Cape Town - South "Africa"
Trip Start
Oct 31, 2006
1
3
18
Trip End
May 2007
Where I stayed
Anchorage in Camps Bay
Cape Town, South Africa
Monday, November 6, 2006
Nearly 8 hours across the Atlantic on Malaysia Air (great airline) we arrived in CT at 9:00 am. More sunny and cool weather! We rented a car for the week. This alone made the trip worthwhile-driving on the opposite side of the road and not crashing into or killing any one. We stayed at a place called The Anchorage in Camps Bay. It is a family-owned flat below their home. Gorgeous views of Table Bay Mountain behind and the ocean in front. It had a swimming pool too, but you'd need a wet suit to manage the cold. Camps Bay reminded us a lot of South Beach. The area along the beach resembled Ocean Drive, minus the reggaton and hip hop/gangsta action. A strip of over-priced bars, restaurants and hotels with Bollywood productions being filmed on the beach. We actually spent very little time there. While in CT, we hiked Table Mountain, spent a day in Winelands, saw whales in Hout Bay, and expanded our culinary portfolio by trying all sorts of game. Some not so agreeable. The day before we left CT we tried sandboarding. Huge powder soft dunes that, in spite of the softness, did not do much to cushion some of our painful falls. While the photos here may look like I was in complete control, this day only confirmed my little to no athletic ability. Uddy was much better, potentially competitive. And, not many people can say they learned to sand board along the same dunes where filming of the "major" South African motion picture "The Bird Which Could Not Fly" (a story about an ostrich lost after a sandstorm) was taking place.
Some of our best experiences involved meeting locals and talking about life in CT. For instance, on our second day in CT we headed to Robben Island, where Nelson Mandela was imprisoned for 18 years, along with many other political prisoners. The guides are all former prisoners who share their memories and stories with such candor. On the ferry on our way back from the Island we met a man named Zola from Port Elizabeth who was in CT for a few weeks working on a construction project. (Another glaring similarity with Miami-new condo development everywhere, particularly along the waterfront area). We spent that afternoon hanging out with Zola over a few beers. He talked to us about growing up under apartheid and what life has been like since. But the reminders are everywhere still. We also spent one evening near the University at a club called The Independent Armchair Theater listening to a great jazz band called Feya Faku Quintet. Getting there was an adventure because no one new where this place was. Once there though we met this kind of mad scientist if you will, actually a retired barrister from Durbin, who now spends his time doing two things in CT: hanging out in local jazz clubs and writing scathing reports about pharmaceutical companies' unethical research/testing practices throughout Africa. He kind of looked like Doc from Back to the Future. Anyway, his craziness only added to the already fun evening at the club and we left with some recommendations of good South African jazz music. Our time in CT went was great and went by so quickly, wish we could say the same for the aches and bruises from sandboarding. Despite the pain, we find the will to continue forward to our next stop-Zambia.
