Ted. Whenever
we told someone that we were going to South Africa, they invariably asked; “Are
you going to Cape Town?” It has a reputation as one of the great cities of the
world so we decided to spend a full week there.
We rented an apartment from
Heather and Niel via Airbnb and the location, amenities and their hospitality were
great. Located up one side of the “city bowl,” we had a great view of nearby
Table Mountain and could look down on the city below.
We walked to many shops cafes and restaurants but Uber took us everywhere else where we wanted to go.
Cape Town is an amazing mix of ethnic groups and cultures with immigrants and expats from all over the world. One day we joined a free walking tour of the Bo-Kaap neighborhood where we learned about
the Muslim roots of many locals.
On Easter Sunday, we worshipped at St George's Anglican Cathedral where Desmond Tutu once served as archbishop. Judy was pleased to see that there is a large labyrinth on the grounds so we were able to take a meditative walk. And naturally, we rode the cableway to the top of Table Mountain to enjoy the incredible views.
Juanita, a Servas day host of
Afrikaner heritage gave us further insights into the town and its history. She
devoted one full day to driving us around the many neighborhoods and beaches and took
us to the wonderful botanical garden called Kirstenbosch. On another day, she drove us around the beautiful wine country surrounding
the communities of Stellenbosch and Franschhoek.
On another day, Judy and I took the ferry out to Robben
Island to visit the infamous former prison and had an unforgetable tour. At one point, our guide
was a man who had been incarcerated there for five years. He recounted some of
his experiences and then took us to the cell that Nelson Mandela inhabited for 18
of his 27 years as a prisoner.
No comments:
Post a Comment