South Africa

JG: On to Cape Town...

We flew from Zanzibar and, courtesy of Sandy's sister-in-law, treated ourselves to a real hotel stay (five-star Westin!). Though we wanted to visit S.A. all along, we were also hoping to get our visas for India here, but that didn't pan out so we had to find an alternate for the next step in the trip....

Cape Town is a perplexing place - a living, breathing paradox. Aesthetically, it's breathtaking - bay after bay of resorts and beaches and cliff top views and great coastline driving. But going into it, we'd heard so much about the very palpable racial and socioeconomic tension that plagues this city. Violent crime of all kinds is not uncommon, and some even warned us to stay indoors at night. In the end, though with the occasional panhandling that I find even at home, we had no such experiences and I'm glad for it. Because I'd like to remember it as a place with a world of potential, and somewhere we can go in the future and see a better place. 

We toured around the city center mostly, took a Township (forced community housing) tour one day, and the people there were rather gracious with visitors. We checked out the District 6 (major township) museum and learned more about the sequence of atrocities that plagued this country the last century and beyond. The Dutch and British influence is still prevalent, in some of the architecture if nothing else.

Being at the southern tip of the continent, naturally we had to....swim with great white sharks! Arguably the best experience of our time here, up close and personal, though with a steel cage between you and them. But a couple of them crashed right into us trying to go for the bait tossed out by our guides!

We visited Table Mountain via cable car with Karla, then Sandy and I tried climbing it (roughly 1,100 meters) from the bottom, which didn't work out so well with no guide or gear, and a lack of any designated paths or signs. Made it about 2/3 of the way up when all that was left was straight vertical slope...and that's when we had to climb back down. Four hours of climbing later, and we were thankfully at sea level with aching bones. Some of those cliffs were treacherous!

We were also able to experience some rural Western Cape life by visiting our new friend Zuzka, who we met in Croatia on our yachting trip, and her boyfriend who live on his family's farm in Botrivier. Spent the night in a camper in a barn before the drive back into Cape Town for departure. More 'left side' driving, but this time with manual transmission!  I managed, but it took some time....

SS: After a lot of research and consideration, we figured that heading straight to Cape Town was the best idea. Karla was on board too since she has always wanted to visit South Africa - even though it created a 40+ hour commute back to Canada for her. 

Oh, the Westin. No bed bugs here! As one of the best hotels in Cape Town, we certainly indulged in had it had to offer. At one point we didn't leave for two days, indulging in room service for every meal, as we sorted out our next plan of this adventure. 

Capetown has an incredible mix of African and European culture. The city centre buildings are beautiful but it is the general landscape of the entire city that is incredible. Table Mountain as its centrepiece, it is surrounded by urban metropolis trimmed with beaches and wineries among the rural land on the backside. Although there is a fierce racal separation that is evident throughout this region. We engaged with as many locals to get a true understanding of South Africa's society, maybe to see if what we have read and heard have merit, and the answers were strongly opinionated and conveyed. 

John did an excellent job of reverse driving, especially with a manual transmission! (Talk about confusion) The drive towards Cape of Good Hope (where the Atlantic meats the Indian Ocean) and then on towards Botriver is a beautiful road dangling along cliff side and ocean. 

Our South African friends told us about a very famous singer in SA, that recently has been made into a documentary - well worth checking into. Searching for Sugar Man. Great songs and an incredible story.