Capetown and Roasted Chicken

After a late night ferry ride, bus ride, an uncomfortable sleep at Heathrow Airport, and three flight connections totaling five meals and six movies, I arrived in Capetown. It's a beautiful city nestled in a valley with the surrounding Table Mountain range and the Atlantic Ocean, and Lion Peak jutting right in the center. Capetown very scenic from the air as the airplane swings around the city and you are greeted by Table Mountain, named by a British captain because it looked like one.

Capetown and from what I guess, South Africa puzzles me, interesting but full of paradoxes. On the one hand, Capetown feels like any developed Western country. There's safe drinking water from the tap, clean streets, familar brand-name shops like the GAP, Espirit and yes, Cash Converters. I even get hassled by the police for not wearing a helmet on a scooter. Contrasting this is feeling of poverty. Coming by the airport, you pass townships where the houses are made of rusted sheet metal on dirt ground. There are plenty of people begging and the unemployment rate is very high. People who find work, usually make as little as 5-10 rand ($1.50)/ hour and the social welfare system is pretty simple... You don't have work, you are screwed. No unemployment benefits or social assistance here.

You have to get buzzed into most shops through gates and there are unofficial car guards (usually wearing something yellow) who watch your parked car. All the expensive houses have walls topped topped with barb wire. It's funny but when you rent a car, you are told it is legal for you to run a red light if you feel threated.

Capetown feels pretty safe in the main city center, especially down Long Street which is their main street. I've avoided going to the outskirts, and definitely not the Cape Flats, or walking between certain districts at night, especially with a backpack. Unfortunately, safety is a real concern in these areas. I spoke with a pleasant cleaning lady at the hostel who lived in a township half an hour away. She described it as "a nice place except for the robbers." She related how her neighbourhood gang put a machine gun right up to her stomach demanding her cell phone. Another time, I hiked up Table Mountain with a baloon entertainer who had major scaring on his face and arm. Only later did I find out the work man he had hired committed a home invasion by throwing battery acid on him. The robber got ten years jail.

At other times, Capetown feels remarkably like Vancouver with a nearby local mountian to hike up although I think it more adventurous as it's a unsheltered rock face and the weather is very unpredictable. I hiked up, climbing up the rock face and suddenly a strong south easterly came and it changed from a sunny, muggy day to a windy, cold, and mist filled condition. Easy to get lost. The cable car will suddenly announce it is closing due to a strong wind condition and you are stuck to a wet trudge back down. There is also an impressive series of bay and beaches nearby with cold sea water. In addition, Capetown has the Victoria and Albert Waterfront area which is similar to Granville Island but bigger with more shops and restaurants and a good place to spend a relaxing afternoon.

From this wharf area, I took the tour to Robbin Island in which the political prison is located that held Nelson Mandela for his first sixteen years of imprisonment beginning in the 1960's. The tour is devided into a bus tour of the sites of the former leper colony, military base and prison. The second half of the tour is in the prison with an ex-political prisoner but it seemed rushed as we were shown Nelson Mandela's cell and two areas in the prison. Maybe it has to do with the sheer number of tourists visiting there and the relative small size of the prison. I thought the District Six Musuem gave a better impression how apartheid affected people. District Six is an area of Capetown (initially on the outskirts of town) in which a thriving community of Blacks, Asians and Indians was declared suddenly as a "whites only area" and their homes and businesses were bulldozed between 1960 to 1980's.

I never knew Nando's Chicken came from South Africa and low and behold,the South Africans love their roasted chicken. It's considered fast food here and you can pick a whole chicken for under four bucks. Food is great in Capetown as the influence of the Indian, Cape Malays, Portuguese can be tasted in their curries, fish and game meat. Where else can you pick up a tasty ostrich pie for under a buck.

I'm off to twenty-two day overland tour from Capetown to Victoria Falls through Namibia, Botswana and Zambabwe. Hope you are all doing well.