Table Mountain from the ferry

Robben Island

My last Wednesday in Cape Town was a public holiday, so I didn't have class. I took a ferry to Robben Island (where Nelson Mandela was imprisoned for 28 years). I got a really nice picture of Table Mountain from the boat (to be posted). When you first get off the ferry you get a bus tour of the island. They took us through the village where the permanent residents live, to the lime quarry where some of the petty criminals worked (others worked as servants for the permanent residents), and past the medium security buildings where they kept the violent criminals (murderers and rapists). The bus tour ended at the maximum security building, where the political prisoners (like Nelson Mandela) were held. One of the former political prisoners (I don't remember his name) gave my group a tour inside the maximum security building. The first thing he did was take us into the room where he and about two hundred other men slept. He told us that when he first arrived, all they had was a thin mat to sleep on. Right before lights out, they would all put down their mats one next to the other. There were so many men crammed into such a small space, they all had to sleep on their sides. If someone wanted to turn over, he would tap the shoulder of the man in front of him and everyone in that row had to turn over at the same time. When the Red Cross was finally allowed inside, they made them give the prisoners beds. Another thing the maximum security prisoners were deprived of was outside news. A newspaper was the most precious commodity. The guards were all young (18-20) Africaaners. After a while some of the guards were sympathetic to the prisoners. Our guide told us about one guard that he became friends with. The guard would bring a newspaper with him in the morning and leave it it the office. After our guide would clean the office, he would take the newspaper with him. Our guide and the guard still keep in touch. Eventually the men in charge noticed the relationships that were forming and started rotating the guards out after two years.
Next he took us to the administrative offices. He told us about how they tortured the prisoners. The prisoners were allowed a visitor once a month, but for most it was not economically possible. Eventually the Red Cross helped with that, too. Only children over 16 were allowed to visit. For some men, the first time they saw their child was when they were 16! It was extremely disturbing to hear him discuss receiving electro shock through his testicles and the scars he still carries on his back from being whipped, all in an emotionless voice! I'll never forget that. I wasn't the only person with tears in my eyes before he was done speaking.
The anti-apartheid leaders were kept in a separate wing of the building. They each had their own (very small) cell, and there was a separate courtyard where they were allowed outside one hour a day. Mandela had a small garden in the courtyard, and the fruit tree he tended still bears fruit. The garden was where he hid the manuscript he wrote while he was imprisoned. It was smuggled out when another prisoner was released.
Leaving the maximum security building was a relief! The only time I've felt more relief at leaving a place was when I walked through the front gate of Dachau, the concentration camp in Germany.
On the walk back to the ferry landing, there was another boardwalk where you could see African penguins. It was disapointing. I saw more penguins on the Cape Point tour. I also didn't see many eggs and no babies on Robben Island. I did see a number of penguins in the water, but they were too far away to get a good picture of them.
After I got back to the mainland I went to the Mount Nelson Hotel for high tea. In case you don't know, high tea involves a lot of finger foods, and too many deserts to count! There were small pastries with mushrooms, chicken, or beef, the obligatory cucumber or cheese and tomato sandwiches, cream-filled pastries, what passes for pecan pie down here (it's not that good), 4 or 5 different cakes, and a number of other goodies. I got there early, so I was able to get a table outside on the patio. It was a beautiful afternoon. After the draining morning, I was hungry. I had a pot of Rooibos tea and another half pot of Earl Grey. They were pretty big pots, but I was thirsty.
From high tea I went directly to Canal Walk (also called Century City), the HUGE mall in Cape Town. You could spend an entire day there shopping, and not see the whole thing. I picked the wrong day to go, but that was my only opportunity. It was wall-to-wall people, since it was a public holiday. I wasn't even looking for anything specific. I just wanted to see another mall besides the one spread all around the Victoria and Albert waterfront. There were some theatres inside the mall, and an amusement park across the street. I got there right before 5, which was when the park closed. It was too bad, because there was at least one roller coaster I wanted to go on. It's been years since I was on a roller coaster. Oh, well, maybe next time.

Cape of Good Hope (on the other side of the cliff)

Hout Bay

Penguin nests

African penguin (I could have reached down and touched him or her!)

Cape Town, part 2

I forgot to mention that during the city tour, we passed one of the three prisons where Nelson Mandela was held.

The next day (Sunday) I went on a half-day Cape Point tour. It was a very small tour. There were 6 of us, including the driver/guide, Sipiwe. We drove down along one side of the point. Part of the drive is a road carved out of the cliffs. It's a beautiful drive! You pass Hout Bay and the (supposedly famous; maybe in South Africa :) Clifton beaches (all VERY expensive to live near). We ended up at the end of the point. We were right next to the Cape of Good Hope. (The name is propaganda, the sailors wanted to call it the Cape of Storms, but the king overrode their suggestion. What person in their right mind would want to go to the Cape of Storms?!) Anyway, the Cape is at sea level. We stopped at the cliffs above it. You get to go down to the Cape of Good Hope with the full day tour, but I hadn't wanted to spend most of the day riding in a van as I only had 3 free days while I was in Cape Town. So, we were only there for 45 minutes. The hike down to the Cape takes at least 45 minutes each way, so all we had time to do was go up to the lighthouse. The funicular wasn't in service when we arrived, so we had to walk up. It took 15 minutes just to walk up there. The view was definitely worth it! I got a few pictures with our little digital camera. In the interest of time, I took the funicular down the hill (it was working again by then). I wanted to stop in the gift shop and get something to drink. The tour guide warned us not to eat anything outside, as baboons will steal your food and eat it in front of you. There was even a bronze statue of some baboons in front of the snack bar warning you of the same thing. I felt cheated; I didn't see any baboons!

