Cape Town – The Mother City

(Originally published October 2010)

I only had a day in Durban before heading to Cape Town so limited myself to a walk around the city centre and a visit to the Kwa-Muhle museum. This interesting museum presents the ‘Durban system’, implemented at the start of the 20th century as the town grew and is widely regarded as the Apartheid blueprint.

On the Wednesday (20th) I boarded a morning flight to Cape Town. On arrival I made my way into town on the new myCiti bus link, from where it was a short taxi hop to my ‘luxury’ guest house in Green Point. 4 on Varneys was my home for the next week and is located opposite the Green Point stadium and walking distance to Sea Point, waterfront and city bowl. Good news when one likes to walk!

That evening were planned the first celebrations… With the Inter Milan – Spurs CL game as a backdrop. Great evening although my head wasn’t too happy with Irish drinking endurance the next morning!

Jennifer and Micheal’s wedding took place on Friday at the 12 Apostles Hotel in Camps bay. The sun was out, the setting stunning, the bride looked fantastic and the groom had scrubbed up a little too. Needless to say the party went on late into the night!

As i was in town for a full week, a full chronological account would be a little tedious, so here are some highlights:
. Winery tour in Stellenbosh and Franshoek – Fairviews for cheese and wine tasting (mid morning!), Dieudonne for wine tasting and lunch and Boschendal in the afternoon (the best of the three)
. Sundowner in Camps Bay watching whales swim about
. Climbing Lion’s Head for some stunning views of Table Mountain, the City, Clifton, Camps Bay and the 12 Apostles
. Cable car up Table Mountain and a walk to Maclears Beacon with views across the Cape Peninsula and False Bay
. Sundowner on Table Mountain
. Walking round Bo-Kaap, Long street, Companies Gardens and the tourist trap yet stunning Victoria & Alfred Waterfront
. Eating an ostrich steak in Mama Africa’s on Long street with a duet of ‘Conte Partiro’ being sung by the local singer and a tourist
. Eating biltong (still not a fan!) and boerewors in the Hussar grill in Green Point, washed down with some local Pinotage

Lions Head from Table Mountain

Colourful houses of Bo-Kaap

Camps bay and the 12 Apostles

Victoria Waterfront and Table Mountain

All in all, it was a fantastic week in one of the worlds most beautiful city settings, punctuated with several celebrations and late nights.

It is in Cape Town, more so than any other city in South Africa where the gap between rich and poor is the most evident. That’s not to say that the townships here are any worse than other cities, but the count of Ferrarris, Porsches and Maserrattis is far greater than anywhere else. The local view (mainly gathered from the ever knowledgeable segment of society that are taxi drivers) is that not much has changed since the euphoria of the early 90s and despite democracy and equality the chasm between rich and poor is greater than ever and the economy is still mainly dependant on white people when it comes to skilled labour. Investment in infrastructure and security was certainly boosted by the 2010 world cup but what is needed more than anything now is considerable investment in education.

Anyway… After a week here it was time to move on, so on the next Wednesday (27th unsurprisingly) I picked up a new set of wheels and set off along the southern coast of the Western Cape.