Cape Town Ends

Last Night In Cape Town... Ugh...am full!!   I thought I’d splurge on a big dinner my last night in Cape Town... and boy did I do it!   Shared dinner at Mama Africa’s Restaurant in downtown Cape Town with one of my “new” Australian friends.  Took a taxi to her hotel and then to the restaurant.  We ordered the multiple grill platter of:  Ostrich (odd texture but tasty), Kudu (good), Springbok (the best), and Crocodile (very fatty) plus a non-alcoholic beverage called Ega (from grapes, pomegranate, and South African Rooibos Tea).   

The day turned out to be a very full one.  First with a look at the District 6 area in downtown Cape Town, that was where they demolished people's homes at will and displaced over 60,000 people when apartheid began.  Which as I understand it was the beginning of the creation of the townships.  We then were driven to Langa, and Nyanga - 2 of the nearby townships (areas of the city like our shanty towns but with immense populations... anywhere from 250,000 to 400,000 and more!!!).  We actually walked around the areas and met some of the people living there. 

 At the end we were taken to a “township” pub and given a taste of home brewed beer (from maize). 

 It was in a metal bucket and we all took a sip from the bucket.  I even met the lady that had brewed it for us, who said she'd been doing it for more than 16 years.  I think we all had the same "hesitation" in trying it, but after the first fellow was game we all were and it actually was quite good after you got through the inches of froth.  

Later that same day, after lunch our group had a 45 minute ferry ride to Robben Island, about 12 k off the coast.  This is where Nelson Mandela was held as a political prisoner for the majority of his 27 years imprisonment.  Part of the tour was given by a gentleman that had actually been imprisoned in that very prison for more than 5 years.  Conditions were VERY harsh.  They didn’t even have beds, only mats on the floor for years.  Some had no shoes only shorts, no long pants.  Believe me it gets COLD here.  Even today with the sun, there was a chill in the air.  Amazing how he manages to do the tours now.  He said it took him quite a while before he agreed to do them, but in some way it has now helped him to heal.  

Nelson Madella's Cell for 17 years  

There is also a type of shrine relating to a Muslim leader that died on the island in the 1700's, so there were a number of ladies along in dark burkas.  There is a large Muslim population here.  Apparently the early slaves that the Dutch brought in were from India, Indonesia, and Java.

On Boat to Robben Island with Cape Town's Table Mountain in Background

 It's been a bit rainy off and on while I’ve been here, but today was a brilliant sunny day and I got lots of pictures which I will share when I can get them out of the camera.  Seeing Cape Town from the water with the mountains as its backdrop is quite impressive.  Yesterday after taking a RED BUS (a double decker city bus)  tour of the city on my own  in the morning, I was driven to a nearby town about 45 minutes outside of Cape Town, an old, quaint Dutch settlement called, Stellenbausch after which we had yet another stop at a winery (had done one the day before after I walked around the Kirstenbosch National Botanical Garden ), only this time we got a tour of their cellar and how the wine was made  along with special CHOCOLATES!  A truly interesting way of presenting their wines!   It was the Lanzerac Winery.  They set out 5 wine glasses with 5 pieces of specially made chocolate to compliment the wine and you were to drink and nibble... don’t have to ask me twice!  It was super and the last one was big surprise... a liqueur / wine (?) made from honey... amazing. 

So, now it's pack up time and head back to Pretoria.  Tomorrow I fly back and the difference in the amount of freedom one has to move about will be even more striking to me now.  Walking around Cape Town in the daytime is quite safe.  Not necessarily so in Pretoria, and especially not I'm told in Joberg.  Sooo... we'll see when I can get my next post done, as I cannot easily get to the Internet Cafe, even though it's in the mall just across the street.  I am not to walk by myself outside the compound, and he's not even sure I can leave without his say so.  Once out, I can't get back in unless they call him at work, (they use a biometric scan each time - he scans his fingerprint upon entry and leaving)  which means he has to be available to take the call or I stay out until he does.!!