Walking in Cape Town

Cape Town, South Africa
19 June 2011

When I woke up it was pouring rain outside. My guide yesterday said we had been fortunate with the great weather yesterday as the day before it had rained all day and Sunday was expected to rain again. I checked out of my hotel early and caught a cab across town to church In Mowbray but got stuck there. Perhaps because it was Fathers Day or just a Sunday morning there were no taxis to be seen anywhere. So after a quick egg McMuffin at McDonalds (tasted great! My only McDonalds experience in Africa) I started walking back to Cape Town. I walked for two hours though all kinds of neighborhoods and shopping areas in a light drizzle. Nobody messed with me and it was kinda like walking through worn out or depressed downtown areas in small town America. I passed a couple mega-Churches where singing and preaching could be heard from blocks away but it seemed like nobody cared that I was just walking through.

Eventually I made it to downtown Cape Town and the European-styled palace with large monuments out front, bus station, huge shopping malls, and sky scrapers. The wet city streets were abandoned and even the mall was closed so I was surprised when I arrived at the V&A Waterfront and found all the people. The shopping center at V&A was packed with tons of locals and tourists, who were mostly white. There are tons of great bars and restaurants at the waterfront and boats offering tours of the port and area. However, the ferry to Robben Island was closed for the day due to high seas and the people who had tickets were out of luck. I ended up eating lunch at a local restaurant and checking at the shops and displays at the waterfront before heading to the airport later that afternoon. From there I flew through to Johannesburg back to Dakar arriving at 6am the next morning. Five days is not enough time to see South Africa, and I didn't get a chance to surf with my busy schedule and the bad weather. I will have to come back later.