The International Delegation
Trip Start
Dec 24, 2007
1
2
5
Trip End
Jan 12, 2008
Cape Town,
Western Cape,
South Africa
Thursday, January 3, 2008
Country: Ghana
Delegate: Randolph Rodrigues aka 'Dolph, aka Ga'Dolph.
'Dolph
Bio: Born to a Ghanian father and Sierra Leonian mother, RR was brought up in the UK and spent time in Saudi Arabia before returning to Ghana. After graduating from Cornell University, he stayed in the States and worked for Morgan Stanley and then for Microsoft doing M&A. He started HBS in the Fall and plans to eventually return to Ghana in order to start a socially sensitive venture capital firm. Immediately after 'Dolph joined me at the fantastic Hippo Hotel, we set began our conquest of Capetown's super hip Garden District.
Hippo-Chic
Centered around Kloof Street, the upward sloping main drag features hip shops and eateries. On the perpendicular run small quant lanes filled with nicely appointed homes featuring excellent views of downtown.
After dinner at "California style" Greens Restaurant, we headed to party central on Long Street, the center of Cape Town's "City Bowl". Known as the city's version of Bourbon Street, the strip had plenty of action to choose from and we ended up at an unmarked bar called the "Waiting Room". Climbing some treacherous and narrow stairs, we enjoyed $2 Red Labels and sat watching East Village Wannabees groove along with an impressive DJ. While Long Street and the rest of downtown are much more diverse than the other side of the mountain, many of the bars and clubs still attract mono-racial crowds. The Waiting Room was a bit of departure from this and had a decent degree of variety under one roof. Still, ethnicities kept pretty much to themselves and 'Dolph and I were one of the only mixed race groups in the bar.
We trudged home sometime into the AM and happily burrowed into our cool and comfy rooms at the Hippo.
After RR's inaugural day at Clifton #2, we made our way up the hill to Amanda's house for a Braai with her parents, who had just returned from NYC. We really enjoyed meeting the two of them and had a fantastic time talking to Phillip about his role running the family's chain of retail stores and his involvement in South African Society.
We learned that aside from being an extremely successful businessman, he has maintained a strong commitment to social and political involvement. We were especially impressed by his work with the ANC as he helped to bring about initial negotiations with the white government in the 90's and hosted the first meeting of the parties at his house.
As the night progressed, we were shown platefuls of food and our glasses were kept busy with great selections of wine from Philip's collection. We ended the night with warming sips of 15 year old port. Quite a treat!
On December 31st, another nation sent it's delegation to South Africa.
Country: Israel
Delegate 1: Ariel Rotter, aka "Gorilla"
Gorilla
Bio: An HBS classmate who hails from Tel Aviv, he will eat anything you put in front of him...and often eats what is in front of others when they are not looking. Aside from being a Gorilla, he's a very smart guy. So much so, that from the vantage point of his brain, the rest of the world must move in slow motion. Most days, he can only sit still long enough to fall asleep or drink another espresso. He has many plans after school. Most involve returning to Israel and making good cash. Delegate 2: Code Name "Schulke"
Schulke
Schulke lives in Israel and works in the family business. He's not only Ariel's best friend, but every girl's as well. He's highly patient and very kind...the usual qualities needed to tame a Gorilla. With New Years Eve upon us, we all got gussied up in preparation for a night out at "Jade", where Amanda's friend Hayley was throwing a somewhat intimate bash. On the way to the club, we attempted to find a non pre fixe dinner and ended up at the Casually Classy Chicken Chain, Nando's, scarfing down an entire family pack of Spicy fowl.
At Jade, we drank as much vodka as the bar maidens could fetch us and danced all the way into 2008. It was a fun night, and we found more reason for celebration when we learned that Marc and Amanda had gotten engaged earlier that night.
The Fantastic Four
Marc, Hayley and Amanda
The Boys are Back!
Aliza and her entire crew showed up shortly after the bells went off.
Aliza makes another appearance
The next "morning" (if 2PM qualifies), we steered back to Clifton and soaked up a little sun before heading to Amanda's for an engagement party. With crazy beach traffic, I spent nearly an hour navigating the two lane road for the 2 Km trip to the Krawitz residence. The grueling ride must have been exhausting for my three passengers as I found myself surrounded by snoring zombies minutes into the trip.
Schulke and Dolph Resting in the Back Seat
For dinner, we made a late attempt at Rafiki's, a wild local spot with wooden balconies overlooking Kloof Nek road. Although 'Dolph tried to employ all his persuasive skills, he could not convince the manager to serve us more than the limited late night pizza menu. We still enjoyed most of 3 large pies and sent the rest home with the Gorilla for safe keeping.
As if we had another choice.
On the 2nd day of '08, we were treated to the spectacle of the Cape Town New Years Karnaval. Here colorfully dressed musicians and dancers roamed the downtown streets in a wild parade procession. Thousands of people gathered to watch as the troops stomped by and downtown was packed in celebration of the new year.
New Years Parade
Parade
Resting at the Parade
We eventually took refuge at Royale Eatery, where we feasted on one of the best meals of the trip. My Ostrich burger was awesome!
'Dolph and Gorilla at Royale
After Lunch, we hit a cool African music store where we picked out some great CD's and played bongo drums along with the in-store beats.
A Surprisingly good Thai dinner at Sawadee led us back to Long Street that night where we played pool and enjoyed more cheap whiskey at Stones Bar.
Israelis in Red
After a long night, we marched back to the Hippo and enjoyed a final sleep in one of the coolest hotels on the continent.
In the morning, the international delegation made a last stop at our favorite South African Coffee chain, Vida e Café, and hopped in the great white rental car. With the South African winelands in front and Capetown in the rear view mirror, we were headed for a great couple of days.
Stay Tuned...
