Capetown South Africa

Our group was very taken with Capetown. It is a beautiful city in a beautiful setting. There is a great waterfront area with tons of shops and restaurants. When I first got off the ship, I mentioned to the port police officer that I was in search of ice cream. He arranged for someone to escort me over to the mall and show me no fewer than 5 places where I could get ice cream and gelato. It was a good visit.

We spent quite a while there, 7 days, to accommodate the safaris. I toured the city the first day, getting a little local history about the Dutch settlement and British encroachment, the Afrikaans language, apartheid and its demise, agriculture and natural resources, and the absolutely horrendous toll AIDS is taking on this country. AIDS was a big topic of conversation in the week leading up to our visit, as well as some days after. One of the significant problems has been a president who is an official AIDS denier. This means that he listens to “experts” who blame AIDS on poverty, not HIV infection. This leads to prohibitions of vital drugs, elimination of education and prevention programs, and millions more suffering and dying. What is wrong with people?

The townships were another eye-opener. While I did not tour a township (official tours were strongly recommended, not independent visits), we passed through District Six on the highway, a famous site of unrest. We also passed some of what I believe they referred to as “informal housing.” Oh my God! These did not even qualify as shacks, with some cardboard, some boards, some blue tarp, some plastic, some who-knows-what built to shelter – well, nothing, I suppose, or not much at least. A pole in the midst of a bunch of these runs one electrical line, much like an extension cord, to each. It looked like people got their water from a common source, and I have no idea about sewage or sanitation. It could not have been pretty. “Informal housing” – now there’s some language for you. I was stupefied.

So Capetown was really at least 2 different cities, with haves and have-nots, and not even the biggest income gaps of countries we visited. I was able to put some resources into the local economy by visiting an outdoor African market in the city, GreenMarket Square, as well as the Pan-African market. I’m trying to get a cat or cat motif thing in most countries. I will have a little exhibit of what I accumulate when I return. (Don’t expect that much…I’m thrifty, especially compared with some of these students. I overheard one mentioning that her ATM card should work since she had $27,000 in her account.) I saw Arch’s first church in the city, and I also visited the aquarium, located near the waterfront mall. Got a couple of pictures of local kitties too. My favorite.

Lots of good restaurants. Our food at safari was good and probably very traditional, though it was buffet so I have no idea what it was. I made up for that in a couple of restaurants, by having warthog and ostrich. If there had been more days I would have tried more exotic things. I wish I had been able to get up to the University of Capetown. I’ve visited campuses everywhere I go for as long as I can remember, and U of C is not only a good school, but is the most heavily English-speaking (and hence a possible future employment opportunity) since most others are at least bilingual with Afrikaans, if not multilingual with other African languages.

I could go back there – there’s more to do. I was not able to swim with the penguins, which is available at a public beach a few miles outside town. Other folks cage-dived to see great white sharks. I did not get to go atop Table Mountain, which is a local landmark, as the weather did not cooperate. There are winelands to tour (Sheilagh will appreciate that) and enough British influence to lend that small degree of welcome familiarity.

All in all Capetown felt familiar to us, with enough difference to be interesting. Let me just tell you, I’m struck less with the differences that I’m encountering than with the similarities. There’s a lot of English in the world, and people probably live more differently within a country, across lines of income and poverty, than they do between countries. If I can find chocolate in any country, I’m happy, and so far it has been EVERY country. Let’s see if we can keep that record alive.