Day 3. Cape Town
Today we fly out to Cape Town for the next leg of the trip and the day begun with a relaxed morning breakfast followed by a drive to the domestic airport.
Luckily most of Johannesburg's cars had stayed off the roads
this Saturday morning and we were guided to the airport by our GPS
without any delays.
The flight over to Cape Town took around two and half hours, I'd
already booked a car and we picked it up. The only problem
was that the people who operate the GPS stand at AVIS had already
left the office because it was after 5pm. We were told that
back at the arrivals terminal Vodacom rent GPS units too.
After a few minutes we had the GPS. Pretty easy and without
any fuss.
We typed in the address of our hotel, changing the accent of the
voice on the GPS didn't change the abrupt instructions "she"
shouted at us. It was surprising to see more shanty towns
lining the streets and freeways leading from the airport to the
town centre. We've both heard so many good things about Cape
Town, how wonderful it is, how beautiful it looks and how little
crime there is in comparison to Johannesburg. But this brief
introduction to the squalor that people even in this "paradise"
town endure spoilt all the positive propaganda very quickly.
Indeed, Cape Town is very pretty, colonial buildings, quiet
streets, picturesque seaside and of course the crowning feature,
Table Mountain in the background. All these are truly
wonderful sights, but it again highlights the very large gap
between those with and those without - across the whole of South
Africa. Perhaps it was prematurely naive to think that things
would be different in Cape Town.
The Townhouse Hotel, to which we were guided with pinpoint
precision, is right in the centre of town and very close to Long St
- the main restaurant and entertainment strip in central Cape
Town. After settling in we decided to go and check out the
Victoria & Alfred Waterfront. It was starting to get
dark, but again the GPS guided us to the main gates without any
issues. I have to admit, travelling with a map is a lot more
stressful in an unfamiliar city and the GPS allows you to take in
more of the sights by not having your head buried in the map all
day. After parking the car we started our meandering through
the various wharfs, shops and bars.
Down towards one end of the wharf Ann-Marie heard some weird
noises, we walked towards the commotion. On a small wooden
jetty below the main wharf we could see seals playing, fighting and
jumping in the water. We watched them frolic around for some
time before heading back to the main wharf complex to get some
food.
After dismissing a number of restaurants we looked at each other
and with that tired nod decided to go back to the hotel and order
room service. The weather hasn't been particularly nice these
last few days, overcast, slight drizzle - doesn't make for nice
photos. That night we discussed the options for the next two
days, if the weather holds out and we get some sun, we would climb
Table Mountain, if not, Robben Island.