The Journey Inward

If there’s one thing I love to do when I travel, it’s to take a trolley or bus tour on the first day and get the lay of the land. I did just that today, with the Red Line of the City Bus Tour, leaving from V & A Waterfront Park. People often assume the A is for Albert to go with Victoria, but it’s actually her son, Alfred. He was integral in making the port deeper and later his mother was named for the adjoining section. It’s about a 3/4 mile walk from my apartment along the ocean. When I got to the waterfront, I passed colorful steps up to the hospital.

I learned that the Cape was initially inhabited by the San people, hunter-gatherers who lived there for thousands of years before any other groups. Around 2,000 years ago, the Khoikhoi people migrated to the area with their herds. These two peoples are often grouped together, but they were actually isolated from each other and had very different socio political structures. The Dutch established a settlement in 1652 as a port between Europe and Asia during the Spice trade years. It was redeveloped in the 1990s.

Traveling through the business district, we learned that everything to our right would have been under water. The large houses just north of this district would have been seaside back in the day! A nice drive up Adderly Street prompted the driver to tell us that it was named after Charles Adderly, a British parliamentarian who successfully campaigned against the British government’s plan to turn the Cape into a penal colony!

A steam locomotive was brought to Cape Town and today that old station is the transport station. Afrikaans is widely spoken here, but back in 2005, a magazine referred to it as the “ugliest language in the world.” South African billionaire businessman Johann Rupert withdrew millions of rand worth of advertisements from the magazine!

The first prisoner on Robben Island was a man named Autshumato, or Harry, as the Dutch called him, after a dispute. Thus began its use for political exile. Harry later escaped! The most famous prisoner, of course, was Nelson Mandela, imprisoned for 18 years during the height of apartheid.

50% of South Africans live in cities, with Gauteng being the most populous, specifically Johannesburg and Pretoria. But the Cape is growing quickly.

My first stop was Table Mountain. The closer we got, the more majestic it became, as well as its sister mountains, Devil’s Peak and Lionshead. It was a beautiful day, but I didn’t have 5 hours to hike it and the line was long for the cable car, so I’ll do both when friends and family come to visit. But I did hike the base of brush up to the start of the mountain on a pretty path through wildflowers and lots and lots of stones!

The bus ride up and down from the mountain was a series of switchbacks with breathtaking views of the mountain above us and the town and bays below us.

My next stop was Camps Bay, where I immediately chose a quaint little place named Pottery to have breakfast. You could paint pottery there, they sold pottery there, their bathroom had fun tiles, AND it had an amazing breakfast and the best non-sweet Dirty Chai latte I’ve had!

I walked back down to the beach then, and walked along the bay. The water was crystal clear and a very light blue. A man and I thought we saw a sea turtle in the waves. The white sand beaches make this spot exquisite. I walked out on the rocks and over to what looked like a pool where a man was swimming happily, with the water probably warmer than the full on bay. The views of the mountains, always visible from this part of Cape Town, were striking. The back of Table Mountain is visible from here, which is called the 12 Apostles. Nobody seemed to know why, because there’s actually 17 buttresses!

I bought a beautiful piece of art from a man selling canvases on the beach. We had to bargain a bit and I felt bad because he seemed to be struggling. The tour asked us not to give to those begging because they want people in need using the shelters and food pantries. It’s so heartbreaking how many unhoused humans we have in the world and such a contrast to the multimillion dollar homes that rise above the beach.

Our bus took us through Clifton Bay and Bantry Bay next, with more beautiful views of the majestic mountains and beautiful bays.

The homes on our left were huge and modern and white with lots of glass. Homes in South America tend to face north to take full advantage of the sun, but these homes had no choice but to face the glistening sea.

I hopped off at Green Point Park to walk the half mile back to my apartment to drop my canvas, get some water, and recharge my phone. Then I walked the half mile back to grab the next bus and went back to V&A for my harbor cruise! There were about 7 of us on the little boat and we saw the clock tower, some of the boats and yachts parked at the marina and learned some history. There were also more stunning views of the mountains. It was very chilly and windy on the tour and I was beginning to feel sunburned! The seals were my favorite part, of course! I sent pictures to Gigi!

My next stop was MOCAA, the Museum of Contemporary Art Africa. It was a converted grain silo and I loved its shape and glass. I bought a card that showcased the wavy, eerie design. The exhibits were thought provoking, heartbreaking, creative, whimsical, historical, narrative, educational and prompted much introspection. I took so many pictures in this museum! An interesting exhibit was inspired by Albie Sachs, a South African lawyer, activist, writer, and former judge appointed to the first Constitutional Court of South Africa by Nelson Mandela. They took a timeline of his life and juxtaposed it with that of South Africa and Mozambique.

I then walked to Makers Landing for some food choices from all over the world. I had a chicken shawarma wrap with chips (perfectly seasoned spicy fries) and some select chocolate truffles (not as good as The Fudge Shoppe, but still yummy.).

On my walk home, I stopped at the oranjezicht city farm market that is open on weekends and WEDNESDAYS!! There was so much yummy food and produce and pottery and drinks and coffee and linens and clothes! I didn’t buy a thing, but I wanted to eat dinner all over again and buy a cute pair of overalls with yellow daisies all over them! It had the best vibe and was packed! When I got back out onto the sidewalk to walk home, there were cars lining both sides for a quarter mile!

And that was my day! I came back burnt and tired! I was thinking I’d go to the Planet Fitness here since it’s supposed to be really nice, but after sun, sea, wind and 9 miles of walking, I decided to settle for some pushups!