Worcester & our last day in Cape Town

We spent Sunday night, and then Monday and Tuesday in Worcester, my friends home town. We spent some time catching up with friends and family... dealt with the fact that we had broken the hire-car, and generally spent a little time relaxing before another few hectic days!

The Wednesday morning we were up bright and early and on the road to Cape Town again. Our first port of call was the ferry terminal at the waterfront where we purchased our tickets for the tour to Robben Island. Since we had missed out the last time we tried to get tickets we wanted to make sure that we weren't going to miss out again. We booked the tour for the afternoon and then jumped back in the car bound for Table Mountain which had finally re-opened.

The view from the top was spectacular. There are a number of walking tracks that lead you around the top of the mountain which is actually deceptively large. Aside from the view I was also on the look out for a small mammal called a Dassie (Rock Hyrax) which my friend told me looked like an over-sized guinea pig. Not at all a bad description actually because when I came home and googled them it came up with "superficially resembling a large guinea pig"... We didn't see any at first but then... Lo and behold... there they were scrambling around the rocks. I was ridiculously excited and like a good tourist rapidly snapped a bunch of pictures.

We mucked around up the top of the mountain taking pictures for about an hour and then decided to head down again. On the way down I was much more together, looking around, and looking down. I had been told that if we were to go up Table Mountain we had to use the cable car because the criminals hid along the paths to rob you...and no, this is not another naive "I'll believe anything bad about South Africa" instance I was told this by South Africans! The naive part was when I was busy looking down at the path to see if I could spot any...

Once at the bottom we jumped back in the car and went in search of some breakfast before our tour left for Robben Island. Before we even made it to breakfast we got a little lost and accidentally found Bo Kaap, an area with lots of brightly coloured houses, and went for a little drive. Bo Kaap was formerly called the Malay Quarter and is the historical centre of Cape Malay culture. More information can be found here.

We had spent most of the trip talking about how happy we were that we had chosen to go to South Africa in the winter because we had less tourists to compete with and nothing had changed that morning. We waited in line to buy our ticket for the cable car for less than a minute and were on the cable car 5 minutes later. I was a little nervous on the trip up, which I am sure is mostly due to an overactive imagination, and having watched the James Bond movie where the guy with the metal jaw bites through the cable car's cable...

We eventually found our way back down to the waterfront and after breakfast sat at a great little restaurant right by the water to have a nice cold drink (yes it was winter...but it was a really warm day) and we were treated to a little show by a seal swimming up and down in the water right next to us. Before long we wandered over to the ferry terminal and waited for the boat to arrive... which unfortunately was about 20 minutes later than it was supposed to be. We had arranged to meet with our photographer, from the engagement shoot, at 4:15 as on our ticket it said we would be back by 4pm... needless to say we were a little worried but then we assumed that they would still leave at the same time so we should still be back in time.

The ride over to Robben Island was beautiful, Cape Town behind us perfectly situated in front of Table Mountain, and Robben Island ahead of us. For those of you that don't know too much about the history of South Africa Robben Island is a monument to a time called Apartheid. It is currently listed as a world heritage site as a reminder of a time that none of us should wish to return to. In the 17th Century the dutch first used Robben Island as a prison for political prisoners from it's other colonies. When the English took over the governing of South Africa in the 1800's they also used the Island to imprison some of the African leaders involved in the Grahamstown uprising in 1819.

After 1845 the island was used as a leper colony and an animal quarantine station. During WW2 guns and fortifications were added to the island, as an added defense for Cape Town, though the island itself continued to be used as a prison. The period known as Apartheid spanned from 1961 to 1994 and during this time the Island was used as a maximum security prison for political prisoners. These political prisoners were predominantly black Africans who were campaigning for greater black rights within South Africa. After the end of Apartheid Robben Island continued to function as a prison, housing medium security criminal prisoners, for one year. In 1997 it became a museum and a national monument and then in 1999 it was declared a world heritage site.

