In my previous post I talked about how lonely the holidays
can be when you are in a foreign country. Luckily for me, others already knew
of this, and there were plans being made months ago to combat this issue. The
other members of Team SATZ (what the YASCers in South Africa and Tanzania have
been calling ourselves) had been planning to get together over the holidays for
some time, and so the end of December found all of us in Cape Town.
I, myself, was in Cape Town by the 24th of
December due to lack of having personal transportation. I was lucky enough to
catch a ride to Cape Town with Hananja (The dietician who occasionally works
with the Center, and who also happens to be Keri’s, the former YASC member
here, best friend) and her boyfriend Rod. It actually turned out for the best
because that meant that myself and Lacey (The other YASC member with HOPE who
is working in Cape Town) were able to attend the Christmas Eve midnight service
at the Cathedral in Cape Town. It was a beautiful service with the archbishop,
and even more excitingly, Desmond Tutu and his family, being in attendance.
Lacey and I were able to attend the Christmas Day mass at the Cathedral as
well. For Christmas itself Lacey and I accepted the invitation of Rachel Mash,
who works in the Green Anglican Office, which shares a building with HOPE. We
spent Christmas lunch and afternoon having a wonderful time enjoying the
company of her husband, who teaches in the medical school at UCT, and her son
and daughter, both of whom are in university, as well as another professor from
the university and his wife. As it turned out, their other guests were also
from the United States. They’ve have been in South Africa for a couple decades
now, but they could easily commiserate with us about things we missed from the
states. All in all it was an enjoyable time, in which I participated in my
first Christmas Cracker a fact that amazed everyone in attendance (they were homemade
crackers), and for the first time ever, I lounged by the pool on Christmas.
Andy Russell and Jacob Nastruz (The Yasc Members in Tanzania
and Joberg, respectively) arrived in Cape Town on the 27th. Lacey
and I met them at the Airport and took them to Ann House, where all four of us
were staying for the holidays. From there commenced a week of fun. That same
day we visited a rooftop pool, followed by this really awesome Mesopotamian
restaurant. That Monday we set out to hike Table Mountain. At that point I was
the only one out of our group that had actually been to the top of Table
Mountain, and I had arrived there via cable car. I knew it wasn’t going to be
an easy walk, but everyone else was still dead set on it. We took Platteklip
Gorge, one of the popular routes up table mountain. It is the most direct route
to the top, but this is achieved by being vey vertical and filled with steep
switchbacks, which leads some to say it is also the most difficult way to the
top. It was ok though, we took plenty of breaks which allowed us to eat the
snacks we brought, as well as take plenty of beautiful pictures. (Pictures to
follow at a later date, I am still sorting through them all). It was an overall
rewarding experience which enabled us to have multiple conversations with other
hikers (either on their way down or as they passed us going up). Once we
achieved the summit it was decided that we should take the cable car back to
the bottom since, you know, we were only doing this once and wanted to get both
sides of the experience. That evening Jacob, myself, and Andy were able to view
Starwars Episode 7 at the Waterfront Mall’s Theater. I will not go on in
length, but I will say I thoroughly enjoyed it.
The next day we took the Hop-on Hop-off bus tour (also known
as the red bus tour). One of the routes offered by the tour is the purple
route, or the route that takes you to the vineyards. This was where we had
arranged to meet the last YASCer in South Africa, Tim Hamlin, who had his
girlfriend visiting as well. The six of us took a cellar tour at the Groot
Constantia wine estate, which was very informative and ended in a wine tasting.
We then ended up eating at one of the restaurants on the estate purely by luck,
since one party ended up canceling right after we had asked and they had told
us they were full. It was a wonderful afternoon spent relaxing and enjoying the
company of the other YASC members (and Tim’s girlfriend) amongst the beautiful
grounds of Groot Constantia. It was nice to catch up and hear about each of our
placements, as well as the challenges and triumphs that accompany each. The
following day, Lacey, Andy, Jacob and I took the red bus tour again, this time
focusing on the downtown loop. We were able to see many different interesting
sites, like the district 6 museum, as well as the “Castle”, which is the
original fort that had been there. We also explored the watershed, which is a
crafts market on the waterfront.
The morning and early afternoon of the 31st was
spent down at the Waterfront once again. We went to the waterfront market where
we were able to try a variety of different foods as well as visiting the
Aquarium. That evening we ended up at the botanical gardens in Kirstenbosch.
The botanical gardens is a beautiful garden nature reserve, which can easily
have a day spent there picnicking and soaking up the many beautiful sights. We.
However, were there for their new year’s eve concert. Jeremy Loops was the
headline act, and I would highly suggest you check out his music (he is on
Spotify). Jeremy is a native of Cape Town, and so it was really interesting
being able to hear him play to his home crowd in such a venue.
The 1st was spent on an adventure that could have
gone better. We ended up trying to take a train to Simon’s beach, which is
known for having penguins. However, because it was a holiday, there trains were
running on a more spaced out schedule than we anticipated, and were packed much
fuller than we were expecting. We ended up being squashed together along with a
number of complete strangers, in fashion I would easily call less than ideal.
We made it all the way to the end of the line we were on, before we realized
that the train wasn’t running all the way out to Simon’s beach. We could have
taken a bus the rest of the way, but we decided that between the wait for the
bus, as well as the time to get there, and back, and catch the next train back
to our stop, we would be cutting it a little close, and we did not want to be
stranded that far out without reliable cab or Uber service back into town. It
was decided that we would take the train back a few stops and get off at a
beach there, from which we could Uber back. This is where we made a mistake. We
were able to get good seats, at one end of the train, when we got back on. The
problem was that between the stop we got on at, and the stop we wanted to get
off at, the train became packed again. I am talking shoulder to shoulder packed
with all types of people carrying all manner of bags and beach equipment. As
our stop approached we got up and notified the people between us and the door
that this was where we wanted to get off. What followed can only be described
as the worst public transport experience of my life. As soon as the doors
opened we started heading for the exits, but at the same time the large crowd
waiting to get on started surging forward, despite the fact that the car was
already packed full. The people already on tried to assist us by pushing us
forward while the people on the outside pushed against us to get on. We barely
made it off, and it was more by virtue of luck than anything else. We spent
some time at the beach before deciding to take an Uber back.
The 2nd of January was spent at the downtown
enjoying the Kaapse Klopse, also known as just Klopse, Tweede Nuwe jaar, or the
Cape Town Minstrel Festival. The festival is steeped in history and Black and
Colored pride in the wake of racism and colonialism. Different groups form
troupes and dress up in colorful outfits with various face paints. They parade
through the streets playing instruments and performing a variety of dances and
songs. All in all it is a wonderful cultural experience that is amazing to see
live. My only regret is that we were not able to see more of it. We arrived a
little while before it was scheduled to start (around noon or 1), only to find
that some people had been camping out since the morning. The streets were lined
with families with pop-up coverings who were clearly there for the long haul.
It also did not start on time. We found a spot by the start, and waited until
almost 4 pm before we saw the first group. We were able to watch several groups
before we decided to leave in search of food.
All in all it was a wonderful holiday spent in Cape Town. It
was great to catch up and share with other people who are going through some of
the same difficulties as myself. My regret lies in almost planning too much to
do. Each day felt like it was jam packed with things to do, and I sorely wished
we had taken a day or two just doing nothing. The holiday also ended on a very
sad note, but that is another blog.
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