Mo's African Adventure

It’s hard to believe that it has been over six months since I returned home to Canada from our fabulous introduction to South Africa. Our amazing hosts, Linton and Lisa, made sure that our experience there was magnificent. Their kindness and hospitality went far beyond the usual meet and greet. They shared South Africa with us. We lived it, breathed it, were immersed in it and were overwhelmed by it.

I must admit to having been totally overpowered by that place, those people, that experience. It was truly a life changing event for me as those of you who have lived the last six months with me can attest to. I was totally unprepared for the profound effect that trip would have on me. It was beyond a vacation; it was a journey. Not the kind travelled on a road or a plane, but rather the kind that sets your feet upon a different path in life; that changes your priorities and your perspective on things; that centres you and brings you inner joy. Until you have experienced the energy of Africa it will be hard to explain it to you. It revitalizes you, makes you savor each moment and makes you look at yourself in a different way. It teases you with the promise of hidden secrets and leaves you wanting more. And so … there is no other choice than … to go back!

Our last tour of our holidays is the Wine tour. This leisurely drive through the beautiful winelands of the Cape was a lovely end to a fabulous trip.

What I know about wine (other than that I like it) would fit in a wine glass. It was interesting to hear about the different types of grapes, casks and processes which produce the various flavours in the wine. I must admit though, for the most part, I’ll have to take their word for it. I guess the subtleties of the pallet are lost on me.

Beautiful estates, beautiful sunshine, a beautiful day, beautiful trip.

Tuesday, January 10. This morning we again enjoyed the expertise of African Eagle Tours as we went on an exploration of the Langa and Khayelitsha Townships.

Our day began with a drive through District 6. District 6 is a barren, grassy area in the heart of Cape Town. It was once a community of mixed peoples: particularly blacks and coloureds (people of mixed black/white heritage). When Apartheid was passed into law, the government declared that blacks, coloureds and whites should no longer be allowed to live together even though they had been living together in relative harmony for many years.

The people of this large neighbourhood were forceably removed and their homes bulldozed to the ground. Many of these people were taken to settlements on the outskirts which became known as the townships. For many years the grassy area has remained untouched as people felt it was an important reminder of the events that happened there but I believe plans are in the works to build a memorial park and redevelop the remaining area.

We visited the District 6 Museum. This testament to the resilience of the human spirit is sobering. There are hundreds of testimonials from families who experienced the relocation; examples of the “pass books” that each were required to carry with them at all times which contained details of their ethnicity and rules about where they could and could not travel; remnants of a lifestyle lost that had been salvaged from the bulldozers; and, testaments of sorrow, apology, hope and forgiveness. I just can’t get my head around that this happened within my lifetime and that as I played blissfully ignorant in my childhood, there was such oppression here. I am not passing judgement but rather reflecting on how far apart our two worlds were and how disconnected our lives.

Our tour into Langa and Khayelitsha Townships was an eye opener indeed. Miles of shacks and shanties made out of corrigated steel or scraps piled one on top of themselves amid filth and squallor. These are the poorest of the poor in Cape Town.

There is a huge difference between black townships and coloured townships. Many black men travel into Cape Town to the townships from their tribal homes in search of work but most are illiterate and have no skills and there are no jobs. There are hostels that they can stay at but as weeks turn into years they long for their families and send for them to come and stay with them. As the old hostels were for men only, these ramshackle shacks served as family homes. Although they live in abject poverty, there is somewhat of a moral code there amongst themselves. Crimes within their community are punished brutally which often means that their desperation leads them to a life of crime on the city streets of Cape Town rather than the townships themselves. As they value the revenue the township tours bring, it is somewhat safe to go there with a tour. The coloured townships are another story however.

The coloured townships, from what I gather, are communities caught between two worlds. They are neither black nor white and so, often do not qualify for whatever meager social programs that are in place to try and help these people help themselves. They are fraught with gangs and violence even towards each other and are generally not considered a safe place to be.

I had been disappointed when I arrived in South Africa to learn that they were on their long summer holiday from school as I had hoped to visit some schools while I was there. I asked our tour guide about schools in the townships.

