Barry and I have definitely discovered our inner African selves and we love this land so much. I am not sure what it was that we were expecting in Cape Town, but it wasn't what we found. We were astounded with the beauty, the modernity and the wealth of things to do and the safety of the place. Durban has more crime, because of its proximity to Mozambique where the drug trade flourishes. Our friends Maxine and Mal, who we met last year on the World Cruise, and who live in Toronto, joined us in Cape Town and will complete our cruise with us. They had arrived in this city on April 1st and so they were the scouts, and they made some fantastic arrangements for us. I am going to treat our visit in one blog posting.
The weather was the only disappointment, because it was cool, overcast and it often rained, but the second day, the sun came out late afternoon, and it allowed us to finally see Table Mountain and the coast. The city itself is surrounded by mountains that are about 1300 metres high - very old, worn down ones, that are bare of vegetation above the tree line and Table Mountain (which gets its name from the flat top it has) and gives the coastline it's magnificent backdrop. The city is spread between the mountains and the ocean. This is where the Indian Ocean and the Atlantic meet, and the waters are cold (10 degrees) and the pounding surf and huge swells, are part of the treacherous seas that have been the cause of many shipwrecks before the Suez Canal was built, and the only path for ships was to round the Cape of Good Hope. Whales, and Great White Sharks abound here, although the whales were not in residence at this time of year. Darwin was said to be amazed at how the warm current from the East African coast, that I spoke of a few days ago, met here with the cold northbound Antarctic currents. Over the mountains just a few miles away the ocean is the much warmer southbound current which is warmed as it flows down the east coast of Africa. So while the beaches are beautiful, they are really only used for walking and gazing at, for not many would dare to swim. Our friends Jeff and Corrine were going to go down to the Cape of Good Hope to swim in shark cages with the Great White, but their trip was cancelled due to heavy seas caused by a storm, that thankfully was south of us, but which was providing this cool, and choppy water weather.
Barry, Karen and I were picked up on Sunday morning by John, from Big Blue Sky who took us out to Franschhoek wine country which was an hour north, to meet Maxine and Mal who were staying in the French Quarter. John was our driver and guide for the full 3 days, and what a find he was. He is a former Headmaster and English teacher, born north of the old Rhodesia (Zimbabwe), and he not only loves this country but is so knowledgeable and eloquent about the history and the sites. Cecil Rhodes (of the Rhodes Scholarship fame) had a huge influence here, as did the emigrating French Huguenots, the Dutch and the English.
Maxine and Mal's hotel was really stunning, a little french style treasure with lush gardens, and shocking pink and purple lounge chairs surrounding a pool, and they had a separate area with their own pool, and sumptuous rooms with thick silk curtains hung at the windows. We and they were impressed.
We spent two days in wine country, which was a change from our original plan, so gorgeous was the area, with so many very fine vineyards to visit - 400 in all. We visited the Franschhoek, the Stellenbosch and the Paarl regions. John chose a range of vineyards from the most elegant and sophisticated Delaire, owned by the famous British diamond jeweller, Graaf, to more humble and rustic ones, but each with its own charm, uniqueness and excellent wine. I am sitting at our desk in our cabin with 5 cases (6 bottles in each) under my feet at the desk, and a few more in other boxes. We decided we would just pay the duty, and the biggest issue will be how to pack it so we can get it off the ship. The prices were unbelievably affordable - ranging from $7 US to $35 for one of the best. Compare this with every bottle we bought in New Zealand being $35.
Delaire's was stunning - set up on a hill, surrounded by exquisite landscaping, it's main building where the wine tasting occurs is constructed of dry stone walls and glass doors and huge glass windows overlooking the mountains and valleys and black cauldrons of flame that are on either side of the entrance. Very dramatic. The art collection is world class - all contemporary paintings and sculpture. We tasted 7 wines here. Day one we went to 4 vineyards, including the spot where we ate lunch, overlooking the gardens on an open porch with huge wooden tables, whose chairs were draped with blankets for the guests to wrap around our shoulders to ward off the chill "autumn" air.
