After the cold and the dampness of England, being hit by the intense heat and powerful sun gave me a jolt. The drive to Fish Hoek, an hour south of Cape Town was very beautiful and adventurous. I had seen pictures of this city many times but to see it for real was quite something else. It is probably the most beautiful city in the world, with the backdrop of Table Mountain and the beaches along the coast, and with Robben Island in the bay. The scenery is quite dramatic!
Half the people in Fish Hoek tend to walk around barefoot, even into the supermarket. It is a place where you get to bump into the same people every day. I sometimes feel a bit like Bill Murray in Groundhog Day. Time slows down here.
Small World
I was walking along the main street of Fish Hoek when I noticed somebody familiar fetching something from a car in a carpark. So, I went up to him to get to the bottom of how I recognised him. It dawned on me that he was a colleague from my previous company in London. He had also left that company and was now working in Durban and was in Fish Hoek for a couple of days, visiting his parents.
We All Live In A Yellow Submarine
Well, the submarine wasn't yellow, it was black. I got invited by a senior person in the South African navy to go into an active submarine, based in Simon's Town, which is the main naval base in SA. There are 3 submarines in the South African navy, all built in Germany and navigated down here, taking several weeks. South Africa is the only African country to have submarines. They are mainly used for surveillance to pass on information to the naval ships and the airforce on any illegal ships that are in the area. For example, Chinese fishing ships have tended to enter nearby waters to catch fish illegally. There is no way that I can live on a submarine for months on end. It is so claustrophobic down there and the air is not fresh. Two people share a single bed because they work shifts. The engine room gets so hot that they sometimes hang steaks there to cook.
Taxi Van
So I was trying to get a ride in a group taxi from near the central train station to Camps Bay, which is the upmarket area of Cape Town, with a white sandy beach. All the rich and beautiful people either live there or hang out at the beach. This taxi was not going anywhere so I was getting a bit impatient. I asked the drive to get a move on but he said he needed a couple of more people to get on board before moving. So, I told him I would get 2 people for him, provided that he would not charge me for the ride. He agreed, without taking me seriously. After 5 minutes, I had 2 new passengers for the taxi, to the driver's surprise. My free ride to Camps Bay was quite an adventure, with the loud stereo in the van blasting RnB and soul music. I felt like I was in a moving disco.
Prisoner of Robben Island Tour Company
I decided to check out where Nelson Mandela was imprisoned for 18 of his 27 years in captivity. At the V&A Waterfront in Cape Town, I boarded a large catamaran that took 30 minutes to get to the island. On the bus, there was a tour guide lady of non-European origin. She was facing the bus passengers and pointing things out to the left or right but getting her left and right mixed up with ours. Her English was really poor and I couldn't figure out what she was on about. She was constantly getting her facts and figures and dates wrong. We were cramped on this bus the whole time and couldn't get off to look around. The other guide who showed us around the prison was an ex-prisoner. He also supposedly spoke English but I couldn't understand him either. He seemed to be singing-talking more than talking-talking. The real poignant part of the tour was the cell of Nelson Mandela and the bare concrete floor. I couldn't stay in there for an hour, let alone for 18 years.
Evening Train
I was nervous about getting the evening train back to Fish Hoek from Cape Town central station because I was told by many locals not to travel after dark. But since I only made it to the 3pm Robben Island tour slot, I had to travel back to my guesthouse after sunset. I had thought that there would be security or police on the train, as some people had assured me, but this wasn't the case. I was in the first carriage where some people were sitting. After half an hour into my train ride, a guy of European origin entered my carriage. I started talking to him. He said that he had been in the next carriage where there weren't that many people and there was a gang of youths that was going to rob a passenger. He said I was fortunate to be in my carriage because as there were more people, the gang would not want to cause trouble. He said I shouldn't be travelling at night and told me he had to because he was coming back from work. I was thankful that nothing happened to me, because I had my camera and wallet on me.
