South Africa: Day One

We pulled into Cape Town around 8AM on April 31st. I was up eating breakfast as we came in and watched as we passed Robbens Island where Nelson Mandela was imprisoned for 27 years, then the newly constructed 2010 FIFA World Cup stadium and then pulled into the harbor for a great early morning view of Table Mountain, tablecloth and all.

South Africa quickly turned out to be nearly everyone’s favorite port. I think it has something to do with the language and feel of the port. After so many months away from home, crossing through Asian countries where we didn’t understand the currency, menus or directions, Cape Town felt like home. Everyone spoke English and it was clean. My experience in South Africa did not include filthy squat toilets where you had to provide your own toilet paper. It did not include guessing at the menu. In a way, it wasn’t as exotic as some of my other experiences on this voyage, but I think that’s something I needed…a little boost of familiarity and a great port to turn 21.

When we finally got off the ship (there were a bunch of seals and jellyfish in the water!) Helen and I went on Professor Sumner’s FDP to a local Maritime Museum. It was only a few minutes walk from the ship and only lasted an hour or so. After the museum we watched some street performers and I went around trying to exchange my leftover rupees. I had about $10 worth from Mauritius and about $20 from India. South Africa was full of places that exchanged Mauritian rupees because, after all, Mauritius is an African nation. Unfortunately, the great subcontinent of India is technically in Asia. Fail. I still have a bunch of Indian rupees. Maybe I can exchange them in the US… haha.

After the museum, Helen, Fi and I went out to Mitchell’s (a local bar & grill) for lunch. Fish and chips has never tasted so delicious. Plus, we each got a beer to celebrate our arrival. They had quite a selections and they were all pretty good. Lunch was fun and I enjoyed getting to know Fi better. We’ve always had a class together, but I can’t believe that it took me three months to discover how awesome that girl is! I wish we’d started to hang out earlier in the voyage. We had a long, fun lunch and then went back to the ship to meet a few people.

The rest of the day was spent exploring Cape Town with Max, Helen, Emily, Fi and a couple other people. We took a cab to the District 6 Museum. District 6 is famous because before apartheid, it was practically the only community where black people and white people lived together peacefully. It was a thriving community until apartheid came into effect. Our driver told us that he lived on Aspeling Street until one night he came home from work and his home was gone. They bulldozed the entire community because it was deemed that black people weren’t allowed to live in the same area as white people. Even today, District 6 is still gone. I can’t imagine coming home one night to find my house or apartment and all my belongings completely gone. I wouldn’t know what to do…

After the museum we walked down the street to check out the Castle of Good Hope. The Dutch East India Company built the castle in the 1600s. We didn’t get to go inside because it was closed, but we took some cool pictures with Table Mountain in the background.

After the caste, we explored a street market and met a wonderful local woman who was out with her sister, brother and grandson. The brother proudly told us that he had four wives and eighteen children, which was a culture shock; it was the first time I’ve even met a polygamist. The woman was super friendly and the little boy shyly checked out our cameras. It was the Wednesday before Easter and she invited us to her house, which we would have definitely taken her up on if we hadn’t had plans. We talked for about twenty minutes and listened as she told us about how she was hosting Easter at her house. By the time we left, I felt like we’d made a new friend.

After we’d explored a little more, we crammed six people into a taxi and hurried back to the ship because it was the night before my birthday and more than anything, I wanted to celebrate on a pirate ship. The Jolly Roger was the first time I’ve ever been on a booze cruise. There was a decent number of SASers on the ship and we basically took a sunset cruise around the peninsula and drank champagne poured by Pedro the Pirate. The sunset was gorgeous and all around us, seals poked their heads up out of the waves to watch us pass. We got to meet people from all around the world, including Innocence and Richard, two South African cousins who invited us to go to church with them on Easter Sunday. Unfortunately, this plan did not work out, but I really wish we’d been able to go. One of the highlights of the evenings was that the Captain let me wear his pirate coat and even let me steer the ship for a minute. I’m not too good at determining starboard from port, so the steering privileges didn’t last long.

After the pirate ship, we got food and went to a bar on Long Street for a little while, but ultimately ended up at the ship pretty early. I had to pack and leave for a safari at 4AM.


End of day 1

Sorry for the lack of updates. I’ve been swamped with schoolwork.