Cape Town to Bloemfontein

 Back from Cape Town, and about to Head back to Bobete, this time for the long stretch.  I’m feeling pretty good about it, and it will be good to spend some time in the relative simplicity of life up there.  After the break are my notes from the vacation.

 

January 1,

As New Years go, this has certainly been a memorable one.  I’ve spent New Year’s Eve with family, at Firstnight in Binghamton, in a near riot in Krakow.  This year was spent in a double decker bus, somewhere in the veldt between Bloemfontein and Cape Town, watching the silluette of Baobab trees on the horizon, trying not to pay attention to the in-drive movie (Dennis the Menace).

 

Now that we are in Cape Town, I don’t really know what to do with myself.  It’s summer break here, and the hostel we are staying at seems a lot like a combination Frat House and MTV Spring Break.  It’s a little sad, but I’m feeling too old for this scene.

 

There is a lot to do here though.  Tomorrow morning I am taking my computer in for repairs, so hopefully I will be able to post this in the afternoon at the WiFi cafe next door [not so much].  Merrill and I are planning on hiking Table Mountain either Saturday or Monday, weather permitting, and we already have tickets for Robben Island.  I’d also like to get out for an afternoon and visit the local fencing academy, if I can find it.

 

I am really exciting about being here.  Cape Town is one of the most cosmopolitan cities in the world, to say nothing Africa.  There is food from all over the planet (I have my eye on a Kurdish place a few blocks down) and live music, people, and a lot of character.  We’ll see what the week brings us.

 

January 6,

Cape Town has grown on me.  while Long Street, where we are staying, still feels a bit like a perpetual marti gras, it does have a certain charm.  The city as a whole is cosmopolitan, charming, not unlike Montreal or Krakow.

 

Each day here has been something very different.  Hiking Table Mountain on Saturday was definitely a highlight, as weas a random midnight trip to the Kurdish restaurant near our hostel.   Table Mountain dominates the landscape around the city.  Most places you can see at least part of the mountain and in some you can see nearly all of it, shrouded in a semi-permanent cloud they call the “tablecloth.”  Prevailing winds hit the mountain on their way to the bay and the ocean, where they form clouds.  This gives the illusion of smoke pouring over the mountain, which has given rise to many legends over the years.  My favorite is that of Devil’s Peak, a slightly smaller mountain just to the side of Table Mountain. 

 

The story goes that long ago, in the first years of the colony, a Dutch Sailor was passing through.  Like many legends, the sailor somehow got involved with the Devil, and challenged Lucifer to a pipe smoking contest for ownership of his soul.  The clouds that constantly pour over the summit is the smoke from their never-ending contest- Dutch sailors being very impressive pipe smokers.

 

This afternoon we are going to Robben Island, as one of the last major sites we will see on this trip.  It should be a good place to see, and hopefully a good end to Cape Town.

 

January 7,

On the bus back from Cape Town, typing on my own computer again.  It was a good trip, although with some minor problems.

 

We spent yesterday going through the history of this city, first visiting the district six museum and then spending the afternoon on Robben Island, where Nelson Mandela and many others were imprisoned for opposing the apartheid regime.  District Six was at one point a vibrant, if not very prosperous, area of Cape Town, but its residents were forcibly removed to make room for a “whites only” area.  The promised development never happened, and the district became a long empty area, a physical scar on the city which remains a reminder of the injustices that were done.

 

We also decided to splurge on a last dinner out in Cape Town, spending probably several weeks’ stipend on one gourmet meal.  Food in Cape Town is incredible to begin with, and last night ranks as one of the greatest meals of my life.  Tomato Tart, followed by a Kudu fillet in port and cherry reduction, finished off with Crème Brule.  Not exactly papa and Moroho, but there will be enough of that back in Lesotho.

 

On an unhappy note, my camera and external hard drive were stolen out of my bag some time Monday.  I had been keeping them with me, as there are horror stories of hostel rooms being broken into (happened to another group of Lesotho PCVs this week in Bloemfontein), but apparently bags aren’t safe either.  They were in a pocket of my bag, along with two epi-pens and benadryl for allergies, which were also taken. That the allergy meds were taken as well seems to me that it was a quick snatch, either while we were on the beach just a few feet from the bags, or any number of shops I went into that ask everyone to leave his or her bags at the desk.

 

Material things are meaningless and all that, but it does suck getting ripped off at the end of a good vacation.  I’m going to get some of Merrill’s pictures to put up here so you guys can see some of Cape Town.  Until then.