Cape Town

I arrived in East London Friday afternoon, after two and a half weeks of rural (extremely rural, in some cases) Africa. East London has a population of over a million people-the largest place I’d been, other than passing through the Johannesburg airport. And since I simply stayed at a guest house overnight, I can’t say that I experienced much of it. But it was still a reminder that I was leaving the slower-paced and somewhat older Africa that I had so enjoyed. It was with some mixed feelings that I boarded the plane Saturday morning for two nights in Cape Town. I did consider that it might be a good thing in terms of slowing reacquainting myself to modern living.

Cape Town was wonderful-I would love to return to spend more time. I didn’t make it to Robben Island, and there are several areas that would be fun to explore. Cape Town is one of the sites of the 2010 World Cup-there is a great deal of construction going on and I realize there could be some changes (hopefully positive) before my next visit.

As I was brought into Cape Town from the airport, we went past the townships and many many tin shacks. The townships started with actual houses-but as relatives arrive, shacks are built to house them-and unless one finds a spectacular job, the options of living elsewhere are very limited. Unemployment was estimated to be around 20% by my guide.

My guide was interesting as well-she is English, but married an Indian years ago-during apartheid. She has lived in a township (illegally, of course-no whites allowed, she could have been arrested and jailed simply for marrying her husband). She provided another perspective for me-I feel that I have been privileged to have seen Africa through the eyes of different people and it has enriched my experience immensely.

The guest house that I stayed in is in the Waterkant area-formerly the slave quarters for the Malay slaves. Nearby was the “Bo Kaap”, neighborhood of brightly painted homes.