Remembering 60,000 Forced Goodbyes – South Africa

Sometimes I see the face and not the soul.

Shawn Colvin

Cape Agulhas 1849 lighthouse. 

Most southern on the African continent.

From the large city of Nairobi, Kenya, we end our trip in another city virtually the same size (3+ millions) but with a vastly different feel = Cape Town, South Africa.  After ten+ weeks and nearly 9,000 miles (14,500 km), we have crisscrossed ten countries; been on eleven safaris; exposed to the atrocities of the Rwanda genocide; seen the source of the Nile, the longest river in the world; been drenched by Victoria Falls, one of the seven natural wonders; drifted over the smooth waters of the Okavango Delta; witnessed the beginning of the largest wildebeests and zebras migration in the Serengeti; boarded down tall sand dunes; saw incredible sceneries and met kindhearted people everywhere we went.  

A few last hills, our bus seems as tired as we are going up the steep grade.  It has been a long exciting trip. 

Our last stop, Cape Town, feels much more modern and refined than the busy bustling chaotic and disorienting center of Nairobi.  The traffic is tamer, and Cape Town has better scenery, nice beaches, more culture and varied restaurants.  Nairobi however is closer to wild places with great safaris.  These are only my impressions, but I felt more at ease in Cape Town than Nairobi, less confused, more settled.  This comes at a price; it costs roughly three times more to live in Cape Town.  Infrastructure seems better here, but both have immense slums at their outskirts a cause for a surreal culture shock from the jarring contrast of poor vs. rich.

Although I chose not to visit the slums, these quotes from people who did rang true to me. 

‘For all but the most oblivious traveler,

slum tourism is a moral minefield where one man’s sustainable

tourism can be another’s poverty porn.

As I learned on my own tour, it’s a way to make lifelong memories

and leaves you wrestling with questions about

how your best intentions connect to people’s lives.’

Barbara Woolsey

Cape Flats – Shanti Town – a cleaner, nicer part of it!

‘Slumming it… a morally dubious and voyeuristic pastime,

but in the diverse practices of slum tourism, this is an intentional and explicit goal:

poverty becomes the attraction – it is the reason to go.

Slum tourism has the power to increase the visibility of poor neighborhoods,

which can in turn give residents more social and political recognition.’ 

Fabian Frenzel

Africa is a true country of contrast and stark beauty be it natural or manmade.  While glad to have seen two of its major cities, it is what was in between that most interested me.  What is left of the wilds of Africa is calling to me in stronger ways than I could’ve imagined.   Some of it gave emphasis to just how over-protected we are in our own country.  Shielded from animals, nature and even other people.  We are alone at home, here they depend much more on each other.  The culture shock of returning to our secure US bubble is leaving me feeling emptier, less alive. 

In the last stretch of road in Namibia, we were delighted by the sight of Fairy Circles.  Something still not completely understood.  These circles appear in remote and undisturbed grassy areas.  The main theories are that each circle helps plants maximize their access to scarce water or that sand termites create them by eating in a circular pattern.  There are even theories leading towards the supernatural.  These circles are a bit mesmerizing and appear to have been fabricated rather than natural.  The Himba people believe that their original ancestor, Mukuru, was responsible for the creation of the Fairy Circles, or that they were the footprints of gods. 

Unexplained ‘Fairy Circles’ – southern Namibia

Our Namibian journey ends when we cross the Orange River which mostly belongs to South Africa.  Patches of dark greens line the river on both sides.  The water of life being used to grow grapes, citrus, peppers, cucumbers, mangoes, apples, pears, sugar, flowers, maize, etc.  The lush land is mostly owned by whites, worked by blacks.  A similar story the world over.

We are nearing the famous wine region of South Africa after we pass a few towns where I see people dressed only in clothes made of burlap bags, selling various herbs and produce along the sidewalks.  I cannot tell if it is a gimmick to attract the attention of buyers or because they have no money.  Either way, it makes a blunt contrast with other well-dressed passersby.

We stop along the river for the night and a quick cooling swim.  With so much agriculture in the area the water is not welcoming, full of algae and slippery grasses. 

‘Afrikaans Language Monument’ in South Africa.

Representing the waning influence of European languages vs

the increasing role played by the African ones.

Soaring obelisk that forms the main part of the structure was inspired by writer Langenhoven, who called Afrikaans a “rapidly ascending curve.” It is open at the top, signifying that the lexicon is alive and continues to grow. It is thought to be the only monument in the world dedicated to a language. Visible from miles away, it is an imposing sight, watching over the region where it was born and is still a dominant force, Afrikaans being the third most spoken language in South Africa.

The monument designed by Jan van Wijk is a granite tribute to this tumultuous history. The sculptor won a competition to design the structure, which was opened in 1975, 50 years after the language was given official status. 

