Last Day in Cape Town

March 30, 2013

Our view of Lion's Head from Camps Bay

I'm sad to say that I feel like I missed out on Cape Town's full potential, but I couldn't help the days I was exhausted nor the day when I wasn't feeling well.  I was reminded of the fact that just before this, I had spent twenty days exploring Auroville then Phnom Penh.  I might just have been tuckered out from three weeks of traveling.  Maybe it was okay to take it easy here in Cape Town.

I do wish I had seen the townships, though.  There are places around Cape Town that have been set up by the government and many of the housing was built for free and people live in it for the cost of electricity if they want it.  Archbishop Desmond Tutu would describe South Africa as the most beautiful place on earth, but also the most unequal.  I wish I could have experienced the other side of Cape Town.  We stuck to the wealthy, city areas for the most part.

The wind in Camps Bay would blow these clouds
off the top of Table Mountain and they
would dissolve in front of our eyes.

We made this day a pretty chill day as well in that we didn't have anything we needed to film.  We went down to the waterfront and had crepes for breakfast again.  I went back to my favorite fruit stand and had the man chop me up a mango and mini pineapple for breakfast.  As I've noted before, I'm going to miss fresh fruit.

Most of the film crew had joined together to have breakfast and Minh came around as well.  We had good conversation and a nice sit with one another as we enjoyed our last day of land food.  There was talk of seeing a movie and also talk of going over to Haut Bay.  We ultimately decided to compromise with the much closer Camps Bay to enjoy the beach and climb the rocks that hang out near the ocean.

Cheers!

Part of the team headed for the cinema, part of the team went with Tendekayi to a visit over to one of the townships, Du Noon, and I went with the crew that was off to explore Camps Bay.  I didn't realize until later that we had a chance to visit the township, or I would have jumped on the opportunity.  It's a pretty sensitive place for tours and especially for filming because people don't want to be exploited.  What would you feel like if foreigners came into your front yard and took photos of you getting your mail or washing your car.  It's just not appropriate unless you get permission or have people expecting you.  Tendekayi had friends from high school who lived in this particular place, so they went and visited them.  They were able to film a little.

I had a nice time at Camps Bay, but it was unreasonably windy, and we ended up settling for a run to the grocery store and a long lunch to escape from the wind.  We enjoyed some mojitos and fresh fruit juice to celebrate our last day in Cape Town.  I went for a butternut squash salad to say goodbye to fresh vegetables.

We conquered the wind...then fell
off this rock.

We decided to brave the wind and play out on the giant boulders sitting by the ocean.  It was the place on the beach with the least amount of sand, so we didn't get as sandblasted as the other brave souls that ventured out into the open.  We took some silly photos, then decided we had had enough battering, and headed back for the ship to make sure we made it back for on-ship time.  You get in big trouble if you delay the ship's departure, so we make sure to be on with plenty of time to spare.

Because of the crazy-bad winds, the ship wasn't able to leave at it's expected 8pm, so we all had dinner out on the deck and then hung out together appreciating the stillness of the ship.  We heard later that if we had left that night during the storm, we would have found ourselves back in 10 meter waves.  I appreciate the choice to stay.