We were scared before we got to South
Africa. Our travel guide devoted a large section to crime
warnings. Our work colleague had a knife held to his daughters
throat while he and his wife were robbed. My running mate
told me how great it was for a year and then casually mentioned
the night before we left that his rental car was broken
into 2 times in 3 days. My Egyptian baker gasped and said, "be
careful down there man, put your money in your shoes."
Our first morning in Cape Town, we took a wrong turn in
our rental car and drove through the heart of one of the
sketchiest townships. The road got narrower and narrower
as we drove for miles through shanty towns. It was 10am,
but men were pushing shopping carts filled with 1 liter
beer bottles down the center of the road. "Don't stop!",
Robyn said! We were scared and clearly didn't belong, but
we eventually made it out the other end.
A beautiful day of driving and hiking down to the Cape
of Good Hope was followed by a day of wine tasting in "Wine
Country" (6 month pregnant Robyn had to just speculate!).
Next, we went cage diving with Great White Sharks. Those
are some big fishes! Our dive master "chummed" the
water with fish blood and guts. Great white sharks would
circle the boat. We put on very thick wet suits and jumped
in a cage attached to the side of the boat. They would
pull the bait toward the cage so we could view them underwater
with a mask. (You didn't need dive equipment.)
We took a great tour of Robben Island, where Nelson Mandela
and others were incarcerated for up to 27 years. The tours
have a similar feel to Alcatraz, though the history is
much more powerful, recent and poignant. Each tour is led
by a previous inmate, in our case an ANC military operative
who was caught and spent a decade in the cell we ended
our tour in.
We also did a 'township tour', where you drive and walk
around a couple of the townships (shanty towns). Since
millions of Cape Town's residents live in the townships,
it's an enlightening experience. We visited a traditional
healer, got a beer in a 'shebeen' (an unlicensed bar) and
visited a small school in a 1 room tin hut. Throughout
the townships are ominous abandoned guard towers that
were used during apartheid to control the people.
The scariest thing I did was go to church! Through a friend
of a friend who preaches in Desmond Tutu's cathedral (St
George's), I heard that Tutu was going to be giving the
morning mass. So, while Robyn slept, I dragged myself out
of bed to make the 7:15am service. I pictured myself sitting
15 rows back in a large cathedral while Tutu gave us some
thoughts about AIDS or another problem in society. I grew
slightly worried when I found out it was a congregation
of just 20 people in a side chapel. I tried to hide in
the back (3rd) row of a semi circle around Tutu. I felt
completely stupid while everyone else (who were clearly
not tourists) did all the prayers and rituals that I know
nothing about. I (just) managed to hide in the back as
Tutu addressed each person in the congregation individually,
either commenting on what they have been doing recently
or asking who they are. I couldn't hide when they reached
the "peace be with you" section and everyone
went to the center of the chapel to hug and kiss each other
person in the congregation (I felt even stupider). I was
truly alarmed when communion started, as I tried to figure
out if I would be more or less conspicuous if I took communion.
I panicked as a woman pointed to me and pointed to some
guy who was kneeling on the floor before Tutu. I realized,
however, I didn't need to kneel to receive the wine chalice,
I needed to get into a circle with everyone else. Tutu
and another minister went around the circle and gave each
person (including me) communion. I was perspiring heavily
but relieved when the service ended and I was able to bolt
from the church, shaking Tutu's hand on the way out the
door.
All together, we had a great week and no problems at all.
We are looking forward to visiting again some day soon,
maybe during a wider trip of Southern Africa. |