We arrived in Cape Town on 10/01/2012. All 4 of our bags arrived with us this time – hooray! We are living in a small apartment in a complex with 23 other units, mostly filled with young singles. We have a bedroom and bath, kitchen/dining/living room combination with a small balcony off this room. The units and the parking lot are within a gated compound enclosed by a high security wall topped with an electric fence. There is also a small "plunge pool" in one corner of the complex. We are in Rondebosch, one of the “southern suburbs” of Cape Town. Rondebosch is home to the University of Cape Town, which is nestled against Table Mountain. It is quite a beautiful sight! We look out our bedroom window at the mountain. Directly across the street from us is Rondebosch Commons, a large (about 100 acres) open area used by walkers and runners. It is renown for having Cape Flats sand fynbos, a vegetation type that exists nowhere else in the world. Interestingly, it was the site of a recent protest by advocacy groups for poor people who lack housing and employment and want the city/government to do more about the lack of equity and opportunity. The police were quick to disperse the crowd by spraying water dyed blue on the protesters and arresting some of them. That aside, this is really a lovely area. Most homes in this neighborhood (and actually most of Cape Town) are surrounded by security walls and gates. Most first floor windows and doors are barred. The homes all have security systems and signs that say "armed response." Home invasions have been a problem and you read about one or two every day in the newspaper.
One of many unique features of Cape Town is Table Mountain, which rises 1000 meters. It is an imposing line of peaks, a high plateau and mountains that run all the way south to the Cape of Good Hope. The city is laid out around the mountain and it is a good anchoring point when navigating your way through this city of 3 million people. During our first week, we lived through what locals called a “heat wave” – in the 90’s during the day, although cool in the evenings due to ocean breezes. There is always a breeze mostly coming out of the south. While the breeze is pleasant, it also blows in the cooler waters from the Antarctic. That means that the surfers are in wet suits and few people are swimming in the ocean. The two oceans – the Atlantic and the Indian are another remarkable feature of Cape Town.
We have spent most of these 2 weeks sightseeing – first, by the city’s metrorail system or by foot, and then by rental car. On our 3rd metrorail trip, we encountered on first robbery attempt (although we had expected this might happen). After Joan was pushed into a crowded car as the train was about to pull out (and Rob followed), someone unzipped the pocket of Rob’s shorts and took his wallet. He realized what was happening and immediately yelled, “He stole my wallet.” A skirmish ensued where about 5 other black and coloured riders wrestled down the thief, who dropped the wallet even as the thief’s accomplice was trying to pull him off the train. The robber lost his hat, backpack and jacket! As unnerving as this was, we were amazed (and gratified) by how quickly so many people responded to help us out. That is the part that stands out in our memories.
In addition to that bit of distress, we experienced the predictable stress of getting used to driving on the left side of the road, exacerbated by having an old rental car – a VW Golf with a stick shift, no power steering or air conditioning. We quickly upgraded to a car with AC, power steering and automatic. Cape Town is a charming combination of old and new buildings. The road systems are modern and the city is geared to tourists. Outdoor markets and long malls with shops and kiosks all provide opportunities to buy anything, from high priced clothing to cheap wooden giraffes. The harbor has been developed into a restaurant and shopping mall area. Large cruise ships dock there – most recently the Queen Elizabeth.
On our 2nd day, we opted for a cititour so that we could get a good overview of all that was in store for us. One moving site is vacant land adjacent to the City Centre known as District Six. This was a housing area occupied by mostly blacks that was torn down (except for the churches) during the apartheid era. Very little has been built on this land since the end of apartheid (1994), and it is a stark reminder of that period. Another stop on the tour was the cable car that goes to the top of Table Mountain. On many days, the mountain top is in encased by clouds while the rest of the city is in bright sunshine. We have returned to City Centre several times to visit the Victoria and Alfred waterfront, the Company Gardens (a beautiful park in the city’s centre – somewhat like NY’s Central Park – although smaller) and adjacent to Parliament, see some of the historic churches and buildings, visit craft markets and artists' shops, the South African National Art Gallery, and generally take in the ambience of the Capetonian lifestyle. Fish and seafood are abundant. At a nice fish shop close to our apartment, we found hake (the local white fish), as well as tuna, marlin, and swordfish. We have sampled several restaurants and all of the food has been outstanding! So we have been eating well!
