Monday 9^th

Got uplifted from the airport and were impressed by the highway into town, the first sight a shanty town where half a million black people live in shacks build of corrugated iron and any other available materials. They share a tin hut with 7 to 15 per hut, it went on for miles and I could not help but think how with all the publicity of Nelson Mandela with all his accomplishments of getting rid of apartheid would feel after he relinquished the presidency to President Zulu who has failed to deal with the problems these people face and allowed corruption to flourish impacting on the good work in re-housing and improving conditions for the black people that Mr Mandela set out to do.

I spoke to a coloured taxi driver and he was pretty bitter saying the Government are trying to get the coloured people out, but he was born here and was not going. It appears that this country has a way to go in regards to sorting its social problems and the legacy of apartheid and its strange to hear people refer to ethnic groups as Black, white and coloured who are made up of any other race. The entrance to the city is through the hills and the only time you would be aware of these people was if you are going or coming to or from the airport so they are pretty easy to ignore .It is a huge problem and not one that will be fixed in a hurry.

We got to our digs early, going to be safe here grills on windows and door s and you have to be let in, we thought it was afternoon but it was only 11 o’clock. And the rooms were not ready so we stored our bags and took off on the “Hop on Off” bus, the city is lovely all types of housing old 1800s, pretty old houses with verandas and the intricate wrought iron work, back streets with narrow cobble stone roads, some art deco, then modern skyscrapers, real expensive real-estate on the beaches. The homes built into the rocks with swimming pools several stories high, amazing homes just like the Riviera.

We spent most of the afternoon on the top of Table Mountain, going up a very steep mountain in a gondola similar to the one in Queenstown but much steeper and longer, amazing view at the top.

A funny little animal they call a Dassie and is part of the elephant family, a large type guinea pig lives here and is very used to humans. Lots of proteas all over the mountain in different colours and shapes. The views are extensive with steep rock walls at over 1000 meters high this is a very impressive rock mountain covered in tourists.

Left there and got on the Red bus again, travelling through areas such a district 6. This is an area where the white Government moved thousands of black and coloured people out of the city bulldozing their houses.

The city has some marvellous architecture and interesting history. We did the rest of the tour then back to our digs, good quality backpackers just perfect for what we need, in a really central location. There is just so much to see here 2 weeks would be the minimum time to do it justice.

Tuesday 10^th

Rob the Travel Agent here in Cape Town that organised all the tours for us and popped in to see us where he went over all the things we were to do, between him and Gina this has been a really easy way to get your holiday off the ground.

Heaps of Motor cycle shops here it and it’s great bike riding with excellent roads, this one was parked as we walked to the Ferry, bought a bit of a smile to us thinking of all you Ulybods back home. Included it for you Jim.

Apparently Cape Town is the oldest City in SA and this is the oldest building in SA.

This fort was built to defend Cape Town by the Dutch however was never used in battle against the British.

Today we went on a boat trip out to Robben Island, a flat island with the highest point being about 5 meters above sea level wind swept with low scrub and no fresh water.

This is a very harsh environment with exposure to the southerlies and men were forced to work in limestone pits cutting and breaking rocks, the dust of the limestone blocking tear ducts and the reflecting off the stone coupled with the dust slowly blinding the men and causing respiratory problems. Mr Mandela suffered from all these things including TB that was rife on the island.

Mandela was incarcerated for 27 years, this tour was really interesting as an ex prisoner narrated his story and it was so sad to hear of these men here for there political reasons not criminals, just people standing up for their rights.

This is the pit they worked in and sheltered in the cave they dug for dinner and toilet.

There was an ordinary prison as well for normal criminals and the Island was used in the 1800s for the lepers, if anyone had leprosy in Cape Town they were put on the island and left there until they died, out of sight out of mind, there were 1000 graves of the lepers that had died there, both black and white. We saw Mandela’s cell tiny place you can not believe he spent 27 years in it, when he contracted T.B he was taken to the hospital until he recovered, hence the weakness in his lungs I guess, they only had 2 blankets and slept on a freezing cold concrete floor, going out during the day and breaking rocks in a quarry.

Went out for dinner and on the way back saw several men begging many had only had one leg, they beg very quietly and it is hard to hear what they are asking, gentle people not obnoxious in your face like others we have seen. We were told that when SA got a accident compensation system in place a number of desperate people injured themselves of purpose to get a pay out.

Wednesday 11^th

An early start today got uplifted at 8 o’clock we and 3 others in a mini van had a trip one of the best ever, our guide Kevin was a mine of information great to hear history from a local who is passionate about his country, our travelling companions were great, Alice a Malaysian girl studying to be a dentist on a volunteer basic here for 2 weeks. 2 Iraqis, the guy very quiet was member of the Iraqi government and a Kurdish MP he was with his daughter very beautiful said she worked in the movies, and looked like a film star. It was interesting listening to the story of their lives. She had lived in UK since she was 2 years old with her family as refuges and studied there but felt she was not accepted by the English but also did not feel that Kurdistan Iraqi was her home and was struggling with this. The father had been a freedom fighter but moved to UK when Sadam had started using mustard gas on them. They could fight in the mountains with conventional weapons but could not deal with the gas as in hung in the valleys for a long time.

First stop Haut Bay a fishing village on the Atlantic ocean and travelled by boat to a seal colony, the seals were like any other but did not seem to smell so much as ours, the scenery with the huge mountains coming out of the sea was fantastic.

The wharf area is a hub of activity for the sea side town with fishing and tourist small boats lining the wharfs and buskers and others selling tourist stuff. One guy had a performing seal and there was a group singing and performing. Alice a girl with us joined in and danced with the men. We must remember to give these performers a tip as the add heaps to the fun.

The geography of this area is amazing while there are similarities to ours in NZ , our country is an island and rose out of the sea the cliffs are grey rock and have not eroded the same as here in SA. In SA the continent is of a mixture of rock, Lime stone and sand stone that has been eroded by time and sea creating dramatic landscapes rising out of the sea. This coupled with the southern ocean makes for a pretty awesome sight.

Next stop a penguin colony in the Table Mountain National Park they had 2 breeding pairs in 1982 and now have with 2200 breeding penguins, they are so used to people they just get on with their lives, neat little birds with tons of character.

Onto the Cape of Good Hope seeing several shipwrecks along the way, so many ships have been lost here, the marine drive was perched on the side of the hill and the scenery amazing, twice got out and rode bicycles through the park saw ostriches and an antelope, was most interested in seeing the baboons but they did not appear unfortunately.

The scenery here is gobsmacking at the Cape of Good Hope the cliffs rise straight out of the sea with the southern ocean crashing in huge waves. We could see for miles and the views are up there with places like the Grand Canyon in USA. Tony could not help thinking of his grandfather’s stories of rounding the Cape in sailing ships.

Another early start tomorrow at 715am that is early for me but it is the start of our 5 day tour of the garden route and wine tasting is on the menu looking forward to that.

These Ostriches’ were hanging out at the cape.

We travelled to the top of the Cape to see the light house and the view, wow!

Our camera can not do the view justice.

Well that was on the first day, you really see heaps and go home exhausted but happy, this place is Amazing put it near to the top of your bucket list, the people are gentle helpful and warm hearted, have not had single bit of trouble anywhere.

We start the 5 day trip tomorrow, bring it on it can only be as good fantastic if any better, will let you know.

Hope all is well at home Love from Rhondda Tony and Karen