Nelson Mandela, known affectionately to the people of South Africa as Madiba, was imprisoned on the Island in 1964, and spent 18 of his 27 year prison sentence living in a tiny cell and peering out on a tiny garden. Our guide told us that much of Nelson Mandela's book "Long Walk To Freedom" was written during his time on Robben Island. Because of the incredible history of the Island it was an impressive and yet very sombre place to visit.

We arrived late in the afternoon and were the last group to go through for the day. All the people from the boat were loaded onto 4 tour buses and taken to visit the various buildings around the island, including the limestone quarry, and houses where the prison guards once lived. When we first got onto the bus the guide asked where people were from, I was surprised to discover that my friend was the only South African, and suddenly wondered if the fact that we were both wearing our springboks jersey's would be offensive (again the naivety). It was a big moment for me. My friend is an Afrikaaner and during Apartheid it was this group of people who were considered to be the oppressors, I wondered how the people who had lived through this history felt about escorting us around this place. We were let off the bus to walk around the maximum security prison and were escorted by a tour guide who had actually been a prisoner on the island.

Our guide showed us around, explaining what each building had been used for, and talking a little about his life within the walls. Our guide had been imprisoned on Robben Island as a teenager for being a part of a smaller student uprising that was linked to the larger Soweto Uprising. He was an incredibly knowledgeable and gentle man who could answer any questions we had. All in all it was an amazing experience.

The next morning we were up bright and early again to re-pack our bags and head off to the airport. We had to return our hire car and check our bags nice and early and we were keen to have a final wimpy breakfast before we flew out. Before long we had done everything we needed to do and after a spot of shopping we were on a plane again bound for Dubai and leaving Africa behind.

Day Two and Three in Cape Town

We were up bright and early the next morning on our way to Table Mountain, partly because there was so much we wanted to do and see, partly because we were still pretty much on Korean time so 4 am in Cape Town was already a sleep in. We made our way up to the car park and hopped out of the car talking about how fantastic it was that it was so quiet and clearly holidaying ing the winter was smart because there was less of an issue with crowds…only to discover that the reason it was dead quiet probably had more to do with the fact that the cable car that goes to the top of the mountain was down for maintenance until August and it was the 26^th of July.

We knew we still had a few days in which we could come back to see it in August,

before we left for Dubai, so we decided not to let it get us down and took a stack of pictures from the car-park (which is still a spectacular view) and jumped back in the car to go and find breakfast.

We stopped in Camps Bay, one of the most beautiful beaches, and had a delicious breakfast of bacon and eggs, smoked salmon, and croissants… me coming close to a heart attack when my friend worked out that even though it was the most expensive breakfast on the menu it still worked out to about $3 Australian. I felt a whole lot less guilty about ordering food that looked expensive after that! We went for a little wander on the beach after breakfast.

Then it was back in the car headed for Hout Bay. Wow. Hout Bay is stunning! When people talk about picturesque places Hout Bay is the kind of place you would imagine. The colours were spectacular and the scenery… It was also a beautiful sunny day and we had a clear blue sky which just added t it all. We pulled off into a carpark and wandered over to buy a ticket to go out on a boat and see Seal Island. The boat was due to leave in about 10 minutes which gave us time to wander around and look at the handcrafts that the locals were selling – some of which was really amazing. I was particularly fascinated by the hand-painted Ostrich eggshells.

Some of them were unbelievably detailed and quite beautiful…if we didn’t live in a shoebox on the other side of the world I would have considered buying just because they were so different. Alas, transportation difficulties, and not having anywhere to display it meant that it was really not an option.

The trip out to Seal Island and back took about 45 minutes and the view was even more stunning than the view driving into the bay. The seals definitely have some prime real estate! Needless to say I took loads of photos!

Next it was “World of Birds” which is a bird sanctuary…they have everything there from Australian kookaburra’s, to South American parrots, to local African birds…and then a really cute collection of tiny monkeys. We spent ages wandering around looking at the different birds, the owls and birds of prey were the most impressive, though some of the colours of the other birds were absolutely gorgeous!

*****

The next morning was a tad more leisurely, we decided to meet up with a friend of ours from Korea, Jaco, at Cape Town’s casino. First of all… wow. The casino is gorgeous! You have to go through a gatehouse to get there and it is a really beautiful building! Definitely not what I had been expecting, I have been to loads of casinos in Australia, New Zealand and even Macau in China and I have never seen such a pretty casino!