We sped home to the ship to quickly change and go out for dinner, where we picked up Jonathan. We taxied to the Victoria and Alfred (the latter was Queen Victoria's son, who was a naval guy and often came here), which is a big mall on the waterfront, where we had dinner at a fantastic seafood place that Maxine and Mal had scoped out before we arrived. I had giant langoustines (huge prawns) from Mozambique, and Barry shared them along with some scallops. It was so nice to have our friends with us, and to enjoy such a great evening.
Day 2, just Jonathan and Karen joined us, although he was feeling slightly under the weather. The weather was socked in, and we gamely tried to see the vista of the city from Table Mountain, but the fog put a damper on that. We drove along the coast seeing the very very impressive and expensive real estate that lines this spectacular coast. Once apartheid was over, international money came pouring back in, and this area has some of the finest homes we have seen anywhere. Some are built on the steep cliffs, with their car garages on top and elevators taking them down to their homes.
We climbed over the mountain ridge and onto the highway that leads up north, built by Cecil Rhodes on our way to Paarl. Rhodes was a remarkable young man who was born in England of very modest means, and was studying law at Cambridge when, at age 20 he came to Cape Town to visit his brother. This young man, who was gay (but unable to admit it to himself, or be public) was such a smart and commanding person, that he quickly sized up the business opportunities and it is told that even men, old enough to be his grandfather, happily worked and followed his leadership. By the age of 30 he had amassed a fortune, by buying up 18 farms or more in the valleys that are now the vineyards, and mining for gold, and diamonds . De Beers, which corners the market in diamonds was begun by Cecil. His vision was to build a road and railroad from Cape Town to Cairo. He managed to complete as far as the coast off Zanzibar before he died at 48. We learned that their is a luxury train (Rovos) that takes 2 weeks to do the trip - and now we are all fantasizing about returning to do that trip, do the Serengeti to see the big animal migrations, and another safari in Botswana. Yes we have been bitten by the African love bug.
Our first vineyard was Fairview, whose owner Back has a great sense of humour. When the "french wine police" wouldn't allow him to name his wine "Cote du Rhone" because only wine produced in the French area can use the name, he marketed his wine as "Goats do Roam". He has 2 goats in a pen, with a tall tower, that they can either climb on the outside, or go into and sit high up in the tower. This amused us greatly. The wine tasting here consisted of 8 fabulous wines, tasted with 8 of their locally made goat and cow cheeses, and accompanied with 3 olive oils and breads to cleanse our palettes between wines. We barely escaped with our wallets from here.
By now we thought we should eat lunch and we went to Franschhoek to a little French restaurant where we had a wonderful meal, in this very charming village where we had started our day, the day before. The architecture here is distinct, and consists of very simple white washed structures, with thatch roof and green trim. John took us to the prison where Nelson Mandala walked to freedom in 1994, and where there is a great sculpture depicting that moment when he left after 27 years. We didn't go to Robben Island, which is where he spent most of that time, because it is now a museum, and takes 4 hours on a cold ferry and we decided with advise from John, there were other ways to pay homage and witness to this great man.
We were still intent on seeing the view from Table Mountain, so we headed back to the city and lo and behold the sun was out, and we had great success, going to the coast and up the mountain for some picture taking. By now we were later than we had planned as we were going out again for dinner as it was a celebration of our 25th Wedding Anniversary (on the next day which is April 9th) and we were joined by Jonathan, Karen, Maxine, Mal, and Steve and Tom - the latter whose 8th Anniversary was being celebrated that evening as well. These two men who now live in Miami, Florida, were married in Toronto. We have come to enjoy their company immensely. Maxine had chosen, with the help of their Cape Town hotel concierge, The Savoy Cabbage. Cape Town is very sophisticated and this restaurant features locally grown vegetables and local meat and fish, with a menu that changes daily. We were all extremely adventuresome - I had Warthog for my main course, which is like pork, although I wish I had taken the Eland which is my new favourite meat.
