So after a wonderful stint in east Africa we finally headed south to Cape Town for a few days of "western civilization" before heading to Asia. Arriving there was a culture shock to say the least and I think I can say we definitely found the backpackers Mecca of the continent. Cape town is a dead mix between Sydney and Queenstown.
The beautiful guest house we stayed in was plastered with posters offering: mountain treks, bungee jumping, motorcycle excursions, and package deals with half-day sky-diving with wine tasting in the afternoon or great white shark cage diving with horseback riding or deep sea fishing combined with bongo drumming and cooking classes. decisions decisions...
To tell you the truth we were just happy basking in the creature comforts of home- after holes in the ground as bathrooms and mosquito nets and malaria medication we were now in a place with down comforters, crown molding, cinnamon lattes and lovely, shiny, sparkling porcelain pottys with seats. Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh...... lovely.
The topography of Cape Town is absolutely gorgeous. Nestled between the base of the mountains and the crashing ocean waves this seaside metropolis treated us to blue skies and perfect chilly weather almost the whole time we were there. The city is very cosmopolitan with expensive boutique stores, Ian Shrager hotels, martini lounges and sidewalk cafes. It’s immaculate and fresh and colorful with a combination of Dutch architecture mixed with what looks like French ornamentation (picture the wide porches and elaborate rod iron of new Orleans). It’s also clearly a very wealthy city with massive glass homes built up the cliff faces overlooking the sea and plenty of convertible BMW’s and Mercedes zooming around the hairpin curves that connect the city's neighborhoods.
The Victoria and Albert waterfront is the tourist heart of the city (San Francisco’s Pier 39) and it is an impressive complex of modern glittering glass buildings, upscale restaurants and brick walkways with different African tribal groups singing and dancing and selling their beautiful handicrafts. This is where the ferry leaves for robbin island where Mandela was a prisoner for so many years.
And so our walk through the living history book continued - Angelo and I spent the whole afternoon in the museum learning about Mandela, the apartheid system, the fight for freedom and the state of the country today. Mandela’s autobiography is called The Long Walk To Freedom (there is an abridged version as well) and I highly recommend reading it. The more I learned about him, the more I couldn't believe what I read. What an absolutely incredible testament to the courage, light and spirit that humanity is capable of. We scheduled a tour of the prison for the next day but unfortunately the skies opened up and the boat could not cross over the turbulent water and our tour was cancelled.
Instead we rented a little red rabbit (circa 1986) and bombed around the countryside making pit stops at Camp’s Bay, the dramatic Cape of Good Hope, the penguin colony at Simon’s Town and then on to Stellenbosch for some wine tasting by big roaring fires. Ohhh yes dahling- all quite civilized indeed. The wine country there is pretty much like Napa- huge towering mountains overlooking the vineyards and loads of ostriches, wilder beasts and zebras roaming around. One of the wineries we stopped at even had a cheetah reserve on it. Like I said, just like home.
Over all, the few days in Cape Town were relaxing, informative and lovely and then on the last day there driving home from the vineyards, Angelo and I stumbled upon South Africa’s dirty little secret.
Exiting the vineyard we turned onto a highway and were shocked beyond belief at what we saw. "Townships" which is a polite word for "slum" extended as far as the eye could see. Football fields and football fields of shantytown homes made up of cardboard, plastic bags and corrugated metal festered like a shabby gangrene quilt in the middle of this beaming and prosperous city. Lines of laundry hung between shelters over the open sewage and mud that serves as the foundation for these people's day-to-day lives. Meanwhile, overhead, billboards for Chanel, Land Rovers and Sotheby's Real Estate illuminated the evening and shed light across the expanse of the forgotten. We drove for over 30 minutes on this highway back to Cape Town and the township continued on for the entire drive. On this trip, we have seen a lot of poor poor people but I have never seen it juxtaposed this closely with such a rich and prosperous environment. I felt the bile rise. This beautiful city of glass, commerce and luxury built on the broken backs and blood of slave labor and the brutal regime of apartheid so recently slayed.
The democracy here is brand new and there is a long way to go to improve the lives of the millions of black and other ethnic minorities still living in the aftermath of the oppression. I can only hope that current government leaders of South Africa follow in Mandela’s footsteps and keep fighting for progress and justice.
And as we leave this continent of Africa, glorious and rich in land and tradition, tortured and lost in centuries of civil war and oppression, I pray that the light of humanity and action on the part of both foreigners and the people who live here will find a path that leads to a century of peace, equality and stability. Inshallah.
