South Africa!!

a!So since I last wrote lots has happened. The weather calmed down a lot before arriving in cape town although it was still fairly cool outside. We arrived on Tuesday morning at 5:30am and everybody woke up to see the sunrise as we docked. The port of cape town is beautiful, and especially when the sun is rising. It was beautiful to see the city shadowed by table mountain. One striking thing was the number of cranes there were throughout the city. Our interport student told us this before but I still didn’t expect there to be quite so many.
Although we arrived so early we weren’t allowed to disembark until we had attended the mandatory briefing and the port authorities had cleared the ship. After docking we went for breakfast and then to the briefing. By nine they had cleared the ship and we were allowed to disembark. I headed off the boat to meet Al and mom. Conveniently, their apartment was only a ten minute walk from the ship. We went back to the apartment for a bit and I looked through everything they had brought for me (care packages, candy, and some things I had forgotten). At eleven we headed back to the ship for a short tour and lunch. I was able to get them passes to come onboard so they could see how we live at sea. The ship was quiet and we went to the dining room for a quick lunch before I had to go on a field program.
At 1:30 I joined my globalization professor and about forty other students for a trip to the largest township in South Africa, Khayelitsha. Although I was expecting a shanty town, similar to ones I had seen in Caracas, the township was quite different. Formed during apartheid, the townships began as shanty towns but as people began to make more money, they were able to build better houses. There is a wide range of homes from informal huts (with no electricity) to brick houses and B and Bs. There is also amenities within the township such as schools, stores, hairdressers and doctors and healers. Instead of being a place where people were poor and unhappy, I experienced it more as a neighborhood with all kinds of people who were mostly happy and proud of the way they were living.
Our first stop was the Khayelitsha craft market. Although the crafts were beautiful (many scarves, beaded jewelry and paintings) the highlight was the music. A group of men were playing instruments and singing at the front of the market. They were lively and happy singing Bob Marley and Sean Kingston among others. After leaving the craft market, we headed outside to greet the crowd of children that had gathered. As I took some hair elastics out of my backpack to give the children I was mobbed. Although it was hard, the tour guide told us that if the children didn’t line up not to give them any. We then headed into the church pre-school across the road. The children were adorable! They were singing songs in English and also in the local language. We played with them for a few minutes. They really enjoyed ring around the rosie! We then got back on the bus and headed deeper into the township to visit Vicky’s B and B.
Vicky gave us a short speech about how and why she opened her home to visitors, mainly because of her pride in her community. We then toured the small home (2 guest bedrooms and a sitting room) and I was looking at her collection of foreign money and noticed a Bermuda $2 bill. I didn’t have a chance to ask her if she had had previous visitors from Bermuda! At this stop I also got to interact with the children, who were far more polite. They were really excited when I gave them pencils and hair ties. More of the kids here spoke a few words of english, enough to say thank you. The children were all different ages and there was even a girl who looked about 10 looking after a baby. While here we also visited a small pub and spoke with some of the locals there. I was amazed at how friendly and welcoming the people were of white people, even though they were the ones who forced them to leave their homes during apartheid.
We then visited a development center for women. It was a facility that helped women to help themselves. The activities included weaving and other forms of art. I think more facilities need to be set up so that people can use their abilities to support themselves.
We next visited another B and B in another part of the township. The owner was an award winning civil servant who had worked for human rights for many years. Before opening her B and B, she was awarded a scholarship to study at the University of Pittsburg for a year. After returning she opened her B and B, which quickly grew. She encouraged other members of the community to get involved so they could make some money. Women help her to cook for large groups and some even house quests for really large groups. She says that by teaching others how to help themselves she is empowering her people. She was a really good ambassador for the township and South Africa and I would recommend anyone who is travelling to South Africa to stay with her for a few nights. After having tea and pastries, we went on a short walk around the township. All the local children joined us, and we picked them up and piggy packed them while other rode bikes and walked with us. We felt like celebrities because everyone was waving at us and beeping as they drove by.
Our last stop of the tour was to a lookout point. We walked up lots of steps to a platform which overlooked the whole of the township. From here you could see how large it is and also the different types of homes which make it up!
Overall I really enjoyed the tour, especially because of being able to interact with the locals and children!
After we returned to the ship about 6pm I grabbed some clothes and took a quick shower. I met mom and Al and we went for dinner at an Italian restaurant on the pier, finally got to eat some real food (pumpkin ravioli)! After that we went to see the movie 27 dresses in the mall. I had wanted to see it and it turned out to be good, but predictable. After the movie we headed back to the apartment. I spent lots of time on the internet because it was free!
