being buzzed-in to the property drunkenly, and loud music. But luckily once we shut the door to our room it was okay and the party kept our snoring friend out for most of the night.
The following morning we hoped to hike Table Mountain but it was far too foggy so we just took the train to wander around the center of Cape Town. The waterfront area was nice, though it would have been nicer on a sunny day. John stopped to grab a shameful snack at McDonald’s, which he had not eaten in a very long time. I refrained but grabbed a hot chocolate instead. The barista at the establishment was incredibly friendly. Though I couldn’t help but notice in Cape Town that all the lower-wage/service industry jobs were held by blacks while most of the management/white-collar jobs were held by whites. Over 20 years after the end of apartheid, but de facto segregation was still very present in modern society.
Along the waterfront we saw a sign for a special free entry into the CT Diamond Museum nearby. As so many diamonds in the world come from the Kimberley region of South Africa we decided to stop in. We learned about the very fascinating history of diamonds and the diamond industry from a free tour offered by a well-dressed white guy.
After a brief walk-through tour we learned that the first diamonds were discovered in India, forming over a billion years ago. In South Africa, diamonds formed in special soil called Kimberlite--named for the Kimberley region where the first diamonds were discovered on a farm owned by a man named DeBeers (ring a bell?) who ended up selling his land but the name was used by the infamous diamond merchants as a historical reference. Today, the mine in Kimberley is the world’s largest man-made hole. Also, the largest diamond ever found, the Cullinan diamond, was discovered in South Africa. It was eventually cut into 90 smaller diamonds, many of which found their way into the Crown Jewels of the English monarchs.
Following our interesting gems and minerals lesson, we decided to take a jaunt along the waterfront in downtown Cape Town, making our way to the South African museum and Planetarium, which made for a pleasant visit for a day of not so great weather. Walking back through the garden on our way to the train station, the clouds parted for a brief beautiful view of Table Mountain peering over the downtown area.
The following day it was off to the Cape of Good Hope. We rose early to collect our rental car, taking the scenic drive towards the cape. We passed through a very fancy area of Cape Town called Camps Bay, with nice houses and expensive cars lining many driveways. Note that not too far away were also the shanty towns occupying the outskirts of the city center.
We arrived at the lighthouse first, beating the crowds of tour buses that would occupy it soon after. It was incredibly windy that morning, but luckily the wind pushed out the clouds and by the time we arrived at the official cape the sun had come out.
On our way back to town was saw ostriches on the side of the road, and we even passed by a family of baboons!
The next day was meant to be our Robbens Island tour, but it was cancelled due to weather so we had to postpone to another day. Instead, we opted for an afternoon brewery tour that was actually quite cheap, as been in South Africa tended to be, and it was very informative as they took you through the whole process and it included a free tasting at the end as well as 2 free full drinks.
The next day was meant to be our Robbens Island tour, but it was cancelled due to weather so we had to postpone to another day. Instead, we opted for an afternoon brewery tour that was actually quite cheap, as been in South Africa tended to be, and it was very informative as they took you through the whole process and it included a free tasting at the end as well as 2 free full drinks.
We ended up chatting with some really interesting people. One couple was French Canadian, a husband and wife practicing nursing in indigenous communities in far Northern Canada. Another girl, whose boyfriend was South African, worked for the Clinton Foundation in sustainable energy engineering for small island nations like the Seychelles.
It was a nice tour and we headed back to the hostel to hang out with our staff friends, who taught us about house and techno music.
Next day was more drinking with a wine tour of the Stellenbosch region of South Africa. The tour guide was quite the character, picking us up in a large van while wearing a top hat. The tour group itself was also very friendly and included lots of Germans. The first stop was a place to try some nice sparkling wine, which ended up being my favorite of the day.
The second place had a nice cheese pairings, which is always a plus, though the wines did not stand out as much. Lunch was at a great family-owned winery where they served a delicious lunch and we could play with their dogs--2 small daschunds and a large bull mastiff.
