Cape Town
Trip Start
Mar 30, 2008
1
122
144
Trip End
Mar 31, 2009
Cape Town,
Western Cape,
South Africa
Saturday, January 17, 2009
Got on a plane, sat there for 14 hours, watched films and documentaries, eat aeroplane food, drank beer, got very tired. We did also have a 6 year old South African boy on our row, who was traveling unaccompanied. Clare sat next to him and was happy to play mother for the flight.
Wednesday 14th January - Walking tour of Cape Town
After relatively no sleep during the night due to the noise coming from the street below we left the hostel early. We were pretty certain that the hostel was not going to be suitable for the relatives. That meant we needed to find an alternative and
Thursday 15th January - Street children
As we were both in bed by 8pm we were wide awake by 4am. Alex went out onto the balcony to see what was going on in the busy street below. The cacophony of noise still emanating from the street came from a variety of sources. The incessant horn blowing was mainly due to Taxis either jostling for position or looking for fares. The music was from all the bars still open and passing boy racer cars and the shouting was from either revelers in the bars, street children or groups of people trying to make their way home
11 First views of Table Mountain
. All of this was interspersed with the occasional police siren and loudhailer which seemed to be purely in order to remind people they were there rather than for any useful purpose.After another failed attempt to sleep, about an hour later Alex returned to the balcony as the sun was rising to take some photos. His attention was grabbed by two street children who noticed a negligent discharge of the flash. Alex began to talk to them. They were asking for money or rather food and after some serious consideration Alex decided to wander downstairs to meet them. Mohammad, 14 and Zaire, 9 just wanted food so Alex set off with them to the Spar up the road. They didn't ask for much and as Alex had only taken a minimum amount of money and left everything else in the room including the camera, there was only R32 to spend. This managed to buy half a loaf of bread, a drink of orange in a plastic carton and three pieces of chicken. The boys were happy to have food and on the way back to the hostel asked to meet Clare.
The four of us sat down on the pavement in the street and had breakfast together. We both chatted to the boys about their life on the streets. Earlier, in the shop, Alex had spoken to the shop assistant who at first was cursing the fact he had brought the street children in, saying that they couldn't be trusted. After speaking to her more it turned out that these two children were actually pretty good. She said she had known Zaire since he was a very small boy and that the brothers mother had died leaving them alone to fend for themselves on the streets of Cape Town.
Mohammad, dressed in shabby dark clothes, but fortunately with shoes told us about many things
12 Lunch in a swanky place Manna
. He and his brother were Muslim and at 2pm on Friday they would be going to the local mosque for prayers and food. He told us about the hassle the children had with the public safety officers. They patrol Cape Towns street trying to prevent robberies, although Mohammad thinks there could still be upto 50 robberies per night. He also said that he is protected by others when out on the streets, something they do most nights. Zaire when asked if he gets scared says he is only scared of God.Two other children arrived soon, one was a Xhosa, 12 years old and the other mixed race about 12 as well. He was teased by Mohammad as he still has to learn to read and write and only speaks Afrikaans. Mohammad can speak Afrikaans, Xhosa and English, he went to school for four years from 8 until 12. As he is the oldest he looks after many of the children, not just his brother. Mohammad shared his chicken and bread with the Xhosa child as soon as he arrived He says that he has been awake all night and tells us he will go and sleep soon before heading to Victoria Street for the soup kitchen at 9am. They prefer the streets at night to the shelters. When asked why Mohammad is clearly uncomfortable and just says he does not like the shelter. Besides which he has more fun in the streets and people give money.
Having kept the children away from their 'beds' for long enough we gathered up our cereal bowls and headed back to the comfort of our hostel. We may see them again at the Mosque or the soup kitchen, but we leave them now feeling sad at their troubled existence.
Later we checked out of the Inn on Long Street and moved to our more salubrious accommodation in the Ashanti guest house on Hof Street
13 Inside the swanky place
. This was far more to our liking and a much better place to relax between outings. As we had had such a busy day on the first day here we decided to just relax for the rest of the day and mentally prepare for the excitement of all the folks arriving first thing tomorrow morning.Friday 16th January - Lions Head
Alex was up early and so decided to head out for a run. He decided to tackle the Lions Head, a steep hill that affords fantastic views of Table Mountain. Unfortunately, having been giving poor directions, he had to abort the summit attempt due to lack of time.
A quick shower and then we both hopped into the Ashati transfer car and headed to the airport to meet the folks. We made a sign with their names on it and were so happy to find they had landed half an hour early. They unfortunately had not had a pleasant flight and were clearly in need of a restful afternoon. Therefore after checking in and settling into the hostel for a short while we took everyone out for lunch. Buz bar was a nice healthy eating pace with great burgers and wraps and delicious smoothies. After lunch the parents and out laws were put to bed for a siesta.
That evening we all decided it was best to chill around the hostel with a few drinks and light food while the jet lag and fatigue worked it's way out of the newcomers sore and wooly heads.
Saturday 17th January - Robben Island and the V&A Waterfront.
A quick enquiry in the morning suggested that if we wanted to get on a trip to Robben Island we would need to be at the ticket office for 9am
14 One of the street children we had breakfast wit
. Therefore we hurriedly ate breakfast and jumped in a taxi arriving just in time to get spaces on the 1pm tour. We used the few hours before to explore the V&A (Victoria and Alfred) Waterfront area. The dockland area is very lively and packed with tourists and entertainers. It was here that we did a birthday greeting video for Faith in view of Table Mountain and whilst watching the lazing Sea Lions in the harbour. We took coffee and ambled around, before we knew, it was time to board the high speed catamaran to make the 10 mile journey to the island.On arriving there was already a desolate and desperate feel to the island. We were divided up and placed on coaches. I think we were lucky here as we had an incredibly good guide, who spoke clearly and authoritatively without needing a microphone (the guides in the coaches behind did). He had not been imprisoned here but was involved in the struggle from Libya, where being a Muslim and a member of PAC (Pan African Congress) he had been used in the fight against Gadaffi. As the coach wound around the island all the features were pointed out in a lightly humorous way using tourists nationalities to explain how the world was involved in exposing and then breaking down the inhumanities experienced on this island and across the whole of South Africa.
The coach then dropped us off with a former inmate. He had been charged with acts for terrorism and aggression against the state and was imprisoned here for 7 years
15 Our new accommodation
. The prisoners were held in different areas depending on their 'crimes'. This prisoner was not in the same section as the organisational leaders such as Nelson Mandela, then leader of the ANC (African National Congress). Later though we did see where Mandela was held, his bucket and the famous garden area he looked after. The only prisoner not held here was the pacesetting leader of PAC, Robert Sobudwe?? who was held in complete isolation.As the tour ended Steve asked the prisoner how he felt doing these tours. 'My heart bleeds everyday for the difficult times I shared here with my comrades' he replied. 'But I am ever hopeful that by doing this we can prevent it occurring again in the future'. A very poignant moment that brought us close to tears, for a terrorist!
The return trip completed in huge swells we spent the remainder of the day shopping for food and then returned to the hostel.
