Week 14, South Africa: Cape Town and Grapes with seeds

The experiences

After my long journey to Cape Town via Greyhound bus (18 hours) I settled in at the Backpack…the hostel of choice here. I compared my notes on the city with the British woman in my room before she left a couple days later leaving me alone in the 4 person dorm for the next week :(.

Of course I happened to discover that just a few blocks away was a great old movie theater and I caught up a little on some film watching. I remain hopelessly behind on my reading and movie lists. Tuesday I got my hair cut and since I wasn't getting it colored I splurged on a Keratin treatment that I was assured would not take the curl out of my hair (my only reservation and reason for not getting one just yet). Martin did a fantastic job just chopping hair off. I think he might have cut himself with his fervent movements but I knew walking in that he'd be someone Cathy would approve of. For those of you that don't know, I've been seeing the same person to get my hair done, highlighted, cut, etc with the exception of a few weddings for the last 15 years. We talked a lot before I left about how to approach the trip and so far I think we're doing well. If anyone is concerned that the Pink is gone, don't be, Yashendu's work is still alive and well and going nowhere till it all grows out. The catch is I couldn't wash my hair for 3 days when I returned for a blow out, bonus is that the hostel has shower caps in the bathroom all the time.

I unfairly snapped the picture of Mark while he was primping for the photo.

Of course I ruined that a bit by going on a tour to Cape point. In New Zealand I went to the place where the Pacific Ocean meets the Tasman Sea (Cape Reinga) and here in South Africa, Cape Point is where the Atlantic Ocean meets the Indian Ocean. Risk of being coated in salt water: great (reality: of course). I had no idea if I'd ruined the treatment but it seems to be ok. We took a boat out to see an island of seals, visited Boulders where a village of African Penguins lives, and then a ride out to Cape Point. We had a great group of people from all over but I bonded most with Geoffrey (China, but finishing his PhD at Northwestern at the moment) and Adam (Poland). Geoffrey actually acted as my translator when I was adopted by a group of Chinese tourists on the boat. Apparently I was being proposed to again, and again in front of the current wife. Something strange is happening in South Africa. I managed to escape with Geoffrey's help (all in good fun, we laughed so much my face hurt).

African Penguin Waddle

Part of my new Chinese family reenacting Titanic

Camps Bay, pretty, but the water is pretty cold too

The next day I had a generally lazy morning as my butt hurt from the biking out in the Cape of Good Hope reserve (even though I took it easy and just did part of the route). I ended up having to cab it to the waterfront to be on time for my tour of Robben Island. I'd heard mixed reviews of this sight as it is a former prison and housed political prisoners for hundreds of years but it is the top tourist attraction in Cape Town. I found it most interesting as they described not what happened as the island was a prison but as they described the approach to remembering. They preserve as much as they can but currently the former staff of the prison, current memorial staff, and former prisoners that are guides all live on the island together. There is no need for police, they're a model community. That is South Africa's approach to history in a nutshell: preserve the heritage and rise above. They don't build large scale monuments or anything, it's as simple as the "Whites Only" and "Non Whites" benches preserved outside the court house.

Mandela's cell

Something I haven't done since London is one of those double-decker City Sightseeing bus tours. I managed to ride through three different routes and stop off for a couple things like the Kirstenbosch Botanical Gardens. I think they said it was rated 7th best in the world. I was fascinated and Megan my old roomate and friend would have loved the selection of succulents :). They had a section for medicinal plants, a section for fragrant plants, a section dedicated to being water-wise with gardens, and so on. I loved all the different areas you could just sit and relax shaded from the African sun and the tree canopy walkway.

Tree Canopy entrance

Widest part of the Tree Canopy

Thanks to my Lancaster peeps, seeing TRexes everywhere gives me a jolt of joy.

The audio on the circulating bus was great and each route had different information when passing the same areas in the city center. I particularly liked some of the tracks they played in between sights. I ended up buying this one: Mr. Mandela. My last stop was the cable car base of Table Mountain. I made it just in time for a glass of wine, some kettle corn, and the sunset before the final car for the night departed. I was on cloud nine, probably literally. I met a ton of people on the car back down and decided to take photos and walk the rest of the way to the base and back to the hostel.

I went to bed early to make sure I was on time for my winelands tour the following day. We had a group of 11 for the tour of 5 wineries including lunch and four tastings. Anyone who's gone out drinking with me knows that is more than enough for an entire week. But I tried my best to only drink what I needed to experience the tasting (since no one was really spitting in the group). Mid day I knew I'd bitten off more than I could chew. It wasn't too much alcohol just too much everything. I prefer to savor the moment and I probably shouldn't hit more than two wineries in a day. The wines are delicious and they certainly have their own "nose in the air" problem that all other wine regions do. I prefer to try new and different things and that was just not something our guide seemed into...very old school, wine-making in the blood kind of guy. Either way it was a delicious day with dogs at most of the farms and we also glimpsed the pirate ships that are part of the Pirates of the Caribbean inspired show Black Sail's production.

Pirate Ships in the winelands

Sampling from American and French Oak barrels

Vines as far as the eye can see

The last dog of the day was by far the most entertaining

Just another couple days here in South Africa before I head on to Rome. I'll likely just explore a couple areas in the city and doggedly pursue the post office to try and find the package mailed here almost three weeks ago. But I've finally started Europe planning :).

The lessons

• When you grab a bunch of grapes in another country, or any fruit really for that matter, make sure you know what you're getting into. I've grabbed some (delicious) grapes twice now and found that each one has 3-4 seeds which is pretty gross to keep spitting out or to try and remove before eating (sticky hands). Yet another instance where we in America have spoiled natural food--breeding them so there are no seeds.
• Some guy killed my buzz walking to the base of Table Mountain, not too far from street level, by chiding me for being a woman walking alone. He's right. I have gone a long while without feeling my safety in danger and I should have been more careful but at that moment, I was upset he took away my wine buzz and brought back the necessary traveler paranoia.
• I learned the difference between a winery (grapes produced elsewhere, wine made on site) and wine estate (grapes grown on premises).
• Not all countries and people live beyond their means
• Power shedding has been in place in South Africa for 8 years (although there were 3 without any need for it). This is a process by which each residence/business has a set 2.5 hour block of blackout weekly depending on energy usage. India had rolling blackouts. Basically other countries take what they have and find a way to live with it together. 
• PIN vs Credit Card: Every country I've been in expects my card with a smartchip to be a debit card so they hand the machine over to have me type in a PIN. The look on their face when it tells them to get a signature is priceless, momentarily baffled. We seem to be the only ones who run everything on debt.

Interesting

• Not only can you park your car in the middle of the street in Cape Town, but there are some self employed "car guards" who look official in yellow traffic vests who will help you park and watch your car for a tip.

Mercedes in the middle

• Everywhere has a Greek salad or a spinach feta pie, Greek pasta salad, etc. Although it's not so much Greek as Cucumbers, Tomatoes, and Feta in various combinations.
• Do not be afraid of security guards. Even ones with large guns on display, In both India and South Africa guards outside houses and hostels and the like are very normal. They all carry guns (usually) but they do their job well, basically just scaring off anyone who would be wanting to cause problems. However last week the German gent who also studied in Wisconsin took the opportunity for a photo shoot with the guards and their guns for his mother. Why must boys always intentionally give their mothers a fright?
• My favorite discovery in South Africa is by far the Solar Jar lamp. This is not a new thing but I didn't really know about them and now I want them. Even though I'm a homeless person squatting in her mother's home.