Franschhoek majestic scenery

South Africa is the 8th largest producer of wine in the world.  First wines were made in 1659, more than 350 years ago!  The most commonly planted grape is the Chenin Blanc followed closely by the Chardonnay variety.  We are in the Stellenbosch area which is to South African wines what Napa is to Californian wines.  The wines from here are often described as having a subtle mineral note which many believe is from the ancient decomposed granite soils. The granite mountains are approximately 600 million years old, over 3 times as old as the soil in Napa.  Some pundits say that this helps create a fruitier, less acidic wine than Europe and the US.

I get to visit five of these fine wineries but for some reason it feels very contrary to the rest of the trip.  It’s harder to relate to extensive cultivation vs. nature in its full glory with animals roaming all around you. 

The saying here is that ‘A vineyard that can see the sea is a good vineyard.’  The area has cooler climate than similar latitudes in the north.  Similar to Mediterranean weather but allowing for a grape picking time twice as long as that of Europe.  After touching the weathered stones and feeling the cooling breeze from the nearby ocean I can see why newcomers decided to settle here. 

I won’t bore you with wine tasting notes but just tell you about a few oddities.

The region tried to grow their own cork but found that the weather is so nice here, the trees would grow too fast, creating a very poor-quality cork.  They had to drop that cultivation and still depend on Spain and Portugal for that. 

The Franschhoek wine area is the only one where they do not irrigate.  They still depend on natural watering.  

Fairview Tasting Room

Fairview Winery

Some wine descriptions refer to fynbos notes – very particular to South Africa (a bit more on that later). 

Their ‘champagne’ is called Méthode Cap Classique (MCC) instead of Méthode Champenoise.  The term was adopted in 1992 in response to the ban on the use of the words ‘Champagne’ and ‘Champenoise’ for anything other than the bottle-fermented wine from the Champagne region in France. MCC is a premium sparkling wine reflecting South African climate, soils, terroirs and the passion of the producers here. It is not a replica of Champagne. It is similar but includes a second fermentation that creates much smaller bubbles.  The one we tasted had been bottled for over 29 months.

Some of the wineries offered homemade cheeses, syrups, and yogurts that were amazing as well.  Of special note: Fairview Wine Estate since 1693.

Finally, Cape Town proper and its coasts on both sides.

Months in advance, I had made Airbnb reservations for a few days in Cape Town when first deciding to embark on this long 10+ week journey.  Upon completing the reservation, Airbnb sent a note saying that Cape Town was in the middle of a major water crisis and to be mindful that by the time we arrived in Cape Town, the city may well be out of water, aka ‘Day Zero’.  Because of that, plans to stay for a long time were not made as there was no way to know if the city would be shut down by the time we arrived. 

Thankfully the water situation had improved a bit and it even rained for two nights while we were there, the first time in a long while.  Cape Town has had many successes involving the rich and the poor, the shanti towns or the fancy resorts, the small road-side eatery or the posh restaurants in taking part in water conservation.  They have made immense progress and have learned a lot from the experience.  They are not out of the woods yet, but I believe the rest of the world has a lot to learn from their new learned knowledge.  Although we had to use very little water and reuse the water from our shower to flush the toilet, it did not tamper our discoveries of Cape Town. 

A few historical tidbits about Cape Town: 

First Heart Transplant

Location of the first heart transplant by Christiaan Barnard’s (King of Hearts) groundbreaking surgery in 1967 – more than 50 years ago.  Took place at the Groote Schuur Hospital. A 25-year-old Denise Darvall would succumb to her injuries sustained in a fatal motor car accident on Main Road (close to the hospital), to become the first donor.  Although he only lived for 18 days after the procedure, the transplant was a success.  Denise didn’t just add a couple more days to Louis Washkansky's life, she was a cog in the machine of what was to follow – all the patients on the brink of death, getting a new lease on life.  You can still visit where that first transplant took place. 

The Castle of Good Hope

The whole of South African society once revolved around this building. The Dutch East India Company (VOC) commissioned the building of the fort in 1666. The building was only finished in 1679 because of the massive scale of the operation. Rocks had to be cut out from Signal Hill and carted in from across the bay where limestone was mined on Robben Island (thanks to slave labor). Today the Castle of Good Hope stands as the oldest surviving colonial building in South Africa. 

Aerial picture of Castle of Good Hope

Entrance of Castle of Good Hope

It was the center of all administrative and social activity in and around the Cape Colony from 1679 onwards. After the colony expanded some functions and activities moved away from the castle. The castle was declared an historical monument in 1936 and following restorations in the 1980’s, it is now the best-preserved example of a Dutch East India Company fort in the world.

Today the Castle is found further inland due to land reclamation in the 1930s and 1940s to make way for the foreshore and Table Bay Harbor.

