B's South Africa Writings
Meg and I are finishing up our trek through South Africa and I can speak for both of us when I say that we are not ready to go.
We arrived in Capetown last week and ended up at a beautiful and spotlessly clean hostel in a restored Victorian house within walking distance to the "young and hip" part of the city and in the shadow of Table Mountain.
We already knew that our list of things we wanted to do was longer than the time period we had, so our hostel's receptionist helped us sort things out. We immediately booked a township tour for the next day, we rented a car for a 3-day road trip outside of Capetown and we booked a Robben Island tour for when we returned.
The townships are areas outside of Capetown (and exist all throughout South Africa, as well) where black people were displaced during Apartheid. These barren areas are void of any real vegetation and the shacks that popped up to house the people are corrugated metal gardens, creating colorful and lively ghettos one passes when arriving in the city.
Our tour started at the District Six museum--an area of the city deemed a "whites only" area in the early 20th century from where numerous families were forced. Despite the injustice inflicted upon such families, the museum is a shrine to their lives, forgiveness and hope for the future.
We were then taken to three different townships where we were invited into the homes and businesses of the people. A man in our group asked at one point if it was uncomfortable for the residents to have people traipsing through their neighborhoods as the objects of tourism. The reply was no, that they were proud to have us there and that the more people we tell about their plight, the more awareness we can create. Since the recent end of Apartheid, the South African government is trying to build homes for these people and indoctrinate them back into the cities, but there are so many of them and they had so much taken away that it is going to be a long process.
My favorite part of the tour was our stop at a kindergarten, where the children clung to us, sang for us and were amazed by our cameras. It was obvious they were used to tourists, as when we entered, the first thing we heard was a chorus of "Cheese!"
Meg and I found a store back in Capetown called MonkeyBiz. All of the crafts in the store are created by women in the townships and sold in the store so that they can still stay home to take care of their families but have a source of income, as well. The store provides the women with all of the materials and asks only for their talents. Needless to say, we've already made two successful shopping trips there!
The day we left for our road trip, I was quite sick with a sinus infection and was becoming increasingly nervous about driving a standard transmission with my left hand and on the left side of the road. We had clicked immediately with one of our roommates, an English girl who's been traveling the world alone for the past year. She decided to join us and offered to drive "on the wrong side of the road" for us, as she is accustomed.
We had a beautiful day's drive to a town called Oudtshoorn, which is the unofficial ostrich capital of South Africa. The hostel there was nicer than most hotels I've stayed in and served a delicious ostrich egg breakfast! The next day we took a tour of an ostrich farm where we got to ride them. Riding an ostrich is probably one of the least graceful activities I've ever done in my life.
That morning we also saw the Cango caves, which are pretty cool as far as caves go. Later in the afternoon we went to a wildlife park where we not only saw a number of exotic animals, but got to enter the cheetah cage and pet two cheetahs. Apparently, cheetahs really like humans and are pretty much giant kitties who could rip your face off if they wanted to.
That night we drove to Wilderness and stayed at another gorgeous hostel overlooking the ocean. Wilderness also has some great nature reserves, but we didn't have the time to really stop, so we admired the scenery on our drive back to Capetown.
After returning to Capetown, Meg and I went on a tour of Robben Island--the infamous island penitentary where Nelson Mandela and other political prisoners were kept toward the end of Apartheid. The fascinating tour was actually led by a former prisoner who had been held there in the 80's when he was 20-25 years old. As with the townships, there was an overwhelming spirit of forgiveness.
We've also enjoyed the nightlife here, going out a couple of times to local bars. The people are amazing and friendly. A few fellow travelers have been very fearful of the area until they've ventured out and actually met people--Meg and I feel that we're safer here than in L.A.!
Tomorrow we are taking a day-tour down to the Cape of Good Hope with a brief stop in Simon's Town, known for its penguin colony. The next day it's an extremely early-morning flight to Mumbai (we'll actually be in transit for two days), but we're just not ready to go. Guess that means I'll just have to come back...
