Friday found us on the Hop On Hop Off bus...a great way to see the city. We had hoped to go up on the cable car to the top of Table Mountain, but the strong south easterlies prevented that. Nevertheless, we did get some amazing views of the city, not great pictures, but amazing views, oh well.
....On 11 February 1966, the government declared District Six a whites-only area under the Group Areas Act, with removals starting in 1968. By 1982, more than 60,000 people had been relocated to the sandy, bleak Cape Flats township complex some 25 kilometres away. The old houses were bulldozed. The only buildings left standing were places of worship.
We carried on through the city, lots of colonial type buildings, mixed in with modern high risers. Didn't seem to be nearly as much traffic as Vancouver. After the city tour, we headed away from the downtown core, toward the beaches. The coastline, along the Atlantic, is breathtaking. The beaches, although not safe for swimming are white sand, with beautiful rounded boulders.
You can't help but ponder the extremes in which people live here, from the crowded townships with their tents and tin houses, to the luxury 6 story homes with outside elevators, built into the coastal rock.
We lunched back at the Waterfront, at a funky food court, with great signage....
We then wandered and shopped, shopped and wandered, and petted snakes, before hopping back on the bus.
Nobel square, honouring South Africa's four Nobel Peace Prize Laureates, Albert Luthuli, Desmond Tutu, F W de Klerk, and Nelson Mandela.
When we got back on the double decker bus for our afternoon ride, we noticed all the seats had sand on them, and we all thought some beach goers must have been on before us.....little did we know! The winds were so strong that when we drove around Hout Bay, huge clouds of sand were blowing right across the road, into the bus. Tom and I had just moved undercover a couple miles before, so didn't get too much on us, but the others got sand blasted. As soon as we got through the sandstorm, we were overcome by THE WORST fish smell ever. It was so bad, and then, like a bad dream, the driver turns around, and takes us through it all again, the smell and the sandstorm!!
After a long day of hopping on and off, we ended up back on the rooftop again, enjoying some of South Africa's fabulous wines. Just love going into the liquor store and getting a good bottle of Pinotage for $6.00!!
Another great day under our belt....stay tuned
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