The next day Ally and I woke up early to go on a field program for my geography class. Although I thought it would be pretty boring, it turned out to be very interesting. We boarded the bus and headed East along the coastline. The scenery is breathtaking, with steep cliffs and rocky coves. We stopped in the small fishing harbor of Hout Bay. There we saw boats and a dolphin called pretty boy who was ‘my pet’. When we boarded the bus, there were specimens of kelp in our seats that were being passed around. Ally saw them and yelled gross before quickly throwing them out the door. I had to explain to her that we were supposed to be looking at them and passing them on. It was quite funny! We then continued on to the Cape of Good Hope (or good hopes as ally kept calling it). Of course we took pictures with the sign, but we also learned about tide pool habitats and kelp from the professor. Next we headed to Cape Point where we did a steep hike up to the lighthouse. It was very tiring and proved how unfit I am. I have been going to the gym every day since we left Africa. At the top of the climb, there was a sign post which had the distances to cities all around the world. It was very windy at the top but again, the view was amazing.
After walking down again, we went to the gift shop and canteen to get something to eat. I decided to try some local food so I got some fried dough sticks and kudu. It was like beef jerky but much tenderer! We sat for a while before getting back on the bus to head to lunch. We ate at the black marlin restaurant which was nice. We had line fish. By this time everyone was getting tired because it had been a long day and was very hot. We drove to the Penguin colony, where we viewed some penguins (or statures as ally thought ha ha). None of them were moving except the ones that were mating. It was surreal to see but we didn’t need long there and headed back to the local market before re-boarding the bus. From here we drove through Simonstown back into Cape Town!
Although we were supposed to go on another trip that evening to go to a jazz safari we decided not to and instead poked around the shops and ate the most disgusting pizza I’ve ever eaten. I did discover my new favorite drink at the restaurant though, Appletiser. Its just like sparkling apple juice but very tasty!
On Thursday we went up table mountain in the cable car. It was a pretty scary ascent and descent, but the view from the top was worth the ride. We didn’t stay too long, but took in the scenery and had a few photo opportunities and went back to the car. We were headed to the mall. It was pretty huge! We poked around for a few hours but didn’t buy too much. We especially liked Woolworths, which is very different from the woolys in England. We got some bathing suits and summer things. Many of the stores in the mall were small boutiques which were all very similar. After lunch we jumped back into the car to head to the winelands. We stopped at the Spier winery but unfortunately everything was already closed. We had a short walk around the grounds and then decided to come back later in the evening for dinner.
In the meantime we drove into Stellenbosch to look at more winelands and to see the University. It is a beautiful area, in the shadow of the mountains. After a short tour and getting lost a few times, we headed back to Spier to eat at Moyo. This restaurant had been recommended by friend Jordan, who travelled with semester at sea in 2005. When we arrived without a reservation we were told we wouldn’t be able to eat. No fear though, mom launched into a speech about how we had come all the way from Bermuda to eat here and they found us a table. The restaurant was a recreation of authentic African style. We sat under a large tent and were entertained by local drummers. We had our faces painted and hands washed by the hostess. We even had a wine tasting before choosing which wine to order! Before we started eating ally said to me, “what if the cricket team walked in” (we knew the Bermuda women’s cricket team was playing in a tournament in the area). Next thing you know a lady walks by in a BF and M jacket. Before long we had moved to a bigger table to sit with the two players and two coaches. It was nice to talk to some Bermudians, I have been going through a long withdrawal.
The restaurant was a buffet style, with each station labeled (chicken, seafood, antelope, ostrich etc). After our waiter Gerry explained all the different foods to us, we tackled the huge amount of food. Not surprisingly, ally opted for the chicken and steak, but I went for things that I wouldn’t be able to eat anywhere else. I had antelope and ostrich, as well as vegetables and another carbohydrate dish which I can’t remember the name of! The meal was really delicious and the whole evening was a lot of fun with good food, good wine and good company. We promised Allan, Mary-Ellen and Susie that we would come back to watch their game on Sunday!