The final two places we visited once again underscored how much more I preferred New Zealand and Australia when it comes to new world wines. There was a lot of experimentation, but not all of it *fruitful* :P
The last place we went was a winery that apparently provided wine at the Prince of Monaco's wedding. They bought all of the barrels for this particular wine that year. They age this wine for 8 years in a barrel, which if it seems excessive it’s because it is. The wine had lost all of it’s elegant flavors and had developed that sickeningly-sweet taste more comparable to sherry that I dislike in wine, but it had a lot of alcohol. Also the owner was a former national Rugby player and a good marketer, so most people on the tour bought (overpriced) bottles from there because they thought it was the best (even though it wasn’t.) We refrained.
By the end of the day we had had quite a bit of wine and unfortunately our seats in the van were in the very back, which meant nausea of drunkenness and nausea from motion sickness for me, and you can guess where this is headed. I was able to keep most of it down until we arrived back in town and headed to bar, where I had to vomit in the sink because all the stalls were taken (sorry bar staff.) I had a terrible headache and just drank water for the next two hours, in which we won the pub trivia game but after that I was ready to go home.
Fun fact, writing this 5 years later, that was the last time I can recall throwing up from drinking too much (as it was that terrible.) Hangovers are another ballgame, but I certainly learned my wine limits after that experience (though Japan has done it’s best to challenge that).
The next day was finally our chance for the Robben Island tour. We planned to do the morning tour and arrive back by noon, hiking Table Mountain in the afternoon as the weather finally cooperated.
However, we would quickly learn the true meaning of “South Africa time.” Upon arriving at the ticket office we had a snafu in that even though we had already bought and paid for the tickets, they had on record that we hadn’t and wanted to see our credit card, which we didn’t bring. Finally, after showing them the purchase receipt and our passports, we were able to receive our tickets and wait in the long line for the ferry, which was of course delayed.
Finally when the ferry arrived everyone began to board but RIGHT when we got to the front of the line we were told the ferry was full and we would have to wait for another one. So we wait another 45 min for the next ferry to arrive to take us to Robben Island. Once we get there we have to wait for the bus to come pick us up. Then we had to wait a while for the tour guides to arrive.
We saw the limestone quarry where the men were forced to work and the small hole nearby where they would hide while Mandela and others spontaneously began to teach other inmates to read (as 30% of them were illiterate.)
However, all the delays meant the day was getting late and our window for climbing Table Mountain, which had been #1 on my list but thwarted by bad weather, was closing. Peering across the Southern Cape from the edge of Robben Island, you had a beautiful view of the mountain standing tall behind the city and I was anxious to get back to the mainland in time to climb it. Alas, getting off that island would prove to be a frustrating experience. Most certainly 1,000,000 times less frustrating than the captivity felt by those who had to live there for so long.
At the end of the tour, we waited at the docks for over an hour for our ferry to come collect us and bring us back to the mainland. People were starting to become very frustrated as well. It turned out one of the ferries was having engine trouble, while the other that was meant to come collect us was instead diverted in preference of a large tour group that was visiting the island. The whole end of that tour was mildly enraging. Also an incredibly poor way to run a tour business.
Eventually, those who didn’t want to wait any longer opted to take a smaller sailboat back to the mainland. However, it was much smaller, slower, and more vulnerable to the elements of the open ocean as the wind and waves lapped at us during the wet and cold ride back to port. We were quite bitter about the poor treatment and terrible organization by the organization that ran the tour, and since we arrived back on the mainland a full 3 hours later than scheduled it was too late to climb Table Mountain as the sun would set before we could descend and the evening clouds began to roll in, obscuring the view from the summit.
Not the best way to end our South Africa experience, though it is certainly an area of the world I would like to return to and hopefully someday I will have my chance to climb the mountain. Indeed, I was very touched by the hospitality and kindness of our South African friends at the hostel, Warren and Bones, whose experiences and perceptions they shared with us in a way exemplified the lingering legacy of apartheid and how race still very much matters, and yet the two also worked happily together as friends. I am sure there are deeper lessons to be learned from a country like South Africa, though such things could not be gleaned the in the short amount of time we spent there.
It was beautiful weather the day we departed, beckoning me to come again. But for the moment, we still had two more stops on our whirlwind of travel, the final of which would actually have a profound impact on the direction of both of our lives.
