We got up this morning, had breakfast at the hotel. Good heavens! We asked which breakfast we could get with our room. Apparently, anything. That really meant something. A table covered with different cheeses, another different breads, another fruit and cereal, another 7 different juices. I actually get put off with that much food. But wait....there were 10 different breakfasts we could order off the menu. I'll do that tomorrow.
Our guide, whose name we found out is Lazarus met us at 8:30. He told us that although some clouds were coming over the mountain, we'd take a stab at the cable car ride to the top. Too many clouds mean that winds come up and the cable car won't run. We made the right choice.
As we neared the cable car base Lazarus told us there'd be a long line for the cable car. He was right. Normally that would be bad, but the views of the city and surroundings were so beautiful, we had a dizzying view to entertain us while we waited.
Yesterday and today, we have been talking to Lazarus about apartheid. When we drove in from the airport yesterday, Lazarus showed us tin roofed shacks, and some more modern apartments. The shacks had been the homes of people who had been dislocated from Cape Town (their homes) when the Dutch and former government decided they didn't want natives in town. The women were sent away, the men kept in camps close to the city where they were used as labourers. They had to be in the city only during set hours to work. Their day ended at 6 PM. Then they had to leave. If they were caught in the city after that time they were arrested and jailed for up to three months. The old government set all the people in South Africa to four racial groups: White, Black, Asian (meant East Indians), and Coloured (which meant mixed black and white people). The last group left many (like Trevor Noah, the comedian and President Obama) in very peculiar circumstances. They weren't in the same "racial group" as either of their parents. Mothers would drop their mixed race children's hands if police were near by.
We ended our city tour at a wonderful restaurant (the Kloop Street restaurant) Lots of Dutch names here) It was great, but huge meals in the middle of the day are tough. We're still working on a 10 hour time shift....
We decided we needed a walk in the sun to stay awake. So we walked back around the harbor.
Our guide, whose name we found out is Lazarus met us at 8:30. He told us that although some clouds were coming over the mountain, we'd take a stab at the cable car ride to the top. Too many clouds mean that winds come up and the cable car won't run. We made the right choice.
A view of Table Mountain from our room first thing this morning. The clouds are draping the notch between Devil's Peak and Table Mountain
A view of Lion's Head as we drove up to the cable car start on the top of Table Mountain
As we neared the cable car base Lazarus told us there'd be a long line for the cable car. He was right. Normally that would be bad, but the views of the city and surroundings were so beautiful, we had a dizzying view to entertain us while we waited.
A view across the city toward the harbour (on the left side of the city scape) where we are staying.
Saddleback mountain and the city below.
A cable car. It's bigger than it looks. 65 people can ride up to the top each time.
There are several reservoirs that were established when the Dutch took over the area. The water is from Table Mountain. If you look carefully you can see yellow/orange lines. These are the remains of the Dutch fortress in the area.
The knob at the peak is the cable car landing site.
Our fellow tourists.
A close-up of the side of Table Mountain. It's a sedimentary layered mountain from the remains of an underwater mount.
Our shadow as seen from inside the cable car. When you are inside it rotates so you can see all around as you rise up to the top.
A view of the Atlantic coast from the top of Table Mountain. The day turned out to be clear. Perfect views of the surroundings. Table Mountain provides the views because it's sides are perfectly vertical. Dizzying is the appropriate word.
More Atlantic Coast
Lion's Head peak and some bits of city.
The round building to the right is the Cape Town stadium
A close up of the of Dutch fort - what's left of it. It was built in the 1650s
A view past Devil's peak to see more city
Two rock hydraxes who decided to pose for photos today.
The view is toward Cape of Good Hope.
Charlie and me and the Cape of Good Hope
There are petons and some rope from a rapeller. There are things that sound really entertaining. Hiking up to the mountain top (the easy trail is about 3 hours), and things that really sound awful. Rock climbing up the sides and repelling down the mountain sound VERY bad.
The cable car cables and a back view of the cable stop at the top.
People on the trail up to Table Mountain.
A famous old hotel called the Kimberly.
The photo above is from District 6. The apartheid government decided that when they tossed the black natives out, they'd tear down their homes. The buildings in the photo were built for white settlers. Most of the area is covered by empty fields where family's homes used to be. It was meant as a further insult, and the pain is still apparent today. The movie District 9 is a South African modern science fiction tale that is meant as an indictment of District 6. Charlie and I saw it - but I didn't know the what actually happened here. It's a movie I need to see again.
Gate and canon of the old Dutch fort. The Dutch fought the locals and enslaved them. They also build fairly solid structures which are still in the city.
A view of the city center from across the street near the Dutch fort.
A local's home (not sure if it is a living structure or a copy of a structure)
Four local African chiefs statues inside the fort, and many local kids
Remnants of the Dutch rule and apartheid are everywhere. Nelson Mandela didn't manage to stop it until 1990 - 1994.
Nelson Mandela's Anglican Church.
More remnants
and more. The man said he should be in our photo because he clearly wasn't white. He was delightful
Another district in Cape Town. This one was considered to not have been in the city center, was inhabited by coloured and left alone. The homes were painted very bright jolly colors. Some of the sidestreets were cobbled like the one in the photo below. The blue building in the back on the left is a mosque. Many of the residents of this district were Muslims
We ended our city tour at a wonderful restaurant (the Kloop Street restaurant) Lots of Dutch names here) It was great, but huge meals in the middle of the day are tough. We're still working on a 10 hour time shift....
We decided we needed a walk in the sun to stay awake. So we walked back around the harbor.
A fireboat
The smaller, more common sea gulls
The other type of sea gull. Bigger thicker beak black wing feathers.
The mountains around the city keep it spreading out in a circle
A photo taken later in the day. Clouds are beginning to encroach on the tope of the mountain. As predicted by Lazarus, it got windy. The phenomenon is called the Tablecloth on the tope of Table Mountain.
A light dinner, blog, and sleep.
No comments:
Post a Comment