King of the fynbos, protea (tree artichoke) - as large as a dinner plate

Kirstenbosch National Botanical Garden 

We are surrounded by fynbos (from Dutch ‘fine bush’) vegetation.  Fynbos vegetation is the primary component of the Cape Floristic Kingdom.  It consists of four major growth forms – tall protea shrubs, heath-like bushes, wiry reed plants, and bulbous herbs.   Fynbos are fire driven and high intensity burns at 6 to 45-year intervals sustain the high plant diversity of the kingdom.  There are approximately 30,000 different plant species in South Africa, of which 9,500 occur in the Cape Floristic Kingdom.  Within these 70% are endemic, over 1,800 are threatened with extinction, and 80% occur nowhere else in the world.   Made famous and exported are geraniums and aloes… 

The Cape Floristic Region has 94 species per 1,000 km2.  Compare that to Australia with 14, California with 12, and the rest of South Africa with only 8 per km2.

Table Mountain from one of the many parks in Cape Town

Many yellow frames around town – photo opportunity… this one in District Si

Cape Town, District Six

Apartheid is over, but townships are still in abominable shape.

Visited a museum that places the emphasis on ‘Remembering 60,000 forced goodbyes.’  Most having to leave the area with little more than a small suitcase.

The outbreak of bubonic plague in 1901 was used as an excuse for the first removal of ‘African’ people from District Six near where I stayed in Cape Town (Observatory area). Thousands of non-white people were told they were living illegally in a white area even though these communities had been living there longer than the ‘whites’.  This area was formally proclaimed ‘white’ in 1966, destroying a most diverse, well established, and vibrant community.

Prior to that – it was an exuberant and animated place.  A place of warmth, gaiety, struggle and sadness, of respectability and rascality, of despair and creativity.  It hummed with a zest for life.  Its streets were veritable rivers of life.

Saddest story I read about is from Noor Ebrahim of having to move and taking with him his 50 homing pigeons.  He kept them in their new home for more than three months to ensure they knew their new place well.  When he released them, none came back, they were found the next day where they used to live, now rubbles…

Apartheid may be officially over in South Africa, but it is not really over.

Chapman’s Peak Toll Road

Chapman’s Peak a favorite of cyclists

Beautiful Haut Bay

Cape Point - Pintrest

Cape Point ruggedness, more fynbos

Elusive eland, the largest antelope – seen on our last week in Africa

Bo-Kaap now colorful neighborhood

When owned by slaveholders, the buildings of

Cape Town's Bo-Kaap were all painted white.

Upon gaining their freedom, the quarter's majority-Muslim occupants

painted their houses in bright colors to celebrate the end of Ramadan.

Same picture taken by Stephanie Miller

with much better camera for National Geographic!!!

Betty’s Bay penguins

More than 70% of their population wiped out

Betty’s Bay penguins

Small town of Hermanus along the coast

Cape Agulhas lighthouse – sturdy sentinel

at the intersection of the Pacific and Indian oceans

Cape Agulhas lighthouse.  Design based on the Pharos of Alexandria,

one of the seven wonders of the Ancient World.

The unforgiving shores of Cape Agulhas – the southernmost point in Africa

A place Mike really wanted to see, but not from a sailboat

The very bottom of Africa.

Here it is my loved one. 

Fishermen braving the high surf – at times, waves would reach their waist.

Not sure how they managed to stay up

Haemanthus – single dot of bright color among the rocky beach

South Africa is a diverse nation with many cultures and traditions. Nicknamed the Rainbow Nation, it is this diversity that attracts people from all over the world to experience their splendidly rich heritage.  

Kyle Morland’s ‘Falsework’ in front of Zeizt MOCAA Museum

Forty-two old grain silos refurbished to hold this magnificent museum.

The building alone is worth the visit.

‘All the lightning birds are after me’

from Khosa folklore by Nicholas Hlobo, South Africa

Made of inner tubes, skull, ribbons, lights

Grand entrance

Above the atrium (grand entrance)

‘Shopping for Jesus’ by Kudzanai Chiurai of Zimbabwe

More by Kyle Morland (South Africa) – Now and Then, El Loko

Zeizt MOCAA Museum.  Nicknamed ‘Concrete thinking.’  Opened late 2017.  Decommissioned grain silos which for a decade were the tallest building in Sub-Sahara.  It holds a breathtaking atrium, is nine stories tall and dotted with 80 white cubed galleries.  Could be called Africa’s Tate Modern.  Has hotel on top from which you can see Robben Island – where Nelson Mandala was imprisoned.  Even though there is controversy around the fact that two whites design or run it, it is a splendid and unlikely place to visit.  Most of the art within is contemporary, post 2000. 

The Guardian’s Oliver Wainwright describes it as:

‘A thrilling space of concrete cylinders that plunge from the ceiling like carved stalactites, through which stairs spiral and glass elevators glide.’

Instead of oversized loads, they call them abnormal

Martha Gellhorn, Hemingway’s third wife about Africa:

How the sky seems to have no boundaries, no end and this is almost more than she can handle.  

‘The machinery that keeps me going is not geared to cope with infinity and eternity as so clearly displayed in that sky.  After sunset, the Africans jam into their huts and close everything up to keep out the night, if I understood nothing else about them, I understood that.’

What does happen is nearly always superior to the original plan.  A safari is a journey, just let it unfold, don’t plan too much.  Africa and the ten countries I visited was that and much more.