We caught up with Jaco and went bowling. The boys didn’t believe me when I said I was terrible at bowling until after I had started playing…then they believed me. Saying I am terrible is an understatement. Then we mucked around in a game arcade where we busied ourselves scoring tickets to win stuff we didn’t need…but we had a great laugh doing it! After all the excitement we went in search of a drink…which was a little harder than I thought it should have been in a casino… the sports bar didn’t appear to be open and the other bar was closed for a photo-shoot with some girls dressed up in can-can gear. We resorted to buying a drink at one of the little standing bars around the edge of the gaming area and then taking it into the sports bar to sit down. We sat there for quite a while and eventually it did open!

When we started to get hungry we took Jaco up on his offer of dinner and followed him out to his parents place for a braai (bbq)…they were so hospitable and his Dad is an absolute crack up…insisted that we both add him on facebook…which we must remember to do. The food was amazing and the company superb –thanks Jaco!

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Next: Cape Town via Hermanus to Franskraal

Arrival and Day One in Cape Town

Arrival

Even getting out of Korea takes some effort! We had our bags packed and made a last minute call to the Seoul Helpline to find out what time the airport buses left from our area, we had originally planned to take a taxi to Suwon and get the airport bus from there, at the last minute we decided it might just be easier to go from Byeongjeom. We dragged our bags down to the bus stop, calling in for a quick iced coffee to get out of the heat, and then jumped onto the bus headed for the airport. The bus takes between an hour and a half and three hours depending on traffic conditions (yes, it varies that much, traffic close to Seoul is crazy!) and for our trip it was closer to the three hour mark as it was peak hour traffic on a Friday. When we finally got to the airport we checked in right away and then headed off to find something to eat. We had been forewarned that most things at the airport closed at around 10pm and our flight was due to depart at 11:55. Fortunately for us one of the bonuses with my friend's Samsung credit card is that we get free access to the Korean Airways Business lounge…. Aaaahhhh…. What a way to start the trip! They had a selection of foods, from cheese platters, to soups, and all manner of salads as well as a fancy coffee machine, selection of wines, and fruit juices and soft drinks. We curled up in the big leather chairs with coffee’s and made a few phone calls before I picked up my book and. Before long it was time to head to our departure gate to get onto the first leg of our flight from Seoul to Dubai.

We were both glad to have made the decision to fly emirates, though the flight still felt horribly long, and the flight was fully booked so there wasn’t much room to spread out. We made it through the 9 and a half hour journey, with very little sleep, and arrived at around 5am in Dubai where we had about a four hour break before our next flight. We wandered around, stopping for coffee, McDonalds (which made me realize just how bad the McDonalds in Korea really is) and to have a look in the bookshop before we gave in to our tiredness and curled up on one of the airport chairs to wait. Now that I write this it seems like we weren’t really waiting a long time before we boarded the next flight… but then it’s funny how your memory does that… fooling you into believing that the next time you do the flight it won’t be that bad! The next leg of the flight was just as long… and possibly harder to sleep through because of the ill disciplined child a few seats back from us (making us question whether we really wanted to have children…or how some people were allowed to have children) and also because I knew that South Africa was at the other end. It’s kind of a surreal feeling to realize that you are about to land in a place you have wanted to go to for most of your life.

Off the plane we grabbed our bags and went to collect our hire car. Then we were off again heading for Worcester with my friend driving us in our little Kia Picanto. My mouth dropped open as we drove away from the airport and I had my first glimpse of the shacks, little lean to sheds of stacked up sheets of metal, plastic or wood (depending on what they can find) that people actually live in. I was told later that we accidentally took a wrong turn and went through a Gangsters paradise - rather one of the worst areas in Cape Town. I had no idea… I, like most people outside of South Africa, had been told numerous stories of people being robbed, hijacked, and killed, and so a part of me kind of thought that perhaps this is what most of South Africa looked like. Only a part because if I am completely honest I also expected to see sprawling mansions and wild animals roaming the streets… yes I know I am naïve.