The drive back up the east side of the point (the False Bay side) was just as beautiful. It's called False Bay because sailors coming from the east thought they had arrived on the other side of the continent. We stopped at Boulder's (a Table Mountain National Park) to see African penguins. They used to be called Jackass Penguins, because of the braying noise they make. The name was changed when penguins that make the same noise were found on South America. A number of the penguins I saw were sitting on eggs or babies. The babies were fluffy and gray. The boardwalk I was on went right through and over the nesting areas. At a couple of points I could have reached out and touched a penguin. I got some pretty good pictures. Further north along the point we passed Theresa's Restaurant. Yes, it was spelled correctly.
At the end of the tour I shared a cab to Table Mountain with another member of the tour. He was leaving later in the afternoon and had some time to kill. I hadn't been to the top before that day. Everyone tells you to go to the top at your first opportunity. You never know how the weather will change. The top of the mountain wasn't completely clear, but the cable car was running, so I went to the top. The inside floor of the cable car rotates, so everyone gets a good view of the city. It was clear until about 3/4 of the way up. That was when we hit the clouds. You can actually hike to the top, if you have a spare 2 hours (one-way). I didn't have the right clothes or the time. When I got to the top I went walking around. It's almost perfectly flat. There are trails with viewing areas and information plaques all around the top. Some of them are about the geology (geologists think that Table Mountain will be completely erroded and disappear in 10-15 million years). Others are about the flora. And others are about the fauna. There are some small mammals that live on top of the mountain called Dassies (pronounced dazzie). The ones I saw were slightly smaller than my rabbits. They look like rodents, but they are actually the closest living relative to the elephant, anatomically. I was only able to get a picture of one of them before they scampered off into the brush. Most of the time while I was at the top the view was obscured by clouds. They made it very cold, too. Occasionally the clouds would part and you could see. It was really strange being close to the edge of the mountain and not being able to see anything. It was actually scary. It was like being on the edge of the world, and not knowing how far it was to the bottom if you fell off. When the clouds parted, however, the view was magnificent! And it didn't feel scary at all. Of course, after that day the top of the mountain was clear for the rest of the time I was in Cape Town. Figures!

Cape Town

In April I went down to Cape Town, South Africa for two weeks of .NET, SQL Server, and XML training. The training was really good. I learned a LOT! I'll even be able to use it soon. :)
I arrived Sunday afternoon. It was sunny and gorgeous! When I checked in I found out my hotel (the Capetonian) had a free shuttle to the Victoria and Alfred Waterfront. I basically dropped off my luggage and took the shuttle to the waterfront. There's a huge mall, with too many restaurants to count (I could have eaten at a different one for each meal while I was there and still not hit them all). The Two Oceans Aquarium is also on the waterfront. I didn't get a chance to go there, but I would have liked to. I saw a sign as I was driving by it one time that said you could dive there if you're SCUBA qualified.
My hotel room had a partial view of Table Mountain (what wasn't obscured by other buildings). It was clear when I first arrived, then it got cloudy and foggy later in the evening. It started raining sometime during the night and the temp dropped. After that it rained every night and part of every day. The worst day was Saturday, when I did a half day city tour. It rained during the entire tour. It wasn't too bad, though. We went to the castle (the fort that used to be right on the water, until the Dutch reclaimed about a km of land). We went to the District Six museum. District Six was an area of Cape Town that was home to a diverse group of people (Muslims, Jews, and Christians, blacks, colored and Indains). They had homes, businesses, and houses of worship all in District Six. They peacefully coexisted until 1966 when the South African government declared it a "whites only" area under the Group Areas Act of 1950. By 1982 all of the homes and businesses were demolished and the residents were moved to separate areas according to their "group". Almost no white people moved into District Six after it was cleared. That was surprising to me, as it is mostly on a hill, and you'd have gorgeous views of the city centre and ocean! Now that apartheid is over, there is a group trying to restore the empty land to the people that were forcibly removed. When I was there, a few former residents (or descendants of former residents) had moved back. You can read more about District Six on the museum's website (http://www.districtsix.co.za/frames.htm) And here is a link to an article from last year about the return of the first group of former residents (http://www.southafrica.info/10years/district-six_120204.htm).
Towards the end of the tour we went by where the cable car leaves from the bottom, but it was closed due to the weather. Since it was a little before noon, we then went to Signal Hill to watch the noon gun. They have an old cannon that they fire every Monday through Saturday (except public holidays) at noon. It was pretty cool! How many people do you know that have watched a cannon fire? Obviously there's no cannonball, it's just a lot of gunpowder. You can hear it all over Cape Town. It's a good way to set your watch!
More later.