Good Hope

"Believe in a better world."

In Cape Town I made myself a little home out of the Cat and Moose Hostel which sits unobtrusively at the end of Long Street, the local center of nightlife and shopping. The rooms surround a courtyard with benches and a little dipping pool. This is where I met a few backpackers with whom I shared the next few days of adventures. Sebastian and Sebastian, a Canadian and German who had met the day before invited me to join them on a Cape Peninsula Tour the next day. I eagerly agreed and found myself thoroughly enjoying the company of these two strangers within minutes. I woke up (with much difficulty after a night of overindulgence) and found that German Sebastian had already rented the car and was waiting in the courtyard. After a quick stop for some much needed nourishment and coffee we began driving one of the most beautiful roads I have ever been on. The M65/ M4 wind around steep mountains with cliffs that drop right down into either white sand beaches or directly into the ocean. Our first stop was at Boulder Beach, just a few kilometers south of Simons Town. The boulders make the beach more like a child's playground forcing people to climb over, under and between them to get to the interspersed sandy spots. The main attraction though is the other beach guests. Hundreds of African Penguins (once called jack-ass penguins) share the space with bronzed/ burned tourists. I can't imagine there are many places in the world where you can see a human family playing right next to a penguin family. Both seem to enjoy the beach equally. After a few hours there we decided to head further south to the Cape of Good Hope, South Africa's most southeastern point. T

African Penguins at Boulder Beach

Cape of Good Hope

The Sebastians and I hiked around the Cape for a while and eventually climbed on top of a boulder from which we were nearly completely surrounded by ocean. From there it was easy to get lost in thoughts of the days of exploration. The first European to reach the cape over 500 years earlier was Portuguese explorer Bartolomeu Dias in search for a way to India. Now the Dias Cross and Da Gama Cross stand as navigational points and monuments to the early explorers. We couldn't just look at the ocean without spending some time in it so we found a little path taking us down the mountainside to the beach below. Signs warned against swimming due to strong currents but we found a little alcove and enjoyed the surf for a while only leaving with enough time to exit the park before it closed. On the way back we stopped for seafood dinner: oysters, clams, calamari, prawns went down smoothly with beer and wine. It was the perfect way to wrap up a perfect day.

The next day we all got breakfast before German Sebastian headed home. The Canadian and I made plans to pack a picnic and hike Table Mountain for sunset and take the world class cable car down. Good plans but the execution went terribly wrong. The taxi driver took us to the mountain and pointed out a trail that he told us would take us up the mountain. A few kms in we realized that it was leading far past the peak we wanted to be at so decided to take a more direct looking side trail. The trail zigzagged up the steep mountain and it was often difficult to tell whether we were actually on a man made trail or just following a river bed. We hiked for nearly three hours up a pretty sketchy trail. We jumped over streams, climbed rock faces, avoided overgrown pricker bushes and reached the peak but somehow lost all signs of a trail when we were up there. The sun was setting and we were in the clouds, exhausted and hungry. Eventually, in a small clearing of clouds, we saw the cable car that we had intended to reach. It sat on the adjacent peak with two huge insurmountable cliffs standing in the way. Going down the way we came up wasn't an option so we walked around for a while before we eventually found a trail. We took it at a run and found ourselves climbing ladders that seemed to lead in the right direction. We finally reached the Table Mountain peak and got to the cable car just in time for the very last ride down. So much for the picnic but I were so thankful that we didn't have to spend the night on the mountain. The wine and cheese were equally enjoyable in the safety of our hostel.

The city itself has a lot to offer. Not long ago it was a place of black and white and signs of the apartheid are still very prominent.Surrounded by poor black townships, and rich white suburbs the inner city has become a much more agreeable pallet of colors over the past two decades. As slaves were only aloud to wear drab colors, after gaining freedom they reacted by painting homes brightly and wearing a multitude of patterns and colors. While some areas boast vibrant houses and close community others still suffer greatly. The area of District Six is one of them. In 1966 the government named this a "whites only area" and forcibly removed over 60,000 residents. Although many have since returned, the scars of the apartheid run deep there.

It was from the balcony of a clock tower in this city that Nelson Mandela made his famous speech after being released from captivity in 1990:

"Friends, Comrades and Fellow South Africans, I greet you all in the name of peace, democracy and freedom for all. I stand here before you not as a prophet, but as a humble servant of you, the people.

Your tireless and heroic sacrifices have made it possible for me to be here today. I therefore place the remaining years of my life in your hands.

..."I have fought against white domination and I have fought against black domination. I have carried the ideal of a democratic and free society in which all persons live together in harmony and with equal opportunities. It is an ideal which I hope to live for and to achieve. But, if needs be, it is an ideal for which I am prepared to die."

Finally made it to the top of Table Mountain

I could have spent much longer in Cape Town but my departure date quickly caught up with me. After saying my goodbyes and leaving Cameron's Indian Jones hat (which I'd been minding since he left it on the bus a week earlier) at the hostel reception, I made my way to the airport to cross hemispheres and seasons. Next stop Munich, Germany!