Chapter 9 - Capetown 1



View of Capetown and Table Mountain from Robben Island

Sunday, January 16th

So my wife is a pretty big fan of the bachelor and oftern gets together with girlfriends to watch it.  This past week she managed to get me to sit down with her to check it out.  Turns out they are in South Africa doing alot of the same things we did.  As a result, I want to get our Capetown chapters out there before that ridiculous show ruins it for us! 

Lion's Head rising above Capetown

Capetown South Africa lies on nearly the same parallel as Rio De Janeiro, Brazil and Sydney, Australia.  It is a beautiful harbor city with mountains that rise right out of its center.  It is often compared to San Francisco because of its layout, geography, and climate.  We couldn't wait to to explore it as this would be the first time we were staying in the same place for several days. 



























Welgelegen House

 From the airport, we were ushered to the Welgelegen House at the foot of table mountain.  Welgelegen (meaning "established") is a converted estate located in the Garden District built in the 1920's.  The second house we stayed in was located behind what you see here.  Between them lie a garden with a patio and plunge pool.  It was so nice to finally have a place to call home even for only a few days.

Champagne overlooking Table Top

We were placed in the back house with a room that had a deck and an incredible view of Table Mountain.  We were greeted with a bottle of champagne and spent the first of many hours on this deck overlooking the magnificent view.  We saw and experienced quite a few unforgettable things in Capetown.  But some of our best memories will be of the time we spent at the Welgelegen House.

Our first afternoon would be spent relaxing at the house.  We were walking distance to Kloof St. and quite a few restaurants and shops.  By now we were craving some of the simpler things from home.  Dinner that night would be pizza and pasta at Davinci. 











Monday, January 17th

The following morning we would have the first of four wonderful breakfasts at Welgelegen (which I will refer to as W from here on out.)  After our meal we were met by Mareli Ritter, our thirty-two-year-old guide for the next three days.  We would immediately head for the cable car at the base of Table Mountain.


The cars rotate 360 degrees as your whisked up the mountain gaining 2500 ft in altitude in only five minutes.  Based on a solid reccommendation from a friend (thanks PM) we would make that same ascent on foot two days later.  This trip however was for photos so we took the easy way.     

























The views from the stop were spectacular...

Camps Bay to the left with Lion's Head on the right.



We would spend about an hour at the peak walking around and taking in the view. 



Mr. and Mrs. K



Say cheese...





Here you can see most of the city as well as Robben Island off in the distance.  We would be visiting the island later this afternoon.  You may also notice the stadium just to the right of the mountain as well.  Built for the 2010 World Cup it is often empty as no team uses it as their home field.

One last look before heading back down

After a quick ride back down we met Mareli and were on our way.  We would be touring the city for the rest of the morning. 

When apartheid swept across South Africa after the elections in 1948, Capetown would be an epicenter for the movement.  No event more significant than the destruction of District Six in 1965.  60,000 people were forcibly removed when their housing was demolished.  Although portions of the city were destroyed, some areas would emerge.  The Boer Kopp was an area we visited that was intact from later years where minorities would grow.  The architecture here is stunning and often utilized for its photographic landscape.

The entire neighborhood is full of vibrantly colored buildings.



   We were not the only ones with a camera...

Here we happened upon a photo shoot.  It's not hard to see why the area is utilized as a backdrop.  Mareli would later tell us that Capetown is one of the most widely photographed as a background for all sorts of magazines.







From here we would scamper through the city checking out some more buildings of significance.  Here you see City Hall where Nelson Mandela would make one of his first appearances after being released after 27 years of imprisonment.

Capetown City Hall

We would end our city tour for a quick bite and a beer before visiting Mandela's residence for much of his time in prison.  While we ate and drank, a group of men appeared and began to sing.  I couldn't resist taking a little video. 

Unfortunately blogspot was unable to upload my video so I posted it on Facebook right after this entry. 

http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=600273688#!/video/video.php?v=10150160613463689&comments


On to Robben Island...

Beginning in the 17th century, Robben Island was used to isolate not only political prisoners, but leppers and anyone else the government deemed unnneccessary.  It would claim other victims through shipwreck and is known to have caused the loss of tens of millions of dollars in gold coins.  Although a few have washed up on shore, most are still lost at sea.  The most quantifiable loss in value would be the "mental wealth" that the island witheld for so many years.  Mandlea was just one of many political prisoners held here.

The Quarry Cave

This cave is located in a quarry where prisoners were put to work.  After the quarry had been sufficiently mined, the prisoners were still forced to labor there.  They would move literally the same pile of rocks from one end to the other, day after day.  This cave was where they were able to seek refuge from the sun during lunch.  It was also a place where the prisoners would educate eachother, writing in the dirt beneath their feet.



Our tour guide.











Our tour guide spent five years as a political prisoner bginning in 1977.  He was arrested for peacefully protesting aprtheid when he was in high school.  He was a wonderful man who shared his story with us like he was telling it for the first time.

He never mentioned his name until after the tour was over.  I had to ask him for it and as embarassed as I am to admit this, I couldn't understand the pronunciation.  Regardless, we were spellbound by his words and his story deserves to be recognized.

This tree is located in a garden close to an area where Mandela would tend.  He would later admit to using the garden as his hiding place for books and other contraband.

Mandela's cell

One of the stories we were told was of how the Red Cross visited the prison to examine the conditions the inmates were living in.  Before their arrvial, the prison and the prisoners were "staged" to give the appearance of things being much better than they were.  Including the placement of beds in cells that would be visible to passers by.  To the left you can see the reality of what most cells were like.




















Mandela and friend (Google images - may be subject to copyright)









The clothes the prisoners are wearing in this picture were given to the prisoners right before the Red Cross arrrived and taken after they were gone.

Here our guide stands on the tennis court and tells us a story.  The guards would laugh and make fun of them for how bad they were at tennis.They would constantly hit the ball over the wall into another outdoor area.  Little did they know, the players were hiding messages inside of the tennis balls and communicating with prisoners in other parts of the prison.  He said a conversation may take weeks, but it was a small freedom in a place with very few.

Minto Hill lighthouse on Robben Island




















Our experience on the island was very moving and would higly reccommend it to anyone.













Back on land we would end our day with Happy hour in the harbor.  We had a little snack and took in the view.  This is one of Kate's favorite shots of the whole trip.

Capetown Harbor

 The Cape Grace hotel in the distance has a fantastic bar that we would visit the following night before dinner.  They serve whiskey flights!  Thanks to Em and Ryan for the reccommendation.  This night we would dine at a place called Society Bistro.  Outdoor patio with fab food that isn't diminished even when a girl sitting next to your table is chain smoking like it's going out of style.

I just read that last line and realized chain smoking IS going out of style.  

End of day one in Capetown.