We made it to our accommodation in Worcester where we both showered and then collapsed into bed grateful to be lying flat after what seemed like the longest flight ever… we were travelling for 36 hours in total if you include the bus to the airport and the drive to the accommodation… we just kept thinking about how glad we were that we booked a stop-over in Dubai for the trip home!

We were up bright and early the next morning thanks to a healthy dose of jet lag so we got up and organized and by 7am we were on the road being tourists in Worcester…which admittedly is not very big… but the buildings are gorgeous. We took turns driving around which was fun because I have really missed driving!

When everything finally started to open we called into a restaurant called Wimpy, which is part of a chain, and had a massive breakfast of bacon and eggs with all the trimmings! Then that afternoon I was treated to my first real braai in South Africa…yum!

Day One in Cape Town.

We drove into Cape Town early on the Monday morning. It was raining when we left but by the time we were a little way out of Worcester it had stopped and the most beautiful rainbow had come out as if to welcome us… at least in my mind it was there to welcome me! I spent most of the trip in peering into the mountains in search of baboons… I had been promised that they liked to sit on the roads along the way...

We found our accommodation in Sea Point (near the waterfront) as quickly as we could, dropped off our bags, and then went down to the waterfront for something to eat. We sat in the window of a restaurant where we could see the whole waterfront and Table Mountain and had the biggest plate / dish of calamari and prawns I had seen in a long time. (I am including a picture here purely to make the mouths of my friends here in Korea water… this food is nearly impossible to get here!) Somehow I found the will-power to finish almost every morsel and then we wandered around the waterfront feeling like we were going to pop! We tried to book tickets to go and see Robben Island but discovered that all the tickets that day had sold out and the next available trip was 2pm the next day… we decided not to book for the next day because we weren’t sure where we were going to be.

We wandered around for a while doing a bit of window shopping and then wandered into the Aquarium to take a look. It was fantastic! Everything was cleverly lit and well displayed so that you could see it well and it was visually stunning. The jellyfish display stands out as being one of the most clever… I took a picture without flash and it almost looks like they are floating in mid-air. On the other side of the “world of frogs” exhibit there is a special room set up for the penguins, there are two groups, one that stays in that area all the time. The security guard, who was incredibly friendly, told us that we were just in time and if he wandered back downstairs to the outdoor penguin exhibit they were going to walk them up to their night-time spot in about 10 minutes. It was hilarious. This maintenance man kept going in and out of their outdoor enclosure and every time he opened the gate they would line up in front of the door to be let out. They knew what the time was and were eager to get to their indoor houses! Finally the lady they were waiting for opened the door and they all trotted inside obediently, making their way through the aquarium, with all the people in their standing on each side of the path as they waddled along!

After the aquarium we jumped in the car and drove to Canal Walk shopping centre for a little shopping… we had realized after a day or two that the clothing we had taken with us was sadly inadequate for this particularly cold South African winter. My thought when packing was “it’s Africa…how cold can it be?” My friend was clearly mistaken as well so I don’t have to feel like a complete moron of a tourist! We got a nice warm “K-way” jacket for me… some new Springboks jersey’s for each of us, and I found some gorgeous black boots (guys you may tune out for the rest of this paragraph because I am talking about shoes…lol) that were so inexpensive! I like shoe shopping in South Africa…so far it’s the only place in the world that makes me feel like I have small feet! In SA I am a size 6…wow. Sounds small! Also in the boots I bought the size 6 was the smallest they had…leading me to believe that the boots were either meant for me or that South African women have freakishly large feet!

After our “short” shopping expedition had turned into hours of pacing the mall we decided we were completely exhausted and it was time to return to the accommodation and see what our room for the next few days looked like. We certainly weren’t disappointed – the suite was lovely – full kitchen, separate bedroom…and the bathroom had a bath! (I am excited about the bath because you don’t see one very often in Korea.) On our way in we had also been invited to a wine and cheese evening that was being hosted downstairs and so in the spirit of not wanting to miss out on a single moment of our holiday we went down to check it out.

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Next: Day Two and Three in Cape Town