Cruising Cape Town

South Africa started with a bang - literally. At 5 am we awoke to everything on our table sliding off onto the ground. Luckily we had our drawers taped shut or we never would have fallen back to sleep. Then at breakfast, the waters were so rough that at one point everyone’s plates slid off the tables. All the while we were sitting just outside the harbor because it was too rough to go in. Crazy. But the view as we pulled in was priceless. Cape Town reminds me a lot of Baltimore, if the Inner Harbor had mountains in the background, colonial-era buildings, and African bands playing along the waterfront.

The first day I stayed on the ship initially to listen to readings of three South African authors - don’t ask me their names, I can’t remember or spell them. Then I had a SAS trip to the District 6 Museum and the Langa township. You can’t really understand the severity of the townships until you see it. It was a strange mix of unspeakable poverty and incongruent wealth. No one in the townships has to pay rent, so sometimes people stay there so they can save money to spend on other things - like a Mercedes Benz, for instance. Then there is the incredible sense of community; because the homes were so small, children ended up having to play outside, so every adult on the street was in charge of making sure they were safe and behaving. And if one child was lucky enough to have a bike, they had to share with everyone. We got to see inside one of the men’s hostels - the men were moved here so that the government could have control over the population and still have people to do their dirty work. Three men lived in a room about half the size of my cabin; later, the government allowed their families to move with them, which meant that there were around 15 people per room. Most of those families moved out after apartheid ended because the conditions were so horrible, worse than anywhere else in the townships. They moved in the shanty towns, which were purposely set up on the edges of the townships along the highway. The government had built nicer homes along the edges, so that the view from the airport didn’t really show the injustice.

The second day my roommate Catherine and I explored the waterfront in the morning and then got a tour out to Cape Point in the afternoon. We stopped at Simon’s Beach to see the Jackass Penguins. We even saw a baby penguin hiding in its nest with its mom, and daddy penguin was outside guarding. They were all just hanging out watching us, totally unfazed that we were inches away from them. Then we went down to the Cape of Good Hope and Cape Point, where the views were incredible. We saw some ostriches along the way - that means I have now seen an ostrich in every country so far haha. But the real entertainment was the baboons. There were around 10 of them on the side of the road, and some other tourists were tossing food out their window to them. The baboon was not content with that snack, so he jumped in their window and started going to town on their carrots and lettuce! The women jumped out of the van screaming, and the men were trying to shoo him out but he would not budge. Finally the baboon jumped out and tore apart the bag of carrots, and all the other baboons started fighting over the food. Security came and the baboon-feeder was trying to lie about what happened, but our tour guide ratted him out. It was hysterical to watch, but I’m glad it didn’t happen to me!

Sunday I went to Ratunga Junction! An amusement park! It was great. They have one of the highest log flume rides in the world, apparently, and some good coasters. Plus we got to see a hip-hop fusion dance performance and an illusionist haha. The dancers were actually really good, surprisingly. Their b-boys had some impressive moves and their popper could have held his own on SYTYCD. The illusionist was funny and a good entertainer, but I saw through all of his tricks. We also walked through the largest mall in Africa.

Monday the plan was to go up Table Mountain in the morning, but it was drizzling and the top was completely covered in fog, so we couldn’t go. So Ashton and I headed out to the winelands earlier. Our cab driver was actually born in District 6. She was one of the last families to move out in 1978. She took us to a tasting at Neethlingshoff Estates, and then we did a brandy tasting at Van Ryn’s. I am not a brandy fan, but it was quite the experience, learning to melt the chocolate in your mouth and then mix it with the brandy. We went to Moyo for lunch, and incredible buffet restaurant in treehouses and tents. Performers came and sang at our table and we got our faces painted. Then even gave us a free postcard that they then mailed for us! Talk about service! Right next door to it is a cheetah rehabilitation center; they take in cheetahs that have been hurt or cubs that have been abandoned. They had 5 baby cheetahs that were the cutest things ever.

Tuesday I went out to Robben Island. Our tour guide was one of the students arrested in the 70s. In the prison, they kept the older generation separated from the younger generation, and the political leaders from the others, but the convicts were kept with the political prisoners - go figure. It wasn’t until the 70s when the Red Cross started interfering that the convicts were moved. The Red Cross also stopped the practice of moving the political leaders from cell to cell so they wouldn’t get too comfortable or used to their surroundings. Even though the cells were right next to each other, they couldn’t talk, and their windows were barricaded so they couldn’t even see each other. The only time they could talk was when they were at work in the lime quarry - the guards were stationed up above, and the work was so loud they couldn’t hear. So the men took to standing in lines of seven, with the two on the end actually working to cover up the sounds of talking and the five in the middle just going through the motions. When someone was due to be released, they started memorizing information to take back to the mainland and spread around. The government didn’t know how the resistance movement was becoming so united when they were keeping such a close watch on the people on the mainland. They never suspected it was happening on Robben Island, right under their watch. More impressive than Nelson Mandela’s cell to me was the Robert Sobukwe house. He was considered public enemy #1, and yet his name is barely known, even in South Africa. He started the Pan African Congress, which led a protest against the pass books that every black person was required to carry. Even this demonstration, which effectively started the apartheid resistance, is not remembered in South Africa. The government considered him so dangerous that they built a house for him, away from the rest of the prison, and kept him imprisoned until his death. He could have a visit with a priest once every 2 months, and with his family once every 6 months. When he was dying from cancer, the government moved him to a prison on the mainland, but only because they feared if he died on Robben Island it would gain public attention and he would become a martyr. He died in a still violent South Africa, with little recognition for his accomplishments and without seeing his mission completed.

Wednesday was the day that overshadowed the entire trip in South Africa, because Archbishop Desmond Tutu came on board and I got to listen to him speak for an hour! It sounds silly, but there’s really no word better fit to describe him than adorable: he is a tiny man, and when he would make a joke he would cover his mouth, giggle to himself, and tiptoe around. He spoke about how wonderful young people are, and how we should be celebrating how many young people do good in the world, not concentrating on those who have messed up. The best part for me was when he talked about his experience on SAS; he said how much SAS changed him and made him a more caring person, showing him how interconnected we all are - if even Desmond Tutu came away from SAS a better person, none of us stand a chance (in a good way)!

Today I just went out for one more nice lunch and to spend the rest of my Rand. I made sure to get back on the ship early because all of the safaris start coming back at 3:30, and anyone not on a SAS trip is sure to get dock time if they’re stuck in that line. Now vacation time is over and it’s back to writing papers and reading, sighhhhh. Luckily I made some grocery store trips and stocked up on enough snacks to last me to India and beyond. I couldn’t last 11 days at sea without Simba chippies! I miss each and every one of you!