There are a few dedicated and motivated people who recognize that education is the only hope that these children will have to change their lot in life. There are small, overcrowded schools, many in peoples “homes” where instruction in English (which is now recognized as the universal language in South Africa and all children must learn) is given by qualified teachers. When the tour guide saw how interested I was in this, he arranged for me to speak with the teacher, administrator and township leader on the subject. We were allowed to tour the school and visit with a group of Kindergarten children who were there more on a day care basis until the start up of school again on January 11. What I saw was heart wrenching.

These are beautiful children. Their gentle eyes shone with laughter and delight and their faces just radiate with openness and innocence. It is so sad to know what fate awaits them if they cannot succeed in transcending their social barrier. As I sat amongst them, all of the children came over to me. A couple sat on my lap and a couple more stood with their arm around me. One little hand patted my shoulder in the very gentlest of ways.

The school itself is run by two very dedicated ladies who do everything from feed to teach these children. The townships are fraught with social problems and most children come to school with issues of hunger, physical abuse, sexual abuse and poverty. These women offer everything to these children and they do so with absolutely nothing. Their small five room home is a recognized school for 120 students. For most of those children, school is the only safe haven they have.

I’m afraid the privileged students at Blyth Public School will get little sympathy from me when they start to whine about how hard done by they are!

We spent another enjoyable evening experiencing the night life of Cape Town. After dinner, we visited Long Street, the night time strip of the city. This was a world that I would be totally uncomfortable in without the company of a man. The street turns into one giant street party and people are everywhere. I was definitely uneasy to say the least.

Lisa was keen for us to experience, “Mama Africa”. This themed nightclub proved a lively venue and we were fortunate in that there was a live marimba band playing that evening. They were really good. Absolute rhythm and gruelling sets. Very talented people. It was a fitting send off as this ethnic festival atmosphere left us with a wonderful appreciation of this part of their culture.

Although I am not one to enjoy going to the beach in the sense of laying in the sand or swimming, I do love a rocky seascape.

One evening Linton and Lisa took us to a wonderful cove near where Linton used to live. The shoreline here in South Africa belongs to everyone so even though there are waterfront properties, everyone may walk along the shore.

There were magnificent rockeries which I only partially explored but would love to do again. Linton set a bottle of white wine in the ocean to chill for me and red wine for Lisa, Linton and Lenore, and we sat back to take in the natural beauty of this place.

Everywhere there were couples and families just chilling out and enjoying the sunset. There is definitely a much more outdoor lifestyle here but then the climate has so much to do with that.

It was a magical evening that was wasted by being there alone. Evenings like that should be shared with the ones we love and mine were miles away from me.

A spectacular sunset and good bottle of wine behind us, we arose to make our way back to the Jeep. As we turned we were met by the most spectacular moon rising only feet away from us it seemed. In Canada, at least where we live, our moon does not rise and fall as it does here; it simply appears then disappears. Here it is a surreal feeling to actually feel the trajectory of the moon as night falls.

Another magical night.

On Monday, January 9, we enjoyed a full day tour of the Cape Peninsula with African Eagle Tours. I cannot say enough about this company as their comfortable tour vans and excellent tour guides added much to our experiences in South Africa.

While I am not a beach person, I found the seascape as we traveled south from Cape Town all the way to the Cape of Good Hope absolutely breathtaking. The rugged coastline is fraught with perils as the waves constantly crash against the shore. There are spectacular, white sandy beaches to enjoy but few people swim as the water is extremely cold and there is the ever constant danger of Great White Sharks. There are many points along here that are a surfers paradise — if you dare.

We traversed Chapman’s Peak and wound along a road cut into the mountainside. The scenery was truly breathtaking.

At Hout Bay, I joined the optional tour of Seal Island while Lenore enjoyed a look round the shops. The wind was quite high and the small ferry pitched and rolled across the waves to journey us out to an island totally covered in seals. There must have been 1,000 of them. They were sunning themselves, swimming and frolicking alongside our boat and it was an amazing site to see.

Further along our journey brought us to an ostrich farm. This beautifully landscaped farm looked as though it should be a Kentucky Horse farm with its beautiful pole fenced paddocks and perfectly manicured lawns. A quick lesson on ostrich (man they are weird birds) and time to browse the gift shop where many beautiful articles made from ostrich skin were available and we were on our way again.

We stopped at Boulder’s Beach to view the penguin colony there. Again, there were hundreds of them. Cute as buttons. Smaller than I expected but adorable as they waddled across the stony shore.