We arrived in Capetown last week and ended up at a beautiful and spotlessly clean hostel in a restored Victorian house within walking distance to the "young and hip" part of the city and in the shadow of Table Mountain.
We already knew that our list of things we wanted to do was longer than the time period we had, so our hostel's receptionist helped us sort things out. We immediately booked a township tour for the next day, we rented a car for a 3-day road trip outside of Capetown and we booked a Robben Island tour for when we returned.
The townships are areas outside of Capetown (and exist all throughout South Africa, as well) where black people were displaced during Apartheid. These barren areas are void of any real vegetation and the shacks that popped up to house the people are corrugated metal gardens, creating colorful and lively ghettos one passes when arriving in the city.
Our tour started at the District Six museum--an area of the city deemed a "whites only" area in the early 20th century from where numerous families were forced. Despite the injustice inflicted upon such families, the museum is a shrine to their lives, forgiveness and hope for the future.
We were then taken to three different townships where we were invited into the homes and businesses of the people. A man in our group asked at one point if it was uncomfortable for the residents to have people traipsing through their neighborhoods as the objects of tourism. The reply was no, that they were proud to have us there and that the more people we tell about their plight, the more awareness we can create. Since the recent end of Apartheid, the South African government is trying to build homes for these people and indoctrinate them back into the cities, but there are so many of them and they had so much taken away that it is going to be a long process.
My favorite part of the tour was our stop at a kindergarten, where the children clung to us, sang for us and were amazed by our cameras. It was obvious they were used to tourists, as when we entered, the first thing we heard was a chorus of "Cheese!"
Meg and I found a store back in Capetown called MonkeyBiz. All of the crafts in the store are created by women in the townships and sold in the store so that they can still stay home to take care of their families but have a source of income, as well. The store provides the women with all of the materials and asks only for their talents. Needless to say, we've already made two successful shopping trips there!
The day we left for our road trip, I was quite sick with a sinus infection and was becoming increasingly nervous about driving a standard transmission with my left hand and on the left side of the road. We had clicked immediately with one of our roommates, an English girl who's been traveling the world alone for the past year. She decided to join us and offered to drive "on the wrong side of the road" for us, as she is accustomed.
We had a beautiful day's drive to a town called Oudtshoorn, which is the unofficial ostrich capital of South Africa. The hostel there was nicer than most hotels I've stayed in and served a delicious ostrich egg breakfast! The next day we took a tour of an ostrich farm where we got to ride them. Riding an ostrich is probably one of the least graceful activities I've ever done in my life.
That morning we also saw the Cango caves, which are pretty cool as far as caves go. Later in the afternoon we went to a wildlife park where we not only saw a number of exotic animals, but got to enter the cheetah cage and pet two cheetahs. Apparently, cheetahs really like humans and are pretty much giant kitties who could rip your face off if they wanted to.
That night we drove to Wilderness and stayed at another gorgeous hostel overlooking the ocean. Wilderness also has some great nature reserves, but we didn't have the time to really stop, so we admired the scenery on our drive back to Capetown.
After returning to Capetown, Meg and I went on a tour of Robben Island--the infamous island penitentary where Nelson Mandela and other political prisoners were kept toward the end of Apartheid. The fascinating tour was actually led by a former prisoner who had been held there in the 80's when he was 20-25 years old. As with the townships, there was an overwhelming spirit of forgiveness.
We've also enjoyed the nightlife here, going out a couple of times to local bars. The people are amazing and friendly. A few fellow travelers have been very fearful of the area until they've ventured out and actually met people--Meg and I feel that we're safer here than in L.A.!
Tomorrow we are taking a day-tour down to the Cape of Good Hope with a brief stop in Simon's Town, known for its penguin colony. The next day it's an extremely early-morning flight to Mumbai (we'll actually be in transit for two days), but we're just not ready to go. Guess that means I'll just have to come back...