Cape Town

Pleasure and Pain in South Africa: Cape Town

.
ACCOMMODATION AND ATTEMPTED ROBBERY
Thanks to Roal's connections and efforts on our behalf, were were lucky enough to stay in the nurses residence at the New Somerset Hospital during our elective. This place cost one-third as much as the cheapest hostels and was at a fantastic location at the Waterfront, 1 minute by bicycle from the gorgeous coastal promenade of Green Point. Don't plan on staying there on your next visit though, because the whole hospital and residence are to be torn down shortly to build a massive soccer stadium for the 2010 World Cup. (This is a hot political topic -- they will spend billions on the facilities for the World Cup that many feel would be much better spent within the health care system or other infrastructure for the townships).
Cozy...	View from our room	Waterfront	Green Point
The fact that it is about to be torn down did lead to a few interesting problems during our stay. The place is half empty, with the medical students and nurses who usually stay there being evicted gradually, and security is lax. Because someone was repeatedly climbing through windows to steal laptops and phones, we kept our windows closed despite the heat. One afternoon Diana was off work early and was using the laptop in our room when the seagulls outside started making a crazy racket. Diana got up to look through the tinted window and was suddenly face to face with an agile black teenage boy who was clinging to the wall, trying to push open her window. She shouted at him and both he and she ran away from each other. And unfortunately this scary face to face encounter with a possibly armed thief was on an afternoon when I was at work until nearly 7 PM, so Diana sat for over 3 hours alone in the little room reliving the incident. I wished very much I could have been home earlier -- being together is much better than being alone at a time like that.
.	Where the burglar climbed up	Squatters just outside the window saw the robber climb up
We changed rooms to one that only a Ninja could climb into, but this led to further trouble as I managed to lose the only key to the new room. This was the same afternoon I dropped my camera breaking the lens filter (luckily not the lens!) and got a speeding violation via photo radar. We discovered that I had lost the key only at 10:30 PM on our return from the fitness centre. The night staff had no key, so we had to cram into a single bed in an on-call room on the top floor, without toothbrushes, awaiting the morning staff who hopefully would have a key. This was a stressful night as I was supposed to be at morning rounds at 7 AM and Diana was giving a Powerpoint talk, which was on our laptop in the room, at 9 AM -- so we had to get in right away. But, Fayza the morning person also had no key. Imagine a hotel where no one has a key to the room, no master key, nothing. So I had to pay a locksmith $80 (I talked him down from nearly $100) to open the thing. Basically he took a power drill and blasted right through the lock. I could have bought a drill for $30 and done the same thing myself! At least he came promptly, so Diana got to her talk just in time. People at work seemed skeptical of my explanation of why I was 2 ½ hours late...
.
The other issue at the residence was electricity. Only one power outlet worked, and we had cell phones, palm pilots, the laptop, two digital cameras and electric toothbrushes -- all of which needed recharging. We did what we had to do...		If this fuse blew, we'd have no power at all
.
AFTER WORK: TOURISTS IN CAPE TOWN
Wherever we went, we enjoyed the South African accent and expressions. Leonardo di Caprio drifts in and out of the correct accent in the movie Blood Diamond. Typical conversation: - "Howzit?" (standard greeting) - "My bakkie ran out of petrol." (bakkie = pickup truck. Seats 12.) - "Shame! Sure I just filled it." (shame = pronounced "shayme" -- all-purpose exclamation, especially when you see something cute. For example, "my little one is 4 months old." "Shame!" Sure = pronounced "shore", also all-purpose) - "Is it? Look, fill it again" ("Is it" = pronounced "izt", equivalent to "oh?" Many sentences start with "Look,...") - "Pleasure!" (pleh-zhah; we wish people in Canada said this more as it sounds so good) - "Thanks." - "Go well." (aka "Goodbye" -- a blessing which sounds somehow both conspiratorial and generous at the same time).
.
We worked out at Richard Branson's "Virgin Active" gym, actually a sort of social club for the wealthy gay white male population; the men's locker room has a spa and public shower area and let's just say that many men in there are flaunting what is usually discreetly hidden. The women at that gym may or may not be pleased with how little attention they get! The main benefit of our month-long membership was the chance to meet Greg Lemond, who came for the big bike race at an exclusive and not-well-publicized autograph session just for Virgin Active members. Diana and I had a nice, long, relaxed talk with him, and both came away much impressed. He's a very friendly, down to earth and charming guy, handsome and fun, and just a pleasure to talk with. If only everyone famous was like that!
Virgin Active	Tennis courts at the foot of Table Mountain	Greg Lemond	Greg Lemond
.
Dinners were at the waterfront tourist area, a tourist trap but definitely worth a visit anyway. Some tasty restaurants including the pancake place (Afrikaans = Dutch = lots of pancakes) where I had three entrees and a dessert one hungry evening, to Diana's embarrassment, and a nice relaxed safe feeling, as well as the usual spectacular views. It seems like many cities are developing these waterfront or harbor areas as central gathering places in the past decade or so, a type of urban renewal which I love because it makes places like downtown Baltimore, previously a threatening and dangerous place, into a tourist dining and entertainment destination that becomes the face of the city to visitors. Back home, Calgary (Eau Claire) and Winnipeg (The Forks) have this while Edmonton does not -- yet.
How much is a room for the night? If you have to ask, you probably can't afford it!	Taxi flees Cape Doctor winds blowing over Table Mountain	Waterfront shopping	At the waterfront
.