We travelled right down to the southernmost point of Africa where the Atlantic Ocean and the Indian Ocean meet. There is a lovely restaurant there which overlooks the bay. The wild baboons are a constant threat there as they continually approach the tourists and the restaurant to scavenge food. In areas were baboons have become accustomed to people, they are an extreme problem. They have even been known to break into peoples houses and accost people to snatch their food out of their hands. They are large animals with savage teeth so best to steer clear of them.

We enjoyed a wonderful meal there. Lenore had traditional fish and chips and I had a fish called Kingklip served with Calamari on a bed of artichoke and vegetables. Absolutely fantastic! Kingklip is a thick, solid white fish — delicious — but the big surprise was the Calamari. Calamari is not something that I enjoy at home. When we get it it is usually so tough it is like eating rubber but this !!! Absolutely devine. Very gently cooked, moist and tender and absolutely delicious.

It was interesting to sit and hear the stories of the many shipwrecks of the Cape. It’s treacherous coastline has claimed many a ship, including the Lucitania. It was only through the heroic efforts of one man that only four of the 450 people on board were lost.

Our return up the eastern side of the Cape finished with a tour of the spectacular Kirstenbosch Botanical Gardens. Although it is summer here, and strangely, the dead season, there was still much beauty to be seen in this pastoral setting. Magnificently tended and landscaped gardens of native trees, flowers and succulents were beautifully displayed along peaceful pathways and alcoves. A very tranquil and beautiful place.

Just returned from a tour of Robben Island (Sunday) where Nelson Mandela was imprisioned for most of his 27 year sentence. What a sobering experience this was.

The tour was given by an ex-inmate of Robben Island. These men were persecuted and imprisoned here because of their belief that a black man should not be treated differently than a white man. I knew very little about apartheid before I went to South Africa and really didn’t realize that this had all happened in our lifetime.

The cells these men were kept in were barely 4 x 6. They lived in them from 4:30 p.m. until 7:30 a.m. when they were taken out to the lime pits to do hard manual labour with only sparce tools and their hands. Many endured injury to their eyes and skin due to the corrosive properties of the lime. They were given no protection from the fierce South African sun and often food was withheld as punishment for non-conformists.

Still, despite all of this tragedy, I was struck by how forgiving and enlightened the South African peoples are. Despite the fact that apartheid officially ended only in 1994, the South Africans have moved forward in a largely peaceful and positive way. They speak freely about apartheid and the steps they have taken to end it. While emotions still, I am sure, run deep, it is remarkable that this drastic change in their social structure has been assimilated so well. Despite the end of Apartheid, the principals of Apartheid are still apparent in the social and economic structure of this country but I believe each generation will see them take a step away from that.

At the end of our tour I asked the tour guide how he was able to go forward without bitterness. He said that what they were fighting was oppression and hatred. To carry bitterness and hatred with them after their imprisonment would have been to perpetuate the very things that they were fighting against.

I am not sure that given the same situation, I would be so gracious.

Throughout our stay in Cape Town we sampled some of the excellent local cuisine. To say that Cape Town is eclectic would be an understatement. The city is fraught with contradictions and contrast, but all the while there is a wonderfully symbiotic feel to it. You will find clusters of restaurants in different neighbourhoods with different ethnicities. Whatever you are looking for you can find with a little bit of local direction.

While in Cape Town we enjoyed italian pasta and pizza at two different restaurants. One was a small, hole-in-the-wall establishment nestled next to a jazz club. It’s hard to imagine a better setting than eating delicious food on the outdoor patio in glorious weather with the bittersweet tones of good jazz wafting on the evening air. And then of course, there was the wine ….

The other Italian restaurant was a more traditional restaurant. Here they made fresh pasta cooked to perfection, served by a rather serious, young Italian fellow who looked strangely out of place amongst the rest of the black staff. Nevertheless, the food was excellent, the company second to none, and of course, there was the wine ….

Linton took us to an out of the way seafood restaurant in Hout Bay which served the most excellent Fish & Chips. The fish they use here for battered F & C is Hake which is a lovely, tender white fish and very delicious. I was determined to try as much local cuisine as I could on my stay so, at Linton’s urging, I ordered prawns. as did he.

