Mountains, Oceans, Divisions

While many of my American friends search for a bar in South Africa that's broadcasting the Super Bowl, I'm sitting in my bed. Quite tired. Head spinning.  I've been so busy.

The past three or four days have been a whirlwind. It's pretty hard to remember what was when and where, I've been all over the city and beyond. On Thursday, we went to the District 6 Museum, which is a museum in downtown Cape Town that tells the story of some 60,000 people who were forced from their homes in the District 6 neighborhood in Cape Town into planned slums as a result of apartheid city planning legislation. Honestly, it was a really difficult concept for me to wrap my head around. You got to see these pictures of people who had lived in these homes all of their lives, only to be forced out for the color of their skin.  The homes were supposed to be demolished for new high rises and residential complexes, but they never were. They stay there today, deserted, as a kind of national monument, nestled under Table Mountain.

Speaking of Table Mountain, I climbed it.

Yep. Climbed it.

On Friday, our entire Interstudy group scaled Table Mountain. All 60 of us, some sorority girls, some plump hippies from UVM, some relatively out-of-shape Columbia beatniks, climbed the mountain.  We started out in what's called the Constantia Nek, a trail that begins in a little wine suburb not far from where I live. From there, it was all upwards.  There were beautiful views the whole way, and there were intervals that were pretty strenuous, but we all made it. On our way up, we got to swim in a dam that is actually Cape Town's water supply (they're all drinking my sunscreen right now) and it was really cool because the water looked really dark and blue until you got close, when it became apparent that it was actually a deep red color. It was the coolest looking thing. I don't know why it was red; something about copper deposits. Eh. Nature's mysteries, I guess. It was really cool, once reaching the summit, to be able to see all of the Western Cape. Table Mountain is, after all, the highest point in Cape Town, a city of mountains.  Walking down was treachery.  You walked down a hollowed down gorge on ledges and cliffs that were about 3 feet thick. A misstep and you would fall thousands of feet. What's worse, the path was made of small boulders and rocks. Walking directly downhill for hours and hours on boulders and ledges is painful and scary, but a cool thing to be able to say you have done. I'm all for adventurousness. When it is followed by lots of sleep and a warm shower, that is.  

The day after summiting Table, we went to the Two Oceans Aquarium (this is for you, Julie). I hadn't been to an aquarium in years and years, and I forgot how cool they were. This one was especially awesome, because it's a lot of fish that were caught locally. Weird to think, since there's not much more that trout and the occasional crawfish in the roaring springs of Nazareth, PA.  Really wanted to see a Great White, since they are very, very common in False Bay, but no such luck. Guess they're a little big for the aquarium shark tank.  It was kind of a lazy day, since my legs were still screaming from the hike the day before. That was good, though, I think.  

Today, Sunday, was an awesome day.  I was skeptical, since it was our first day of IAPO orientation, which is the international student orientation that UCT does.  There were a good amount of us, perhaps 400, and they took us all to the Cape of Good Hope.  We went in tour busses, which I was initially not very happy about, but it was nice to look at things in a fresh and more touristy perspective, because tours are really good about history and events and things like that. The drive down through Hout Bay was the most gorgeous thing I have ever seen.  I feel like I say that every day about something.  Mountains and mountains above a misty green ocean; it looked like what I imagine New Zealand must look like.  

We stopped midday at a little shanty town called Ocean View, which is a coloured (it's an actual term here for a race) town on the suburbs of the city. It is clear that the town understood poverty, and as the tour busses pulled through, children chased them in excitement.  We were served pretty traditional barbecue food in a big gymnasium type of place, and a bunch of the local kids came in and performed for us. One girl sang Celine Dion and Shania Twain, while smaller kids break danced and the crowd of international students cheered them on. It was clear that they were really excited for us to be there. Everyone had a really good time.

On to Cape Point, we passed a bunch of desolate fields where fynbos bushes had been set to burn. We passed literally acres and acres of scorched earth. It is also a great habitat for baboons, which I was dying to see. Only one short glimpse of two lazy baboons. Apparently they're fierce and very dangerous, breaking into people's homes and stealing their food. The people who live there have to put bars on their windows just so that the baboons don't break in!

Cape Point was pretty cool. Beautiful, just like the rest of the country I have seen so far. It was cool to think that I was standing on the southern-most tip of a continent, with the next closest land mass being Antarctica.  It's also the spot where the Indian and Atlantic Oceans meet.  I'd like to go there again, next time without 400 Americans, and maybe just spend a day hanging out and looking at the ocean. Hopefully seeing a couple baboons, if I'm lucky.