Cape Town Fall Break, Part I

Table Mountain from the airplane


A vacation in Cape Town was a very good thing for me. I haven’t felt truly relaxed and as if nothing matters to be finished in quite some time. So, this trip was a very good idea. Jon David was extremely gracious, even going so far as to let me sleep in the bed and he on the air mattress in the living room; in other words, I was definitely pampered. Not to mention that his apartment has a view of the ocean right out the front door and Table Mountain out the back windows! I am pretty jealous. It’s probably a good thing that I don’t live there, considering that I might never get any work done.


Once I got in on Wednesday, JD had a class, so I walked around UCT on my own. Here are some pictures of this beautiful campus:

You walk to class this way every day if you go to UCT! That is Table Mountain hidden by all of those clouds.

Playing fields with Cape Town in the background

Next, we went to walk around the Victoria and Alfred Waterfront a bit. Jon David says it's his favorite place in the city, which is nice since it's within 10 minutes walk of his flat! There is a mall, many shops, and usually street entertainment there. Here are a few pics:

JD and I at the distance sign at the V&A Waterfront. That says San Francisco 16,690km!


Who knew Rotary put up this sign?!

The sea lion that tried to eat JD and me!

On Thursday, we headed to Camps Bay for a little time on the beach. Camps Bay is situated under Table Mountain just through the pass between Lion’s Head and Table Mountain. The beach itself is sandy, but the sand is very coarse, as it has been created by years of weathering of the huge boulders strewn about the shores of the ocean, many of which remain there still. The water is cold or, more accurately, frigid. A trip into the water as far as one’s knees makes one’s legs seem to disappear under her. Most of our time at the beach was spent lying out and watching the group of hundreds of adolescents push each other into the water.

Thursday was completed by going to the beginning of the Cape Town International Jazz Festival (the free part) in Green Market Square with Jennifer and Elliot, two of the Cape Town Rotary Scholars and Elliot’s roommate Niv. It wasn’t the best jazz we’ve ever heard but it was a wonderful atmosphere.

Friday was mostly consumed by Jon David’s classes, but we did get a chance to meet some of his friends. One such friend spent a few years at Robben Island and now works there as a tour guide. We also ran into several of the Cape Town Rotary Scholars. It was a very collegiate day, finished by watching The Motorcycle Diaries, one of Jon David’s favorites.

On Saturday we headed to a meeting for Rotary Youth Leadership Association in Tyger Valley and from there drove to Stellenbosch in the Cape wine region. Stellenbosch is beautiful and very quaint, set neatly within the mountains. There are small antique shops and book stores which we browsed for a good amount of time. We found the second oldest church in the country there, a Dutch Reformed Church (of course), and walked around its grounds and cemetery. It had beautiful white spires and stained glass windows and a beautiful view of the mountains. That evening, we met up with Emily A. and Emily K. (two more CT Rotary Scholars) to eat dinner and watch Wit, Jon David’s favorite movie. It is quite good—the story of a professor who studies the Holy Sonnets of John Donne and contracts stage four ovarian cancer. I liked it, much to JD’s surprise.

Sunday we visited the Sea Point Methodist Church—which could be dead within two years if things continue the way they are now. It was a nice service, though, even with a choir of six people who were not getting anywhere except to a joyful noise. We ate lunch with Jon David’s friend Madalitso, a Malawian who now lives in Mozambique (Maputo, no less! Needless to say, we were fast friends) and is studying politics at UCT, and his friend Nema, a Tanzanian also studying politics. I really enjoyed Nema—she is quite the feminist, progressive thinker. We talked politics and religion for about three hours—what a treat! We then went to pick up “the girls” (Jennifer and the Emilies) and headed to Kirstenbosch for the last concert of the summer. Turns out that the band was pretty terrible, so we wandered around Kirstenbosch for a while. After we finished at Kirstenbosch, we headed to the mall to watch a movie. We considered Babel and Volver, but opted for the much more intelligent chick flick Because I Said So, with Mandy Moore and Diane Keaton. I should know better than this—I HATE Mandy Moore. She’s simply a poor actress, and she always insists on singing in every movie. If you want to be a singer, be a singer, not an actress. Anyway, it was, as expected, less than inspired, but a good laugh and a good time had by all.

So that completes most of the first week—I’ll include the second week later. And yes, Elliot, I do plan to finish the “cultural amalgamation” post. Hold your horses. Other big news around here includes Lisa getting a 100% on her first big human rights paper and the possibility of a job at McAuley House School teaching technology (our tech and home ec. equivalent). So, things are getting back to normal in Jo’burg. On a personal note, thanks Mere for the postcard from Santiago!