South Africa

We got to spend an extra 12 hours in Cape Town because it was too foggy to leave last night! We were scheduled to depart at 11pm but didn’t leave until almost 11am today. It was painful sitting in class (and having a life boat drill at 9am) while still in port! It’s really rocky right now and I’m not feeling so hot. Ick.
OK- I highly recommend you all visit South Africa. It’s a really great place. Everyone had a great time and no one wants to leave.
I spent the first 3 days on safari in KwaZulu-Natal on the East side of the country (the land of the Zulu people). I saw 4 of the big 5 (elephants, lions, water buffalo, and rhinos, but no leopards). And I saw some of the “ugly 5”- hyenas (right outside our tent!) and warthogs (I call them Pumbas). I really did feel like I was in The Lion King and often could not repress the urge to sing “Circle of Life”, and everyone’s favorite- “Hakuna Matata”.
But compared to all that I saw and did back in Cape Town the safari was nothing.
On my first day back Mason and Evan and I saw some of the sights that they missed in the first few days. We had breakfast at an amazing pancake place called Harrie’s in the waterfront- crepe-style South African pancakes = my new favorite food. Then we walked to Greenmarket Square (a huge market where locals, usually people from the townships, sell their goods- scarves, bowls, fabric, trinkets, art work) and Long St.- the hub of Cape Town’s night life (we were there the night before). We walked through Bo-Kaap, the Muslim section of Cape Town, where we were warned at one point not to go any further from the main street or else we’d get mugged. Bo-Kaap was much more deserted than we’d imagined but it’s houses are very colorful and cheery.
On Sat. Mason, Evan and I were signed up for an SAS trip to Khayelitsha Township. Townships if you don’t know are the “slums” that all blacks were moved to (far removed from the main city) during Apartheid. Most blacks still live here, making the segregation painfully obvious.
Today we conspicuously drove into Khayelitsha towering over everything and everyone with our chartered bus (which we are all very thankful to come back to at the end of the day by the way).
The township was incredible- its always shocking to see such poverty and I’m not sure how to describe it other than absolute filth and degradation- but despite this the people are so amazing and hopeful, and the kids are adorable! Whether it is unfortunate or not I feel like I am getting more and more used to seeing this (the favelas in Salvador and the townships in cape town are both very visible so it becomes “natural” to see such poverty).
The elementary kids anticipate any such visit because it comes with an abundance of bubbles, stickers and lollypops. There are so many adorable kids. Some run up and hug you (or hold your hand) and many just stick out their hands for a treat.
We stopped at 2 B&B’s- owned by two women who with their entrepreneurial savvy started up these small businesses to make a living for themselves and create opportunities for their neighbors. They turned their own matchbox houses into 2 room B&Bs. In the early days of “township tourism” during Apartheid, tour buses like ours would pull in and the passengers would snap photos out the windows, having been forewarned to not leave the bus. What our tours and others like it do today is patronize local craft centers, visit homes to talk with people, play with the children, and like we did today, learn about life in the townships. I wish we could have stayed the night with either of those women. Thope in particular, owner of Kopanong B&B, used to work for an NGO supporting the work of paralegals to document human rights violations against the township’s inhabitants. She received a nomination (from I’m not sure which organization) to study in the States (U of Pittsburg) for a year and that is when she began to study small-scale entrepreneurship.
These women- Thope and Vicky- are pretty amazing. Vicky’s living room is covered with newspaper articles and awards and thank you notes and photos and currency from every country from which we has entertained visitors. They are two of the most jolly women you’ll ever meet and they are using their businesses to fund, in Vicky’s case, a local preschool for the children. Thope expands her B&B by calling on neighbors to house visitors for the evenings and they also lend their baking and cooking skills (we had some amazing pastries there today!)
You cannot come on SAS and leave without wanting to become involved in foreign aid, humanitarian efforts, and volunteerism.
After visiting Kopanpng B&B we went for a walk around the township. I felt a little tug at my wrist, looked down and a little boy had put his hand in mine and we continued that way for the entire walk. We walked in silence because he couldn’t understand my questions about his siblings, school, or his age, but he did tell me his name- Ansipe. Many of the smaller children began crying when our group of white college kids came toward them- they are afraid of white people and think we will hurt them.

Needless to say it was a great day. It makes you wonder also what these kids will think in many years- will they be grateful for our visit or will they be offended? It is also hard not to think that our presence means little when, at the end of the day, we just get back on that bus and drive away. It is great for us, because we see hoe lucky we are to be in school, to be sailing around the world, things that these kids cannot even dream of.
Last night we had a Township Choir on board to perform for us and they were stunning! They were extremely talented! And I’m in love with S. Africa’s national anthem (have it on CD!) and they sang it beautifully.
On my last amazing day in CT I woke up bright an early and took a cable car to the top of Table Mt. Stunning views. We were so lucky to get to go up becaue it was extremely foggy and windy the day before and I was 90% sure it would be crappy yesterday too. But it wasn’t! Then we went to Robben Island which was a very interesting tour led by a former political prisoner who was there for 18 years (just as long as Mandela).
Then Mason and I got to go visit Meg (friend from San Domenico studying at University of Cape Town for the semester) and she toured Mason and I around the amazingly beautiful ivy-covered campus! Thanks Meg!
Rumor has it that some girl might be getting kicked off the ship for sneaking 3 locals on the other day.
She told the Purser that they forgot their IDs, subsequently got caught, and now some other girl has to testify to what she saw.... so we’ll see. I was definitely thinking about sneaking Meg on and using the same excuse! So- I guess it’s for the best that we didn’t attempt that!