On Friday, I had another semester at sea organized trip. At 9am I boarded the bus to experience operation hunger, a non-government organization which works at the grassroots level to provide food for the poor. Our guide Clement had organized for us to do some of the work which he would normally do on a day to day basis. We first went to Greenpark, a township. We went to the crèche, where the children were between 8 months and 4 years old. They were very afraid of us because we were mostly white, and the only white people they had encountered were doctors who gave them needles. It made our task a little more difficult. We created a system of identifying each child, weighing them and recording their weights and then playing with them on the playground once they had been weighed. After we finished at the first crèche we moved to the second and completed the same process. The children were all really cute and everyone enjoyed playing with them. After a quick stop for lunch at the local fast food stop, Wimpy, we headed to a high school to attend their “Mr and Mrs Valentines 2008” fundraiser. After paying our 5 rand we entered the auditorium to the raucous cheers of the students. They seemed to love us, especially when we danced for them and they all cheered. It was fascinating to see how similar these kids were to the kids at home. They were all dancing to the music and joking with each other. When the show finally started, we were in for a treat. It turned out to be a fashion show, featuring couples dressed in red, white and pink. The students cheered loudest for their favorites and booed some. You could definitely see some of the personalities of the students come out as they walked the catwalk. Although we weren’t able to stay until the winner was announced, I really enjoyed the experience of interacting with some kids nearer to my age. It is amazing to witness how poverty has no effect on the spirit or attitude of the people. If we didn’t know the school was in a township, there wouldn’t have been any way to tell that most of the students were poor (they all had camera phones!).
We then returned to Greenpark to present our findings for the morning’s weightings to the community council. During the day we had calculated the children’s ages and plotted their weights on a chart. The meeting opened with some local girls performing a beautiful dance. We were welcome by the council members and then showed them our findings. The improvements since last year were encouraging, with less children being at risk for malnutrition. Clement explained to us that nutrition education and other grassroots programs had helped to educate the people. We left some gifts of school supplies and nutritious food for the community before departing to return to Cape Town. Although I would have liked to do more work for the community while we were there, I enjoyed experiencing the running of operation hunger and would like to return in the future to work for longer.
On Friday night we headed to a local Malay fusion restaurant for dinner. The food was surprisingly good! We had another reasonably early night back at the apartment.
On Saturday morning we headed for the ship to join the Robben Island tour. After walking to the ferry terminal, the tour unfortunately had to be cancelled due to high winds and rough seas. I was quite disappointed because I had wanted to visit Nelson Mandela’s cell (we share a birthday). We decided to take a sightseeing tour on a double decker bus. It was nice to see less touristy parts of the city. We hopped off at green market square, the largest market in Cape Town for a wander round. The market was beautiful and colourful, bustling with tons of people, buying and selling. We had a long walk around, looking at the beautiful jewelry, paintings and scarves. I bought a few souvenirs and some gifts before we grabbed a bite to eat at a sidewalk café. It was nice to sit in the warm sun and just watch the people passing by. We got back on the bus and hopped off at the district six museum. Although it was lots of reading, it was really interesting to read some of the testimonials of people who were forced to move during apartheid. I especially enjoyed seeing the tiny rooms that whole families lived in.
After catching a taxi back to the apartment, we spent the afternoon relaxing. I made some phone calls home, which was very refreshing! Ally and I then found a nice Italian restaurant in the lonely planet book and we put the name into the neverlost and headed out. The restaurant turned out to be a hit, with great salads and Pizza. I had pizza with spinach, feta and bacon. It was delicious, almost as good as tavern by the sea at home!
On Sunday we headed for Stellenbosch as promised, but ended up in another nearby private boarding school to watch the Bermudian women play cricket. Although they had not won any games, we were optimistic. After fielding first, they were in a good position have gotten all the Papua New Guinea team out for 120. Their batting started off well with Terry but quickly went downhill. The low batting order was disposed quickly and they were all out for about 80. It was disappointing but a beautiful day in the sun and mountains, surrounded by people from home.
After returning to Cape Town, I packed up my stuff and we headed to the ship to dump it all in my room. I then went back off to have a last dinner with the family. We went to a brilliant steakhouse for the last supper. At around 8 30 I headed back onto the boat for the final time after a quick stop at Mac. I said farewell to the family, but it wasn’t too tearful as we all knew how quickly the rest of the trip will go by. I quickly headed to the Union to watch the township choir. Unexpectedly, they were absolutely mid blowing. When they opened their mouths, huge voices came out and they have to be the best live vocals I have ever heard. They sang some Xhosa songs (complete with clicking in between words) and some in English. Everyone got into the music and was clapping and dancing. We were sad when they had to leave, but gave them a standing ovation and huge cheers. It was the perfect sendoff from a country which captivated all of our hearts for 6 days.
Although we were supposed to leave at 11, an announcement was made that there was some fog and we would be delayed. We went to bed expecting to leave during the night but awoke on Monday to find us still at the dock. We left on Monday morning and it was odd to leave during the day light because we usually leave at night. It is back to regular classes now until we arrive in Port Louis, Mauritus on Saturday!