Trip Report: Southern Africa Day 6 – Cape Town

Thursday August 15, 2019

Breakfast was included in our stay at the Radisson Red in Cape Town, so that is where we started our day. We suspected something was up right away, because Liam was not eating with his usual gusto (and the spread was divine – definitely tempting). Sure enough, after some prodding, he admitted that his stomach was bothering him. However, he seemed determined to carry on with our day, and so at 8:15 am we met the driver that the hotel had arranged for us, to take us to Table Mountain.

The aerial cableway up the mountain usually closes for annual maintenance for 2 weeks. But after we booked our trip, thinking that we would be visiting after the closure ended, that maintenance period was extended to 6 weeks for some more intensive repairs.

This meant that it would re-open the week after we visited. We were disappointed, but made a plan to hike up Lion’s Head for a view of the city instead. This would not be quite so iconic as Table Mountain, but would be a good alternative.

We were also aware that winter weather in Cape Town is best summarized as ‘cold and rainy’ and that the weather might not cooperate; that if clouds rolled in, there would be no point at all in moving to higher ground.

So we were delighted when, having already arrived in Zimbabwe, we learned that SANParks had surprised everyone by re-opening the cableway a week ahead of schedule.

Not only that, but our visit to Cape Town came after many days of consecutive rain in the city, and there were nothing but blue skies and sunshine in the forecast for our stay. The universe seemed to be pointing us toward a trip up the mountain.

We tried purchasing lift tickets online in advance, in order to skip one of the queues at the mountain, but had trouble with our foreign credit card. So we did have to queue up for tickets at the base of the mountain, and then queue again for the actual lift. However, the overall wait was not too terribly long, and soon we were being whisked up the mountain.

The ride to the top is only about 5 minutes long, and during that time the car rotates so that everyone onboard is treated to the same views. Arriving at the top, we made use of the next couple of hours by wandering the various paths to the lookouts along the way.

Unfortunately, we were unable to find a dassie up there; but the views were spectacular. Liam kept up with us, though he was obviously in some discomfort. We tried not to push him too much, and when he was ready to call it a day, we took the return car back down the mountain, and caught a taxi back to the hotel.

Liam laid down for a rest, and I stayed at the hotel with him while Chad and Mallory returned to the Victoria & Alfred Food Market to pick up an assortment of items for our lunch: a Malay chicken wrap, a pulled pork flatbread with avocado, some smoothies and baked goods and fruit. Very tasty and very reasonably priced. Liam had a few bites, but mostly laid low.

We had afternoon plans pre-arranged as well – a driver was due to pick us up at 2 pm for a Siviwe tour to Langa Township. Liam was starting to perk up a bit, and said he was good to go, so we met the driver and made the trip to the township. Upon arrival, we met our guide, Zuzi, and began our tour.

We had mixed reviews upon completion: I thought it was pretty interesting, and appreciated hearing the minute details of everyday life (e.g. how do you get your mail when you’ve built a non-sanctioned shack and live on government property that does not come with a fixed address?)

Chad was a bit let down that we didn’t have more interaction with local school kids, as we had requested when asked where we wanted to focus during the tour. Overall, it was a great lesson in positivity in the face of hardship, and hopefully it was some good food for thought for the kids.

We had debated the pros and cons of the township tour before signing up for it. There’s the debate about whether or not township tours serve a positive purpose (or are they just ‘slum tourism’). Ultimately we decided that the link to apartheid and the social history of Cape Town made this trip worthwhile.

There are rampant safety concerns floated about township tours, and we did what we could to minimize any risk: we didn’t carry cash or wear jewelry, we left the good camera at home and only carried a phone discreetly in a pocket. But we never felt unsafe on the tour.

After the tour, we returned to the hotel for a break for Liam, to ensure we weren’t pushing him too hard. We were all a bit wiped out, to be honest, because I think more than one of us wound up napping. By the time we roused ourselves, it was starting to get dark, and we headed out for a walk around the waterfront before eventually coming back to eat at the Radisson itself and calling it a night.