History and Beach Bum Fun

Today marks the end of our wonderful stay in Cape Town. As with all of our departures, it is bittersweet knowing that we must leave such a beautiful place but also knowing we are headed to yet another unforgettable experience elsewhere. So much has happened in the last few weeks, it’s hard to try and summarize it all and give each experience the time it deserves, but I’ll do the best I can. Whatever I don’t mention, I’ll be sure to say in pictures.

Upon leaving Hamakuya, we drove to Johannesburg where we stayed for two nights before our flight to Cape Town. My first impression of Jo-burg, as the locals call it, was a cross between Los Angeles and Beverly Hills, San Francisco, New York, and London all rolled into one. Our first stop in Joburg was the Apartheid Museum where we were confronted with the realities of segregation in the most brutal sense, but also the amazing triumph that allowed the equal “Rainbow Nation” of South Africa to be born. Unfortunately, our cameras were not allowed, so I have no pictures to share.

Next, we went to Constitutional Hill where the old state prison used to be. Now, the new Constitutional Court rests on its grounds and a portion of the prison was converted into a museum. In the prison, blacks, whites, and coloreds were together, but the treatment of each was drastically different. Whites were given more blankets and sleeping mats and better food while the black inmates were given less than scraps on dishes that were washed but once every two months. If the guards saw fit, inmates could be placed into isolation cells for extended periods of time where prisoners were left to go mad. Because of the horrors that took place here, the new post-Apartheid government decided to build the Constitutional Court on top of the prison as a symbol of the new beginning from a difficult past.

The following morning we flew to Cape Town; my long-lost home! The city is so similar to San Diego, I instantly felt at home. Over our 5-day break we watched the sun set at Camps Bay swam with seals, experienced the local shopping scene, had lunch on the water at a fantastic seafood restaurant in Kalk Bay, saw national jazz legend Hugh Masekela in concert, and visited Robben Island where Nelson Mandela was imprisoned for 18 years. Today, we spent the day driving along the peninsula of the Cape. We drove along a winding mountain road called Chapman’s Peak along the coast before stopping for a quick lecture on the fynbos (pronounced feign-boss) ecosystem. We took a break for surfing lessons at the beach before heading to Cape Point. We rounded out our whirl-wind day with a visit to the Cape Penguins.

In the morning we are headed to a place called De Hoop where we will have an intensive study of the fynbos. I will have limited internet access while I’m there, but I will post as soon as I can. After De Hoop we head back to Skukuza where we will have our final three weeks to implement and complete our final projects! But, it is far too soon to be thinking about the end! Until next time…

This entry was posted on Tuesday, March 27th, 2012 at 10:15 pm and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.

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