Hello everyone!
So Shawna arrived late with tales of drunken passengers getting thrown off her flight (no, not while in the air - although THAT would be a story!) and an emergency landing in Paris for a man who had a heart attack. Anyways, it wasn't the peaceful flight that I seemed to have had.
We stayed up late talking and then of course, seeing as how I napped earlier in the day, I couldn't sleep all night long. Thank you jet lag! And we were up n' at 'em pretty early because we had plans for Cape Town. We headed down to the waterfront, which is gorgeous, and took a ferry to Robben Island. Other than the huge waves and fighting off seasickness, it was a nice little ride.
We got to the island and they were a little disorganized and we didn't know where to go. We eventually got sorted and we started our tour with an ex-political prisoner named Jama. He toured us around the prison blocks and spoke about each section, the restrictions, pointed out where Nelson Mandela was kept, etc. He had been at Robben Island himself for 5 years. When I had a chance to ask, he said that he needed to work at the island (now a museum) to make a living, and if he had his choice, he'd never go back there again. Understandable. I can't imagine going back to a prison where my life was taken away, and giving tours like it was some kind of circus show. However, he did a great job, and he was very interesting to listen to. I learned much and I was really appreciative of his role.
The next part of our tour of the island was on a bus and they took us around to see the different buildings and areas. There was a leper cemetery and the limestone quarries where Mandela worked every day. Apparently the limestone dust damaged his tear ducts and he can no longer cry naturally. Maybe I should pursue a future career in limestone? Haha. The lady that was commentating on the bus for us was not an ex-prisoner but she was also very well-spoken and interesting to listen to. I was totally rapt, as was Shawna. They did a very good job. At one point she was naming some ex-prisoners and they had that funny click in the middle of their name which made me think of that Russell Peters sketch and I started giggling. Can't take me anywhere...
So once we're back from our hotel we arrange to have High Tea at the Mount Nelson 5-star hotel which is conveniently located right behind where we are staying. Shawna's idea - and I was totally up for it. Neither of us, however, really have anything suitable to wear since we have packed for a camping trip. Our "nice" clothes are not really all that nice - at least mine, anyways. But we don't let us hold us back and when we walk through the front of the hotet to be seated, we try to ignore how non-hoity-toity we are. We'll never see these people again, right? We'll show them our sophistication with our good Canadian manners, right? Well...
We get seated and given a tea menu. There are like 50 teas, most of which come with a description that makes your mouth water until you remember it's just tea. We order, and then get up to partake in the delicious buffet. There are sweets, there are savouries, and they are ALL fancy-schmancy. Really - it was exciting. They have silver platters and silver tongs to pick everything up with, it was so formal. What is not so formal is having the tongs slip, and the item you were trying to pick up, hit the chef across the buffet table who is talking to a fancy-schmancy guest. You know that scene in Pretty Woman? Yeah, it was like that. Except for the fact that Shawna & I dissolved into giggles. The chef pretty much pretended like it didn't happen, which made it seem even funnier. Leave it to me to throw food at the 5-star buffet.
The best were the cucumber sandwiches. I could have eaten 10 of them.
After that, we could barely move so we came back to the hotel to take a nap, which of course turned into a little longer than it should have been. Jet lag is still winning the battle at this point. :) We rounded out our evening with a late snack/dinner for me, and a movie before bed. It was set in Brazil with Timothy Olyphant where a group of Americans get led stray into the rainforest and then taken hostage to have their organs harvested. Anyone heard of this one? I don't need to tell you how our dreams went...
This morning (Sunday), we embarked on a half-day wine tour. First we were picked up at our hotel and we drove 30 minutes out of Cape Town. Along the way, our driver pointed out the conference centers and hospitals, and schools, and the architecture, and recounted a little bit of the history. He says that in South Africa, there are 80% blacks, 10% whites, 7% coloureds and 3% asian & indians. Coloureds??!! I don't know why, but I was inwardly wincing every time he said that word. A South African couple on the tour with us say that "coloured" is not a derogatory term at all, it is totally neutral like "black" or "white." Still, didn't feel right to me, although I guess that's the way it is here.
What made me feel even worse were the shanty towns we passed along the highway. I had seen something like them in movies of course, and I never thought that they didn't exist, but I didn't think it would be so BAD and I didn't know I would be confronted with so many millions of people barely even living like that. I suddenly felt disgusted that we were going on a wine tour. I felt so helpless and sad, and Shawna was upset by it too. I tried to get photos on the way back but I don't think any turned out since we were moving. I don't know how to describe it. A slum, basically. Metal shacks, garbage everywhere, people defecating beside the road, random cows wandering about (eating garbage), kids playing amidst it all. It went on for kilometers and kilometers, and when the township ended, it wasn't long before we encountered another one. Our driver said there were 4 or 5 shanty towns like that. It made me so depressed.
He also said that education is not free, and that's part of the problem. I am struck over and over again about how lucky I am.
So, back to the life of the privileged. We had a wine & cheese tasting at one winery, and another tasting at another winery. I am not much into wine (even on a Sunday morning at 10am, ha!) but I certainly enjoyed the cheese. Shawna doesn't eat cheese so I had double! :) Then we had a few extra minutes so our driver stopped at a conservation center where they house cheetahs! And you can go inside and pet the cheetahs! Isn't that nuts/totally cool?!! We totally would have done it except we didn't have the time; there was a fairly long lineup of people wanting to have a personal encounter. Too bad, since there will be no petting of cheetahs or any other animal once we start our tour. Ah well.
We then toured Stellenbosch city, South Africa's second oldest city next to Cape Town. Dutch influence everywhere, including the architechture and the language. Afrikaans was on all the street signs, and there was an Afrikaans university there as well. I noticed that this town was mainly full of caucasian people. I think it was actually rich people, who just happen to be mostly white.
When we got back from the half-day tour we were famished. So we headed down the street from our hotel and found a nice little restaurant across the street from the sushi place. Our lunch disappeared rather quickly, I'd say. :) Then we went walking - first inadvertently to the Garden Shopping Center, and then we found our way to The Company's Gardens, which is basically like a huge park and historical buildings all around. Reminded me of Hyde Park in London. Then we walked to the Castle of Good Hope, and the District Six museum, but it was closed. So, we headed back to our hotel. We're rather exhausted.
Tonight we have a meeting with our camping tour guide, and we take off tomorrow in the Land Cruiser on our trip! Sorry for this incredibly long email - but after we're on the road who knows when you'll hear from me...
Hope all is well. Count your blessings today and every day, we are the privileged people in this world, it's true! Nowhere is better than Beautiful British Columbia!!
xo
E!
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