After we upgraded to a better rental car, we began investigating the Peninsula area south of Cape Town. On the west Atlantic seaboard side, we visited Houk Bay, a large fishing village and vacation home area. From there, we drove north into the city, stopping at a quiet beach with lots of surfers and then into Camps Bay, an upscale neighborhood with a large beach. There was sun on shore, but a tight fog on the water – so not a good day for a boat trip. There are probably 10-15 different beaches along the Atlantic seaboard side. While we have yet to see whales, sharks, or penguins, there are certainly reports of them. The paper recently noted a shark attack that killed a swimmer and there have been several reports of drownings at some of these beaches. On another day we drove to the east side of the peninsula, the Indian Ocean side. There are some older communities there including a township area. Townships are the communities built to house blacks during apartheid and remain today as primary housing. This township, called Cape Flats, is several miles of absolutely flat terrain just east of the mountain range. We drove further south to Kalk Bay, another charming fishing village. The city's metrorail service reaches these areas after passing through the southern suburbs. We plan to adventure all the way to the Cape of Good Hope one of these weekends when there is not fog blocking the spectacular view from Chapman’s Peak we have read about. Most of the peninsula is a national park that includes Table Mountain and the range going south to the cape. Thus there is no development in these areas and few roads to travel on.
As you may know, SA is famous for its vineyards and wines. Within one of the southern suburbs, Constania, there are several vineyards and we visited a couple to sample the wine and take in the beautiful rural landscapes where grapes are growing in neat rows with mountains in the background. The buildings on the wine estates are also beautiful and several have highly rated restaurants – we will be visiting one on Valentine’s Day!
Some impressions. While blacks, coloureds and whites mix together in the venues we have seen, white Capetonians seem to be the wealthiest. Most of the government leadership is black since the ANC (African National Congress) is currently in power. Yet, Cape Town government is from an opposition party, the Democratic Alliance or DA and the Mayor is a white woman as are most of her department heads. South Africa is 79% black, 9% white, 9% coloured, and 3% Indian/Asian. Coloureds are persons who are descended from slaves brought into SA and most are mixed race. The Western Cape area has a slightly different racial mix with 50% coloured, 30% black, 18% white and 1% Indian/Asian. The primary language spoken in the home in the Western Cape area is Afrikanns, a Dutch based language spoken by whites, coloureds, and blacks. English is their second language and the language used in commerce and government. Only about 19% speak English in their homes.
Condom messages and condoms are everywhere. Since SA has the highest incidence of HIV/AIDS in the world and since it is only recently that the government gave up its efforts to deny that there was a relationship between HIV and AIDS, they are way behind in both treatment and prevention. So condom use is promoted on billboards and ads and free condoms are everywhere including in every train station. Yet HIV/AIDS remains such a serious problem. For example, 11% of all babies are born to mothers who are HIV positive.
Cape Town has both an English as well as Afrikaans language morning and evening newspaper. There are lots of ads for jobs as the SA economy is booming (at least compared to other parts of the world). The papers carry stories and headlines that titillate. There are many articles denouncing the lack of equity, injustices, and criminal activities. The TV channels we get are from SABC, the government broadcasting network and primarily offer SA soaps, old movies and several season-old US shows. Rob watched a long, long, cricket match and still is trying to understand the lingo. Football (soccer) and rugby are the other big sports in the area. Internet is available, but it is all run through the mobile phone system, and so it is quite expensive. It is much faster than we experienced in Ethiopia. We read the New York Times online and Rob checks MinnPost regularly for what's happening in MN. There is very little US news in the Cape Times, with much more coverage about Europe.
We have just met with our respective volunteer organizations and are very pleased with the people we will work with and the opportunities we will have. We will be writing more about this soon.
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