Landing on another planet ...
Trip Start
Dec 17, 2007
1
21
26
Trip End
Jan 19, 2008
Cape Town,
South Africa
Thursday, January 17, 2008
I have to admit that I am not altogether thrilled at the prospect of speding another night in this place ... so as I start to once again try to enlist others to rent a car Jeremy arrives ... it is a this point that AIF starts to let people down ... there is little or no communication ... no apology ... and a rather bedrudging puny little refund which is not really in line with what should have been done ... indeed I am to this day amazed at the attitude of Jeremy ... I try to keep this blog away from matters of personal feeling... so I'll refrain from commenting further.
It is decided that Wil and Joe will stay with Benji as the rest of us pack all our gear in a tiny little tow trailer and the pile into the van ... so the end of our trip began ... we departed from two of our company and the inevidtable dissolution of our group began in earnest ... I was sad to say good bye from the two guys ... they had looked after us very well ... I was also sad to say goodbye to Benji our home for the preceeding weeks ... but life moves on ... and so do we ...
We hit the N7 for our 7 hour drive to Cape Town ... there are a few sore heads from the night before so the mood is quiet and sober (ish) ...
As we head south it is really like landing on another planet ... we head out of barren arid lands north of the Cederberg mountains to the greadual onset of rich fertile farmlands that make up much of the Western Cape ... it is a stunningly beautiful drive ... interrupted only by the occasional single line traffic road works which causes obvious frustration to Jeremy our gruff driver ...
As we go further south evidence of human presence also increases ... first with more and more vehicles on the road, then we drive through an irrigated valley near citrusdal ... finally we are hit with bigger and bigger settlements ... until we reach a dirty great motorway and the city itself ... my first city since London really (Luska is technically a city but I never really saw much of it) ... It looks almost like we are landing on mars after all we have been through ... I have vivid memory of the sight of table mountain gradually resolving itself in front of us out of the horizion... with its afternoon blanket of cloud resting neatly atop of it ... it is quite a sight as it towers above the city commanding all to take note of its presence ... giving Cape Town its own natural monument to the force of nature as it makes a contrast the surrouding city.
We pass by the townships on the edge of the city ... where rusty corrugated iron makes up the primary source of building materials of the tiny living quarters to the thousands of poor souls who live three ... onwards into the city where colonial splendour and the decadance of the V& A waterfront shopping mall make a stark contrast to the just about everything else I have seen in Africa on this trip ...
Finally Jeremy brings us to the St John's Waterfront Hostel ... where only 3 of the 11 passengers he has let down will be staying ... leaving the rest of us to fend for ourselves and carry our heavy luggage and two months of Africrap to our accomodation for the evening ... Fortunately Dave, Carol, Sarah and I are not a far walk from here ... so after a short struggle with heavy luggage we arrive at the Dale Court guest house ... which will be my home until I leave Africa in a few days ... a real contrast to the campsites and outdoor sleeping arrangement of the preceeding weeks ... and to be honest a welcome bit of luxury after the trip ...
... and thus our road trip with Africa in Focus ended ... sadly in poor fashion ... but not so poor as to take away from the amazing experiences of Southern Africa that the rest of the trip had for me ...
Later that evening the remainder of our crew met at a fancy restaurant on the V&A waterfront (Baia) ... where the group (without Joe and Wil) spent its last meal together ... as I sit and eat a wonderful meal with my travel companions the Sun sets on Table Mountain in full view now towering above our dinner table like some mighty giant ... the cape doctor is in full force as it blows in from off the sea ...
I'm going to miss this little group ... for what it was ... it meant something to me ...
