April
11th,
2011 (February 2011) – Although not planned we ended up
making it all the way to the Mother City (Cape
Town)
on the morning we left Oudtshoorn. And since we did not plan on being
there that day we had no plan for sleeping. So we did the most
logical thing, drove around aimlessly for hours once we arrived.
After
driving for some weeks outside of major metropolitan areas I was not
quite prepared to face Cape Town traffic. This explains why I
basically drove right through it until we hit the Atlantic and the
coastal suburbs. We stopped by the sea to get our bearings and ate
lunch in what felt like a mini-hurricane. It can get a little windy
on the west side of Table
Mountain.
It was our first view of the so called ‘Table Cloth’, the
signature cloud cover that often obscures the top of the mountain.
For
the hell of it we decided to head south, down the coast, in hopes of
finding a place to stay outside the hustle and bustle that is Cape
Town, at least for a night or two. The drive along the coast is
stunning and well worth the time although had we known the most
interesting part is actually a toll road we would have saved it for
another day. We came up empty in our search for lodging so we made
our way back to Cape Town. The hilly terrain, one way streets, fairly
tumultuous traffic, and my lack of ability in the manual transmission
realm made for a stressful afternoon. We did manage to find a place
(overpriced as usual) but the parking situation in town is less than
ideal. Not only that, we were told not to leave anything of value
visible in our vehicle. Welcome to Cape Town.
Cape
Town is undoubtedly a fascinating place with a rich history, unique
culture, and eclectic population (sounds like the brochure). It is
also overrun with tourists. Good for Cape Town, bad for folks like
us. It is also not cheap and much of the area does have a bit of a
claustrophobic feel to it. Still, I can certainly see the draw.
A day
or so was spent getting orientating ourselves, finding a better place
to stay, and extending the contract on our car. That turned into Avis
Rental Car: The Saga Continues. They do try harder….to confuse
the bejesus out of you!! I’ll save that story for another post.
Suffice it to say we swapped our VW Polo Vivo for a shiny white
Chevrolet Spark. Just looking at it made me want to go balls to the
wall. It’s not just a spark, it’s an inferno!! Luckily, it came
with air-conditioning.
As
far as lodging goes we landed at Scalabrini
Guesthouse for three nights. The guesthouse is located above
the Scalabrini Center, a welfare organization that offers training
and assistance to Cape Town’s disadvantaged. All of the profits
from the guesthouse benefit the center. It is has excellent
facilities and its rooms are reasonably priced. Staying there may
just warm the cockles of your heart.
One
of our first explorations included the District
Six Museum. District Six is the name given to the inner city area
of Cape Town that once housed around ten percent of the city’s
population. Its denizens were extremely diverse and included
immigrants, former slaves, merchants, and just about anyone from a
non-Caucasian background. It was to become the very essence of
injustice during the apartheid regime when forced relocations began
in 1968. The “dangerous” intermingling of races and its status as
a a den of sin were the official reasons given for the removals but
in the end it was more about prime real estate than anything else. In
the ‘70s over 60,000 people were kicked out. The irony is that the
area was never redeveloped due to the controversial nature of the
removal and the international attention it garnered. After apartheid
ended a trust was set up to begin settling claims of former
residents.
We
began the next morning with a drive out onto the Cape
of Good Hope with
a breakfast picnic stop on a spectacular beach along the way. Even
the three lumps of sand in our coffee courtesy of the wind were not
enough to spoil that scene. If I had to recommend a ‘must do’ it
would be renting a car and driving out onto the cape with plenty of
stops along the way. Take your time. Take it in. Stand upon the
cliffs near Cape Point and let the wind envelope you, the shimmering
azure sea mesmerize you, and try to imagine being the first human to
ever lay eyes upon it.
No comments:
Post a Comment
'Love me or hate me, but spare me your indifference.' -- Libbie Fudim