06/09/2010 - 18:30

I am sitting on the chilly and breezy patio of a cafe called San Marco on the Cape Town waterfront which has become my sort of base of operations as of late. This place is crazy with all walks of life. Each group that walks by is enthusiastic and decked out in colors and symbols of their own country. Each speaking their own language. An overwhelming culture clash. So anyway... where did I leave off?
So I got back to the scooter after the wine tasting tour and it was parked right where I left it at the Southern Sun hotel. I spent a while in the parking garage studying the map before finally deciding on a route. As I exited two things became apparent. 1 is that I was exiting into a different one way road then I entered on and 2, it was raining pretty hard. Me being always the optimist, I didn't bring any rain jacket with me when I left the house, although I do have one in my bag, so I just grit my teeth and hit the road. I took what I thought to be a right onto Strand street and which ended up being an on ramp onto a highway. I immediately took the first exit and decided to just find a populated place that might have a pay phone. To my luck I saw a huge mall on the waterfront, thriving with life, and about a million scooters parked on the side. I joined them. The waterfront is probably the nicest spot in Cape Town. It is the home of the new soccer stadium as well as the focal point for all maritime activity. It is a fully functioning harbor but also lined with shops, restaurants, and activities. you do not feel like you are in Africa here, it feels more like Seattle or maybe some European harbor city. So when I arrived I went inside and found an internet cafe. It took a while because the mall is HUGE. After the internet I called Buzzy and told him I was not able to wander around looking for my way home at night in the rain. So he agreed to meet me. We ended up having dinner at a fish restaurant. I had a local fresh fish and squid and he had prawns and squid. We shared one of my bottles of wine, the Tin Mine, and only had to pay a 25 rand ($3) corking fee. In fact, the total fee for a seafood meal for two at a very nice waterfront restaurant was only about $200 rand ($25).
After dinner we realized it wasn't just raining, it was pouring. cats and dogs. we discussed the options but at the end of the day I knew I had to just suck it up and get wet. I wanted to take back roads but Buzzy was insistent on the fact that it would take too long, so I followed him onto the highway. Big mistake. The wind was a gale and the road slick. even at a low speed I was terrified of being blown over and then run over. The rain stung my knuckles and my clothes were entirely soaked through. we finally made it home safe but I had to request a towel and undress at the front door like Lindsey and I used to have to do after playing in the rain.
The rest of the night was pretty chill. Buzzy and I finished what was left of the Tin Mine bottle and opened another, the Sauvignon Blanc. He played some really great African music for me which I will be bringing home for sure.
The next morning I was once again up at 7:30 am, but at 8:30 Buzzy got a call saying my shark tour was canceled and rescheduled for the next day due to extremely high winds. I was pretty bummed out. Buzzy went to work and I drove back to the water front around 9am to try and reach Alba and Tara via email. I got no response at first so I left and decided to buy a ticket to the 11:0 am Robben Island ferry ride and tour. I got my tickets and returned to the internet cafe to find Alba had responded. She said that they would meet me at 11 so we could all do the Robben Island tour together. I walked around and people watched until 11 when I met the girls. It turns out they couldn't get tickets though because it was sold out. So I went alone and we agreed to meet in the same spot at 2:30. The ferry ride was pretty neat because it gave you a beautiful view of the cape and the mountains behind it. The water was super choppy though and I'm sure some people were getting sea sick. Not me though. I can see why my shark tour was canceled though. For a minute I thought my 3 hour tour would turn into Gilligan's Island! When we landed on the island everyone was split up into 3 buses. each one was its own individual tour. For those who don't know, Robben Island has a long history of sadness. originally it was a prison for pirates and criminals against the Dutch-India Trading Company. Later it was used as a leper colony and eventually it was a maximum security prison. From the 1960's - 1980's it was specifically used for political prisoners. It housed Nelson Mandela for 17 years along with many other anti-apartheid sympathizers and leaders of the ANC. Many of the prisoners are the same people who now run South African government including the current president.
