Memories of vuvuzela


Cape Town, 20th of August 2018 – Bartolomeo Dias in1488 and Vasco da Gama eleven years later, were the first Europeans to sight the Cape. The Portuguese, however, had little interest in the Cape and it would take another 150 years before the Dutch started colonising it. Bucket listed by so many, we want to experience it by ourselves. We sleep in Seapoint, west of Signal Hill. On the motorway, we drive past the ‘Groote Schuur Hospital’, where Christiaan Barnard performed the first heart transplant. Then we see the Cape Town Stadium, where many matches of the Football World Championships of 2010 were played. Can you remember the deafening sound of the vuvuzela’s? The Spanish beat the Dutch, the final was played in Soccer City in Johannesburg, Iniesta scored. We check into the Glen Boutique Hotel and we are offered an upgrade in the annex building. To our amazement, we get the Mandela Suite on the top floor of a ‘belle époque’ house. Paintings of Nelson Mandela everywhere and a library full of books about him. Downstairs everything is about Napoleon. A white bust of the French emperor, on the wall there are French maps of the English Channel from 1806. Maybe because Napoleon drank South African Constantia wine on St-Helena? The old wooden floors smell of wax. We go back to the main building for dinner. My guidebook describes the hotel as ‘straight friendly’ and I thought we might look odd. Straight or not, what a choice we made! The hotel is top class. The boys and girls serving us look the bee’s knees and the food is delicious. In the dark night, we walk back to our Mandela suite and watch the stars. Tomorrow we have a rendezvous with Table Mountain.

Mandela's blessing! (FDC)

Napoleonic room in Glen Hotel (FDC)


Reacties

Een reactie posten

Populaire posts van deze blog

Platteklip Gorge

Afbeelding
Cape Town, 21th of August 2018 – Today we are walking up Table Mountain, 515 years after Portuguese explorer Antonio de Saldanha. He got separated from his fleet and needed a lookout point to see if his mates had sailed off without him. Scary thought! Saldanha climbed up the narrow gorge and spotted his fellow seamen. During his ascent he saw the sweet water flowing down, great discovery for the rest of their voyage. The narrow Platteklip Gorge is the most direct way to walk up Table Mountain. It is made of rock-steps and very steep, but with an average fitness you can do it in less than 2 hours. You don’t need a map, you start and just look up all the time, following the serpentine. We leave our car at the ranger post and take the bus to the lower cable station. From there we walk to the starting point. A ranger joins us and we have a chat. “Where are you from?” followed by the “Aha Kevin De Bruyne” sentence. “In Table Mountain National Park, there are only fifty rangers, we patrol ...
Meer lezen

Cosy in the lapa

Afbeelding
Schotia, 18th of August 2018 – Kurt drove us to our tent in the middle of the park yesterday after dinner and closed the fence, promising he would be back at 7 a.m. We are the only ones sleeping in a tent in the park. Woohaa! Outside temperature minus 1° C, inside temperature plus 3°C. The night is full of strange sounds; we definitely hear the lions roar. The complimentary bottle of wine remains untouched.   I wake up at 5 a.m. and go outside for a pee. Flying from above the toilet hut, a yellow bird almost scalps me. At 7 a.m., we hear Kurt’s jeep. He is on time, must be his German genes! He helps me to light the small gas stove and I put on the kettle to make us some coffee. We slowly wake up to the sound of singing birds with the low sun in our faces. Now, our morning tour starts. This is the best part of the safari. The animals are in a state of slow motion, as if they are waiting for instructions. A giraffe slowly walks by and his cracking joints amaze us. Apparently, arthr...
Meer lezen

Don't be a Jackass!

Afbeelding
Cape of Good Hope, 21 st of August 2018 – On the southern tip of Table Mountain National Park is Cape of Good Hope. Ever since primary school, this name has mysteriously attracted me. Before we go to that mythical spot, we drive to Boulders Beach, home to a penguin colony. These birds are great fun to watch, the way they clumsily come out of the water, changing from top-level swimmers to helpless walkers. For a moment, I doubt if I am in Disneyworld or in a nature reserve. Tourists from all over the world want to see a glimpse of these ‘Jackass’ penguins. Yes, that is their name! Italians elbow their way through the crowd to reach the best photo spot, the Japanese politely wait their turn and nod their heads off if you let them pass. Further down the beach there is a spot where you can ‘swim with the penguins’… I remember a ranger who told me that tourists are not that bad. Without them, endangered species would never get any attention, nor the money to set up conservation programs...
Meer lezen