V. A History Visit to Cape Town: Expectations, Realities, and Tourists.

Saturday, we went to Cape Town for the day. Despite a late night, slow-paced three course meal at one of South Africa's top ten restaurants - Jordan Restaurant at the Jordan wine farm outside Stellenbosch - we all boarded buses at 7am. I think everyone is finally adjusting to the time difference and recovering from jetlag. I hope so, anyway!

Informal Settlement outside Cape Town.

We drove past miles - literally miles - of informal settlements on the outskirts of Cape Town. 2 million people live in these shacks - similar to the ones I had seen on Friday. They are right next to the busy freeway and on the other side of the freeway is the airport. I don't really know how to respond to it. It is sickening and saddening and frightening. Again, I noticed satellite TV dishes on the tops of most shacks though, which I found surprising.  



We arrived in Cape Town, it was blanketed in a thick fog, cool and misting, despite a 75 and sunny weather forecast for the day. Cape Town is beautiful and unique, nested in between the Atlantic Ocean and Table Mountain. And I could see why it is often referred to as the European City of Africa. The downtown area looks quite westernized...could have been in the US or Europe. Tall bank buildings, big billboards, construction sites, the University of Cape Town... The port was quite a bustling area, lots of massive ships and barges. We met up with the Northwestern journalism kids doing their residencies here in South Africa for the ferry ride over and tour of Robben Island. 

 

The desolate landscape of Robben Island.

The ferry ride was fortunately indoors considering the conditions and took about thirty minutes, because the Island is actually several miles off the coast of Cape Town. The Island is also a lot bigger than I had imagined. I think I was picturing a hybrid of the Statue of Liberty Island, Ellis Island, and Alcatraz. It was quite a desolate place, especially the landscaping. We had to board buses and be driven around the island since it's so big. I'm kind of sad to say this, but I found the experience a bit underwhelming. I have been trying to figure out why and I think it's because the experience was so commercialized and touristy, and we were riding around in a huge tour bus for most of the experience. But a few things stuck out - there is a town on the island. And it is inhabited by former prisoners and their families and - get this - former prison guards and their families. Can you imagine living with your former prison guard? For a next door neighbor? Hanging out with him at the bar in the evenings? Sitting next to him in church on Sunday mornings? Post-Apartheid South Africa is a confusing place. And one where forgiveness is a must. Unfortunately not everyone has found it. But these residents of Robben Island clearly have. 

Happy Side Note: FIRST AFRICAN WILDLIFE SIGHTING. A Springbok!!!

We saw the limestone quarry where Nelson Mandela and the majority of post-Apartheid leaders and politicians of South Africa held their meetings while working under the brutal sun, which in combination with the limestone dust has wrecked their eye sight and permanently clogged their tear ducts. I don't know why this stuck me so hard, but I had a heavy heart when I thought about the lives they have lived, the pain and sorrows they have endured, and the atrocities and emotions they must have experienced not only during their Robben Island years but for the rest of their lives - and how they cannot even shed tears. Even tears are a gift. Don't take them for granted. 

Nelson Mandela's Cell

We went on a foot tour of the maximum security prison, and our tour guide was a former political prisoner on the island. He shared with us his story and he explained to us that working on the island as a tour guide for the past several years is part of his healing process, and has helped him piece back together his sanity and peace of mind. When asked what memories or moments stood out from his years on the Island as a prisoner, he said "we had fun." Yet again, another example of a brave hero searching for the good in the horrors of Robben Island. He talked about the friends, the reunions they have had since, how he was able to effectively receive a great education in political science while in prison, how the men loved playing soccer, and how every December, when summer came and it was hot, they would celebrate and sing Christmas songs. Odd to think of a hot December and Christmas songs while playing soccer in the hot summer sun (...oh wait, yet another Nicaragua flashback for me. They just keep happening!) 

So, I guess the trip to Robben Island was not a total wash. But it certainly felt very touristy. Especially when we walked past Mandela's cell and it was basically a photo shoot with tourists fighting for the best photo perspective spot. He might be the greatest man alive. And I get that. But it seemed too commercialized to the extent that I found myself struggling to remind myself that this was real and real people lived there and were imprisoned there not that long ago. Maybe I wanted it to be a big emotional experience, and after Friday, it just couldn't live up to it? Maybe it was too much like a history class set for tourists to be able to be real and personal? I'm glad I went. But it wasn't what I expected. 

District 6

We had lunch at an Indian food place in District 6 in Cape Town and had a history lesson on our bus, but it was just our group and our friendly history teacher/guide, so it was a lot better. District 6 is an almost entirely deserted area that overlooks the rest of Cape Town and the ocean, but is empty and grassy now because it was one of the worst and biggest areas of forced removals when the separate areas legislation was enforced during apartheid. Now nobody knows what to do with it and who should move back into it. Once, one of the most cosmopolitan neighborhoods in the world, it has been reduced to mostly grassy fields, and in the edge of one of the biggest cities in the world, feels desolate and empty. I got some great photos from there...but realized when I got home that all the photos I took today were somehow on black and white setting, and I can't change them. Oh well. Maybe they're unintentionally artistic? (yeah, we'll go with that).

More of Cape Town:  

Victoria's Wharf on the Waterfront

Our program sent us on another 180 though right after this, because we literally drove down from District 6 to Victoria's Wharf, a massive - and I mean massive - shopping mall on the beach. It was filled with European and American stores, and prices were just as you'd expect in any massive tourist mall. It was kind of disappointing that they dropped us off there, but we only walked around it on the inside and then all went out and sat on the grass by the ocean to talk about the day and take pictures with the gorgeous views. The fact that my group didn't want to just hang out and shop til we dropped made me really happy. It was a nice day to end a day in Cape Town, soaking up the gorgeous sun of the southern tip of Africa while staring at the ocean.