Our tour guide was Yesie Muhommad. He was not a prisoner but has an amazing story and was a member of the ANC. He is personal friends with Mandela and all South African politics. He had an incredible knowledge of history and was very entertaining. Someone asked him why the tour guides, who are all either former inmates or at least were part of the underground anti-apartheid movement, would work in this prison with all of the bad memories. he responded by saying that the nation has a 60% unemployment rate and for many of them it is the only job they can find.
The tour included the leper graveyard, the prison worker's housing community, the penguin beach (no penguins this time of year though), the various flora and fauna of the island, the limestone quarry that Nelson Mandela worked in, and finally the prisoner's quarters. We had a different tour guide for the prion walk through. He was arrested in the 80's as a young man for helping to smuggle guns into South Africa from Namibia. He spent 7 years on Robben Island. He showed us his quarters as well as Nelson Mandala's cell.
After the tour we took the ferry back. The tour is a must do for a Cape Town visitor. It really opened my eyes to a lot and it has helped me reflect in a new way on the racial situation in my own country. I realize now for the first time just how extraordinary and incredible a person Nelson Mandela is. I respect him more then maybe any other living human. he is almost 92 years old and when he finally dies, it will be an extremely sad day.
So I met up with the girls and we took pictures of the seal that was goofing off on a nearby dock. Then we took a cab to Camps Bay which is sort of like a Malibu type place. We walked on the beach and had a late lunch at a cafe. Feeling tired of the poshy posh, we cabbed it to Long street for drinks and an intense game of rummy at a bar. I won of course. We called Buzzy and he picked us up in his truck (bucky as the South Africans say) and I had to ride in the water filled back, squatting the whole way. We drove to a steak restaurant that he likes. It was really great. I had a kudu steak and Alba had a Springbok steal. Tara and Buzzy went with boring old cow. The springbok is the South African national animal, sort of like an elk. It is the name of their famous rugby team as well. funny that they eat it. That would be like me eating a bald eagle.
After dinner Buzzy dropped the girls back off then took me to my scooter at the waterfront. He followed me home but insisted that I lead the way otherwise I would never learn. It was not raining this time and I got us home just fine. we finished the bottle of Sauvignon Blanc from he nigth before and listened to more African music before bed.

The next morning I woke up at 8:30am and at 9:00am Buzzy got a call saying the shark tour was canceled. They were sorry and said they would refund me the money. I was a little devastated since that was my whole point in coming to Cape Town, but life is a little like that. In winter these waters are considered to be the most treacherous on earth. I guess I had bad timing. I am glad I came to Cape Town though because of out of all my international travels, I find this to be the most livable city. Not necessarily my favorite city, but I think I would like living here the best. Cape Town is awesome.
Buzzy left for the airport around 10am, and I'm now on my own. He is going to visit family near Durban. I knew the girls were going to Robben Island at 3:00pm, so I decided to head back to the waterfront to try and email them and possibly make some plans. I got no response so I asked an information kiosk person what I should do. They recommened the hop on/ hope off city bus. so I did it.
This is a British style double decker bus with an open roof. They give you headphones which plug into a narrator that tells you all about the city around you. You can get off at any of the stop and get on any of the next buses all day. They come very 15 minutes. I rode around and learned all about Cape Town. Saw historic buildings, statues, downtown, and district 6 (if you don't know what that is, Google it). The bus took me up to Table Mountain which is a famous mountain that overlooks Cape Town. It rises up quick! If you look at a picture of Cape Town you will see what I mean. From the base I took a cable car to the top. you can hike it but it takes like 2.5 hours and I didn't feel like doing that. It was cold and windy on top but the 360 degree view is remarkable. The clouds pour in from the north and blast the top of the mountain then dissipate immediately. It is crazy to stand in the middle of those clouds as that happens. It is hard to explain but very unusual to have something like that in nature. I walked around the top for about an hour before taking the cable car back down and jumping back on the bus. The tour then went through Camps Bay, Cape Point, and then back to the waterfront where I started off. I returned to the internet cafe to see if Alba responded which she had, but then no response again... I got on facebook and skype with Amy a bit. Finally I walked around and people watched a bit before finally settling here at Cafe San Marco for some wine and journal time. More to come...