Day 3 Maxine, Barry and I had a morning tour of the Langa Township where 176,000 black families still live mostly in dire poverty. I cannot say just how glad we are that we did this tour, because it impressed upon us the courage of these people who endured 40 years of Apartheid government, and who are now trying to lift themselves out of abject poverty, and human deprivation on all levels. What strikes one about South Africa, is how little enmity exists among the people. Somehow the program of forgiveness that Mandala spearheaded, has allowed everyone to move forward from these very dark years. Make no mistake there is still enormous hardship, but now people are free to have education, dignity and work. I am not sure how many Townships there are, but the one we visited was built in 1923 to house the migrant black workers brought by the Boers to work in the mines and the fields. Women and children could not live here, and the men were only allowed to go home to visit their families once a year for 3 weeks. In the 1980s women and children were allowed to move in, and the women had not had any education, and they were desperate for extra money. Today, seventy per cent of all private industry in the Township is attributed to the entrepreneurialism of these brave women, who would be my age and older.
Our guide was a young man, who lives here, and he was excellent. We spent 2.5 hours with him and he wove his story as we journeyed through the neighbourhoods. We started at the information centre, where there is an artist school and co-operative. We listened to the artists instructors explain their program, which gives the young people a basis to learn a craft and how to run a business, and then supports them while they set up in the city or country. We bought two great paintings from one of the male artists and some pottery from one woman.
Maxine took a tour of the Mumbai slums last year, which I did not do, but she said that was more depressing because the "homes" are stacked 4 high, and so it is very dark and damp. Although the grinding poverty we witnessed here is difficult to see, we also were deeply inspired - by the pride and the industry of the people. Everyone is busy working. Children were setting off to school. Those living in the shipping containers which are used as temporary housing, keep their living quarters spotlessly tidy, as do the 3 individual families inhabiting the 1923 brick hostel rooms that are about 8 feet by 8 feet. These people graciously allowed us in to their homes. Young children, not yet in school ran out and hugged us, and the class of 80 or so pre-schoolers put on a dance and singing show for us. There are many NGO's working in here on education, health and other programs. Yes there is garbage in some areas, and yes the most depressing sight was the very old woman, about to cook and boil the sheep heads that are discarded by the butchers, covered in flies, for a much prized meat dish. On the outskirts are the individually owned new homes, which our guide called "the Beverly Hills of the Township", but beyond that is where he lives - which are the homes built on squatters land out of lumber, tar paper and scraps, while they wait to move into the hostels or shipping containers. He also told us about his tribal and clan customs - he had the top of this little finger chopped off at the age of 5, and all men are secretly circumcised at the age of 18 by hand, to teach them about how to be a man. While these stories kept us mute, and while we were told the government is trying to end them, unsuccessfully, we did try to listen to the wisdom that is behind these barbaric customs. We learned a lot and we left just as the heavens opened up in the torrential rains that cause flooding in those horrible little tarpaper shacks.
We dropped Barry off at the ship, and Maxine and John and I grabbed a great coffee in a neighbourhood that was originally developed for the Malay workers who were too poor to buy new paint, and so scrounged whatever they could and today these little homes retain their customary colourful purples, pinks, yellow and blue hues. We visited Monkeybiz - a store that sells the beautiful beaded work of the local people and cuts out the middleman, so that the artists get the profits, then we went to the Green Market area, where we fell into one of the most beautiful stores I have ever seen in my life - Tribal Trends. Maxine and I just stood at the entrance, mouths agape, wishing we could transport it home. The quality and range of the products was extremely high end and we spent our last hour just ogling and admiring everything. We reluctantly said goodbye to John, and we promised to return.
For those who are planning a trip to Cape Town, I highly recommend Big Blue Sky Tours, - John Lawrence, Managing Director, - john@bigblueskytours.co.za or go to www.bigbluesky.co.za
Our cabin was a disaster - with wine cartons and packages all over, so we tidied up, and got ready for dinner, in between a mandatory face to face South African immigration inspection and the requisite lifeboat drill, when new passengers embark. Just as I was dressing Jonathan announced that we might want to rush to the decks to see the Queen Mary 2 which was sailing in between the breakwaters. Barry got some great shots, and I peered at this huge beauty out our cabin window, then again off the stern as we sailed away from the wonderful city of Cape Town.
One day at sea, then 2 days in Namibia.
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