If we took a left turn from the hospital gate rather than rightward to the waterfront, we could cycle along the Green Point to Camps Bay promenade, with gorgeous west-facing sunset views of the Atlantic Ocean from the twisty Cliffside road. We cycled and walked here, I jogged, and we swam at a really lovely pool frequented by models doing photo shoots and costing just 10 rand ($1.70) per entry. At or after sunset we often enjoyed dinners at oceanside restaurants. For our one year anniversary I treated Diana to sushi dinner at a Green Point restaurant with a spectacular sea view, and it was lucky we did this then because a week later the restaurant burned down, probably due to arson.
Lighthouse beside our favorite Green Point coffee shop	That's a 1969 Buick LeSabre	CaffeNeo -- coffee, chocolate croissants, wireless internet and ocean views	Cycling Green Point
Admission to this swimming pool: $1.70!	Models and film crews are a frequent site in Cape Town.	Gorgeous.	Lifestyles of the...
Lawn bowling by the sea!	Camps Bay surfing	Camps Bay - 30 minutes by bicycle from our residence	Near Camps Bay
Wind, surf, sun and cliffs -- what a bikeride.	Some of the most expensive property in the world.	But it does get windy!	Wind and waves
.
South from the hospital, just a 20 minute drive down an expressway during weekends or off-peak hours took us to Muizenberg, the perfect little town to surf at. Unfortunately this was not something we could do weekdays, because with the very heavy rush-hour traffic the same drive can be 1-1.5 hours. Diana caught some waves and we particularly enjoyed the day that our favorite radiologist Jackie Kieck took us there. She also showed us Cape Point, often claimed to be the furthest southerly point on the continent, but in fact Cape Agulhas, the true furthest-south point is 300 km east of Cape Town. Watch out for the baboons here -- we heard a (secondhand) tale of a South African woman who actually had her bag stolen by one at Cape Point.
Jackie and Diana get ready to surf	Off they go!	Jackie gets up	Success!
Muizenberg beach cottages. The dead seal has washed up from a huge colony offshore, which explains why there are also sharks in the area.	I liked it best when Diana surfed in a bikini :)	Never happier
Aerial view of Muizenberg	Cape Point beach	Don't let the baboon steal your bag	Although it's a national park, if you are wealthy enough you can launch a boat from your Land Rover here.
Views	Laughter as Diana says I've taken enough photos!
.
Close to Groote Schuur Hospital, the Cecil Rhodes Memorial is a monument to imperialism, for better or worse; the view is spectacular, from the wealthy white suburbs to the seemingly endless flatlands. Unlike Rio de Janiero, where the slums are on the steep hills, Cape Town is like most other cities where the hills are for the rich. Throughout South Africa, each city on the map is surrounded by massive unmarked slumlands, which obviously contain many thousands of people and are full of activity, but without storefronts or many vehicles. I was particularly startled at Jeffrey's Bay, a small white surfing and holiday community, to discover the much larger black township just to the south, awkwardly adjacent to an exclusive gated waterfront resort development. This is the sad legacy of apartheid. The laws may have changed but the geographic and economic segregation continue. This pattern is familiar to Americans, for instance in Washington, DC where only the bravest white suburbanite would dare to tread in the poor black southeast neighborhoods. I have heard several white South Africans explain that "in many places it is the fact, only here they made it the law.'
Rhodes Memorial	View of Cape Town and Cape Flats	Rhodes	Table Mountain. Beautiful, but hikers frequently get mugged on these slopes.
.
Cape Town has beautiful roads, originally built for the white minority and still fast off-peak, but now hopelessly clogged at rush hour like every other major city. Public transit is very poor in South Africa and if we had not rented a car we would have been very restricted. Locals often ride in "bakkies" (pickup trucks), 10 to the bed -- which could mean 10 dead in even a relatively minor highway collision. And the minibus taxis drive quite aggressively, creating lanes where none were meant. As more people become prosperous enough to get cars, roads are going to get much, much more congested -- a Los Angeles style traffic nightmare is on its way to Cape Town and apparently already affects Johannesburg.
Always room for one more	Downtown Cape Town freeway incomplete due to lack of funds -- now used mainly by film crews!	Modern roads	Could use a few extra lanes
.
The grandest thing in Cape Town is Table Mountain, the huge flat plateau looming over the city. This is over 1000 m high, so that the top of the mountain is at the elevation of Calgary or Banff and has similarly dramatic weather. We went up at sunset one particularly scenic day for some of my favorite photos of Cape Town.
View from Table Mountain cable car depot	Fog rolls in at sunset	Like sitting on the clouds	Table Mountain
.	It's all worth it
.
In a warm climate, a shopping mall can be much more interesting for the architect than in the freezing cold as in Canada. Canal Walk, a large suburban mall, is a gaudy and overdone place with its own canal/moat (probably not just for decoration -- this would be helpful for security as most poor South Africans can't swim), bridges and terraces, with quite good restaurants. Long Street in downtown Cape Town is the funkier and more truly alive place to visit and shop, though dangerous at night particularly on its southern tip.
Canal Walk	Best restaurant ever found in a shopping mall!	As gaudy inside as out
Long Street	Upper Long Street / Kloof Street
.
We found it easy to make friends and spent many nights over delicious dinners or at a "braii" (BBQ), enjoying good company in Cape Town. Thanks everyone!
Jean and Roal	Mmm, dessert!	Eileen O'Grady	Frank and Doug
Valerie	Nadia and Nick	Jackie and Cobus
.
PREVIOUS	NEXT	HOME