Table Mountain
The ascent to the top of Table Mountain in the rotating cable car was quite a sight. That meant that no one had to fight to get a good view. At the top, there was every nationality under the sun, walking around this flat mountain. I stayed up there for 8 hours, and saw the sunset. It was beautiful moment. A few days later, an American BASE jumper lept from the top of Table Mountain with a wing suit and just before deploying his parachute lower down, was met by an unexpected gust of wind. He hit a protruding rock and broke both legs and sustained other injuries. He survived, but ended up in intensive care. The South African National Parks authority is going to fine him and possibly also prosecute him for his unauthorised jump.
A friend of a friend from London had some tickets to a concert at Kirstenbosch Botanical Gardens in Cape Town, performed by a guy called Johnny Clegg. I had never heard of him but when I saw the huge crowd with a diverse age range from little children to the elderly, I realised that this artist was some sort of legend in this country. All his songs had a deep meaning behind them, as he explained before playing each one. He had been a prominent anti-apartheid activist in the olden days and his songs reflected that. The atmosphere was great, with everyone having a picnic on the vast lawn on a hill overlooking the large stage, with the backdrop of green mountains behind and the sun setting. Quite magical !
My Impression So Far
South Africa, or what I have seen of it so far, is a very beautiful country, with incredible mountains, coastlines, seas, and vegetation, a lot of it only growing in this part of the world.
I am amazed how expensive things are here. A lot of prices in Pick n Pay supermarket for example, are the same as or sometimes more expensive than Sainsbury's or Tesco supermarkets back in the UK. Ironically, the restaurant meals are relatively cheap. Accommodation here, especially in Cape Town is not cheap, and neither are pay as you go mobile phone tariffs. Cars are also quite expensive because of high import taxes, and the parks and places of attraction such as Table Mountain (Rand 195), or Cape of Good Hope (Rand 85) are quite pricey. So, if you think that this place is going to be as cheap as Thailand, or Latin America, then you are going to be quite shocked.
The South African people are very approachable, warm, and friendly. I have struck up conversations randomly with local guys and after a couple of minutes, I have been invited to their local and treated to a beer and a history of their locality.
The first language of the white people is mainly Afrikaans, which is old Dutch. Dutch people are amongst the first settlers here, having come to this part of the world on the way to the East Indies with ships, to trade. Many settled here. They also brought natives from Indonesia and India to work here so there are a group of people who are descendants of people from those places. You also have Xhosa people and the Zulu people. Nelson Mandela, for example, is a Xhosa. To be honest, I haven't quite figured out how many nationalities came to this country over the centuries. It seems everyone from the whole planet came here and put down roots sometime in the past, except aliens from other planet. Perhaps they came too.
To get by here, it would be good to add some of the local way they speak South African English to your vocabulary. For example:
Howzit? = Hello, how are you ?
Cheers Hey = Goodbye
Lekker = Nice
Oke = bloke, guy
Pretty much every sentence starts with 'Look' and ends in 'Yah'
Bru = Bro(US), Bruv(UK)
Shuuuhh = wow!
Yohh = incredible!
Robot = Traffic Light
Not many South Africans that I have spoken to seem to have left their country. Even a headmaster of a large prestigious school who studied history of European art in University, has never left South Africa. To get to Europe, or America or anywhere outside of Africa costs a lot of money and is very far away. Even flights to other African countries are expensive. Ryan Air and Easyjet have made us Europeans very spoilt.
A generation on from the end of Apartheid, I can't help but noticing that there are still divisions between the whites, black, coloureds (mixed race) and Indians/Asians. I have not seen them mixing together. These groups tend to stick together in their own areas. A number of white South Africans that I have spoken to randomly feel that they are now treated like 2nd class citizens and say that there is a lot more political corruption now than during Apartheid. That greed and self-advancement are the prevailing mindsets in politics and in business which is hindering the progress of the country.
Affirmative Action
Affirmative Action is a quota system that has been introduced by the current government whereby a certain percentage of jobs in each sector have to be given to black people, regardless of whether they can do the job. A lot of white people have commented that they know of friends or relatives that have had more qualifications and experiences than a black person for a particular role, but the job has been given to the black person. So, a lot of white people are mentioning reverse Apartheid. For this reason, a lot of people I have met work very hard, a large number of them every day of the week. They mention that there is no job security, no company health insurance or private pension, and a lot of unemployment, so they must work hard to survive.
