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Cape Town, South Africa.
By Elisa Shkupi | September 20, 2008
An 8 hour bus ride from Kruger, and it was time for me to say goodbye to the UW crew at the airport. I felt like a lone farewell committee as I hugged almost everyone, then headed to my gate alone. It’s a strange thing to slip back into single traveler mode after traveling with a group of 37 for almost two weeks. I was pondering the differences at the gate when one dreaded word popped up next to my flight number: DELAYED. As it turned out, I didn’t have to beat myself up over having chosen a low-cost airline for long. It was only a half hour delay and then I was in the air on my way to Cape Town. Once again, I found myself on a cocktail cruise at 30,000 feet! There was an audible groan when the pilot announced the end of the cocktail cart service, and more than a few tipsy travelers once we landed.
I grabbed a cab to Green Point and chatted up the driver on the way there. He was from Zimbabwe, but is in South Africa to make some money. He wanted to know what sports Americans follow, since we don’t like soccer. I threw out a few of my favorites, but added, “but I like soccer too!” when I realized no other answer would do. (Hey– the man could drop me off anywhere… might as well make him happy!)
Finally we arrived at 4 on Melvin’s around 8pm and the driver said, “They must be expecting you– someone is looking from the windows!” That someone was Catherine, who raced down to let me in. The hugging and jumping must have assured my driver that I was fine, since he waved and drove away. Cath and I caught up over dinner and planned the next day’s adventures.
We woke up in our adorable twin beds to a perfectly sunny day. This made it obvious that we should get to the top of Table Mountain, so we decided to take the double-decker bus tour around the city and to the mountain (in some cities these are tourist traps on wheels, but this one was great for transport around Cape Town!) We hopped off the bus at the District 6 Museum, which was located in an old church in the District 6 area, which has slowly been reclaimed after the Group Areas Act declared it a “whites only” are during Apartheid and forced all blacks to move. Then we walked over to the Castle of Good Hope to see the sights.
The sun was baking us by that point, so we were happy to hop back on the bus for a ride to the cable car station at the base of Table Mountain. The cable car was amazingly fast for as far into the sky as it hoisted 45 people. The view from the top was amazing! We could see the entire city bowl, along with the beaches and into a few suburbs as well as unending views of the Atlantic Ocean. It was beautiful, and the breeze felt great after the heat below. We hiked around the paved trails before heading back down the mountain in search of the beaches.
Again, our trusty hop-on, hop-off bus (I’m telling you– well worth it for less than $20 a day!) delivered us to Camps Bay– a gorgeous beach area where I couldn’t resist trading my hiking shoes for newly purchased flip flops. We ate lunch, walked along the beach and enjoyed the scenery. Philip, one of the owners of our guest house, told us that the route from Camps Bay back to 4 on Melvin’s made a “nice walk”, so we decided to skip the bus and return on foot. The scenery was perfect, and after a 2 hour long walk in blister-provoking new sandals, we were home.
Our last adventure of the evening brought us to Green Dolphin for dinner (including Ostrich carpaccio) and jazz. The food was great, the saxophonist was outstanding, and the wine… ah the wine. The wine may have played a part in the way I slid into my chair after a bathroom break, but it was the loose screws in the falling-apart chair that pierced my jeans, dug into my leg, and deflated my evening. When I told the waiter that the broken chair had ripped a hole in my denim, he explained it away by noting that the chairs were soon to be replaced (not soon enough!) and offered to notify the manager. Sure, why not. The manager offered to stitch the hole (right there? While I wait without pants, perhaps??) and then gave us two baseball caps with their logo on them to make up for the trouble. Although the caps didn’t mend my jeans, they did provide something to cover the hole as we headed back to the guest house for the night…
Topics: 128 Trip Blog |
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