I just about died when Linton opened his take out container to reveal about six of the ugliest things I have ever seen. Reminiscent of a shrimp on steroids, these prawns were about 8 inches long with the most grotesque heads still on! After my initial shock and exclamation that I didn’t like eating anything that looked back at me, I did hazard a try. The tender meat of the body was very good and similar to shrimp in taste but I did not care for the brains at all! Glad I tried them but … maybe not again.

We had lunch at a Portuguese restaurant one day. I ordered Chicken Piri Piri which is done with Portuguese spice. It was delicious and definitely a keeper. I was always surprised to discover the Portuguese influence which is evident throughout Cape Town.

We discovered a great breakfast spot which we frequented. Bacon, eggs, ostrich wor (sausage) toast and jam, all for about $3.00 Canadian.

Even the food at the hotel (Best Western Cape Suites) was exceptionally good. One night I had the best chicken wrap I have ever had. Loaded with chicken and a sweet chili sauce it was delicious! The buffet breakfast was good too with fruit, yogurt, muffins, toast, bacon, sausage, eggs and homefries. The waiter said the breakfast was usually 75 rand but that he would give it to us for 50. We paid him the 100 ($12.00) rand for the two of us which he promptly put in his pocket rather than the till. Welcome to South Africa!

No matter where we ate, the food here is delicious. At home I am somewhat of a salt-a-holic, always reaching for the salt shaker but in Africa I never once salted my food. The freshness of the flavours complimented by Piri Piri spice, lime, cilantro, curry, rosemary … all prepared in the manner best suited to the food, meant that I seldom felt the need to change the flavour of anything.

Despite my intent to try McDonald’s and KFC in Africa to see if they tasted the same as they did at home, there were just too many great culinary opportunities to even think of wasting a meal on these. I guess they will have to wait until my next visit!

Friday, January 6

Today Lenore and I enjoyed a scenic tour on the “Red” line of the Hop On – Hop Off City Bus tour. This is a great tourist service that is offered in Cape Town. The double decker bus travels throughout the city with a guided tour. There are many stops along the way and you can hop on or off as you wish to take in the many sights.

We met up with Lisa and Linton in the late afternoon and set off on our evening’s adventure on top of Table Mountain.

Table Mountain is a flat-topped mountain that dominates the skyline behind the city of Cape Town. The city itself lies nestled between the Mountain and the Atlantic Ocean. A long (and rather unnerving) cable car ride, transports you to the top of the mountain in a matter of minutes. It is ultra state-of-the-art and rotates so that everyone gets a view out of its glass sides.

Once at the top, what a panorama lay before us. Literally miles of hiking trails along the top of the mountain, with beautifully sculptures pathways to follow, a visitor’s centre and a restaurant where we would return for dinner later.

We were fortunate this afternoon as the sky was clear and the winds were low. This is often not the case in Cape Town. The wind howls down off of the mountain causing very windy conditions which often preclude the cable car from operating. On top of that, often a strange layer of cloud lies over the top of the mountain. The locals call it “the Tablecloth”. It is a very strange phenomenon that looks like a living thing creeping over the mountain and falling over the sides. If either of these conditions exist you are ill advised to go up the mountain. Every year there are several people who are blown off the mountain or are stranded overnight in very harsh conditions.

On this day however it was a glorious day and we enjoyed a gentle stroll around the top, found a sunny spot to enjoy a glass of wine and watched the glorious sunset from this high vantage point. Simply breathtaking.

We stayed until after dark to enjoy the panorama of city lights below us on our descent on the cable car. Funny. The ride down after a few glasses of wine didn’t seem to bother me at all!

Wednesday, January 4. We easily travelled the two and a half hours to Cape Town to begin the second part of our holiday. We enjoyed a wonderful lunch in the Portuguese restaurant which I will describe elsewhere in this blog and then set out to explore the largest shopping mall in the southern hemisphere. Okay! Those of you who know me well can stop laughing now. (For those of you who don’t know me so well – I HATE SHOPPING !!!) Nevertheless, it was interesting to see this state-of-the-art mall in what we think of as a third world country. This mall was beautiful with terazzo floors and unique architecture. It stretched for miles, had two levels and hundreds of stores (groan).

We spent a leisurely afternoon looking through the stores and then checked into our hotel. Lisa and Linton had plans with special friends tonight so Lenore and I enjoyed supper in our hotel and a leisurely night in.