A day and 10,000 miles makes quite the difference. The temperature in Doha when we left at 7AM was around 90 degrees, and it was around 60 degrees and raining when we arrived in Cape Town. I prefer the 60 degrees and rain.
One observation: having spent time in Doha and seeing the rather extravagant infrastructure - I was surprised when we ended up taking a bus from our terminal gate out to the tarmac to board our plane. :
When we arrived in Cape Town, it was the same thing - we deplaned and took a bus to the terminal, and it was pouring down rain - and it was chilly!
There were only two glitches: the ATM machine indicated that our PIN number was too short so we couldn't get any South African rands. Thank goodness, the cabbie took American dollars although we suspect we kind of got ripped off, considering it was $40 in American money (about R320) when, according to information in our VRBO, a cab should have cost only around R180. Oh well, we were tired and just wanted to get to our apartment.
The other glitch: our electrical converters don't fit the outlets so our host dropped some off early this afternoon that we can borrow to keep our electronics powered up.
We were delighted to find coffee and milk in the apartment Saturday, which meant we didn't have to go out to find a grocery store after arriving around 8 p.m.
It was chilly Sunday morning!- about 49 degrees. The sun came out briefly, and it felt so good, but the clouds moved in. The high was supposed to be 52 F with rain throughout the day. From our balcony, if you strain a little, you can get a glimpse pf a portion of Table Mountain.
After a couple cups of coffee Sunday morning, we ate a hearty breakfast in the hotel (our apartment is in a hotel) then walked maybe a half block to the grocery store. Before we took off, we used the ATM in the hotel lobby, and it worked. We now have South African Rands in our wallets.
The grocery store was familiar so we didn't encounter any difficulties except there were several men, panhandlers, outside the store begging for groceries. There really is no graceful way to say no without feeling a ping of guilt; if we gave groceries to everyone who asks for them - well - it's a difficult situation anywhere.
We hung around the apartment after getting groceries until Jonathan, our host, stopped by to drop off some converters and make sure we knew how to do the TV (the batteries in the remote needed replacing).
He told us briefly that the building in which we're currently residing was built on the grave of slaves, and there was a memorial down the street so after he left, we took a brief walk to the Prestwich Memorial. It's an interesting history, and you can read about it here: http://www.archivalplatform.org/blog/entry/prestwich_place/
I suspect we'll learn more about it when we're on our Transcending History tour with Lucy later this week.
Showers were intermittent all day, and Jonathan said it was the coldest day of the year in Cape Town. Apparently, there was some snow on Table Mountain. It probably didn't get warmer than 50 degrees or so.
The coffee shop wasn't open at the memorial site so we stopped into the Cubano, a café/bar near our place. We had some African beer (Beth had a cocktail) and visited with a young man from Zimbabwe (the bartender) who has been in Cape Town for eight years. He was very friendly and advised us to visit the Great Zimbabwe, which are extensive stone ruins of an African Iron Age city - the largest of more than 150 major stone ruins scattered across the countries of Zimbabwe and Mozambique. Unfortunately, we aren't visiting them as it is a four-hour jeep ride from where we'll be, and it's $1,200 each.
We returned to our apartment and watched news before making supper. There was a piece about the intersectional women's march, "My Body, Not Your Crime Scene." August is womxn's month and on Aug. 1, women and gender non-conforming people (GNC) from all sectors of South Africa shut down the country in protest against gender-based violence. Apparently, South Africa is leading with five times the global average of femicide. According to a GoGetFunding website, #TheTotalShutdown, "sixty three years after the historical Women's March of 1956, womxn of all backgrounds in South Africa find themselves with very little to celebrate in the face of a growing epidemic of gender-based violence and femicide."
We watched a portion of the news reports about the installation of the new Zimbabwe president, which is an interesting situation. Apparently, Emmerson Mnangagwa was a henchman for Robert Mugabe, his predecessor, and there are questions about a fair election. You can read about it at: https://www.reuters.com/article/us-zimbabwe-election-inauguration/zimbabwes-president-takes-oath-amid-u-s-censure-over-vote-idUSKCN1LB090
We also learned from the news here about Louisiana's proposed bill that would criminalize activists protesting pipelines. It's a trend that started in Oklahoma when the governor signed a bill to stiffen penalties for interfering with pipeline projects and other "critical infrastructure." The law imposes punishments of up to 10 years in prison and $10,000 in fines - and up to $1 million for any organization "found to be a conspirator." Do we hear about these laws to criminalize protests in the U.S.?
As in New Zealand, the news here relays information about the U.S., and we learn more about what's happening in the U.S. than we do reading the U.S. media. There were several interesting editorials in the Sunday Times about Trump's recent comments about South Africa. There are no white farmers being killed in South Africa, and there is not land being taken from white farmers. South Africa is contemplating land reform which includes expropriation of land without compensation, which can be tricky but several editorials indicated that it would work, if handled properly.
We ate a familiar supper to end the evening - pork chops, fried taters and corn on the cob (which was tough, and we had to resist comparing it to the delicious sweet corn we get in Wisconsin). (Beth says: this was a balance to the delicious, but less familiar, food we've been enjoying.)
We've got plans to go to the Zeitz Museum of Contemporary African Art that just opened last year, and an evening at Africa Gold Restaurant - it is a totally tourist thing. We're participating in a drumming workshop from 6:30 to 7 p.m., then we eat a traditional African "feast" while being entertained. The evening includes praise singing to welcome us, Mali puppetry and dancing to the rhythms of the marimba percussion and djembe drums. Although it's a touristy thing - it sounds like fun!
Good morning Cape Town! We got up around 7:30 a.m., and this is what we saw from our balcony in our apartment at Rockwell.
This is what we see from our balcony when it's not raining. The black clouds, well, those were moving toward us with rain.
A rainbow from our balcony, after intermittent showers all day.
The end of the evening - a full moon from our balcony, marking our first day in Cape Town. We've got a little more than a week before we take off for more adventures!
No comments:
Post a Comment