South Africa trip report: Cape Town
Monday, August 26th, 2013 08:57 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
lethargic_manPreviously when I was blogging about South Africa, I got as far as my safari because I had told Jacques the park ranger at Madikwe I would be recommending him by name; then other things came along and I forgot about it.
A while ago I started writing South Africa blog posts again, but managed to lose them. (I've a nasty suspicion I wrote them on my work machine then blatted over them unzipping my home filespace.) I had the following posts written, but it's taken me a while to come back and fill the gap.
Arriving in Cape Town, I found myself in a city with a much older European history than Johannesburg. Cape down goes back to the mid seventeenth century, when it was founded as a refreshment stop on the journey to the Far East for the Dutch East India Company; and the Company Gardens go back to only a few years after the foundation. Originally vegetable gardens, they are now a nice little park in the centre of town, complete with a statue of Cecil Rhodes pointing north with the caption "Your hinterland is there."
In the early years, all European settlement was restricted to within the walls of the Cape Fort, which was then on the coast but due to land reclamation now some way inland. On the hour when I was there soldiers marched out in historical uniforms (their leader flourishing a sword) to ring the bell to announce ten o'clock. The soldiers were all coloured nowadays; somehow I doubt that's representative of the period their costumes indicate... but OTOH denying coloured or black soldiers this role today would be indefensible racial discrimination, of course.
Cape Town is dominated, of course, by Table Mountain. When I went to Gibraltar, I wrote:
I'd intended to get the cable car to the top of it, but the first time I turned up, on my city tour, the clouds were barely higher than the lower cable car station, and the second time the cable car was shut due to high winds; so I decided to walk. I took a taxi to the foot of the Platteklip Gorge trail, at the level of the lower cable car station (halfway up the mountain); as I approached the trail, a man ran out from a hut checking I had enough water (which I didn't really; he said I could refill my bottle from the waterfall), and, reassuring me there were people ahead of and behind me. He gave me a pamphlet, which said you should only climb in parties of at least four. I thought this was that so that if you ran into trouble―say one person got vertigo or had a medical emergency―one person could stay with them whilst the others went for help. Actually, it turns out the reason was to deter potential muggers. Anyhow, I fell in with an old but very fit Czech couple, and climbed the rest of the way with them, and was glad in the end I'd gone up the mountain the hard way.
When I'd got to the top and had a wander around, taking photos and reading the placards, I found the cable car had opened, and took it down, knowing my dicky knee would not appreciate the descent. I suspect most people who take the cable car one way only take it up and then walk down; those of you who know me will not be surprised to learn I was once again the contrarian!
A while ago I started writing South Africa blog posts again, but managed to lose them. (I've a nasty suspicion I wrote them on my work machine then blatted over them unzipping my home filespace.) I had the following posts written, but it's taken me a while to come back and fill the gap.
Arriving in Cape Town, I found myself in a city with a much older European history than Johannesburg. Cape down goes back to the mid seventeenth century, when it was founded as a refreshment stop on the journey to the Far East for the Dutch East India Company; and the Company Gardens go back to only a few years after the foundation. Originally vegetable gardens, they are now a nice little park in the centre of town, complete with a statue of Cecil Rhodes pointing north with the caption "Your hinterland is there."
In the early years, all European settlement was restricted to within the walls of the Cape Fort, which was then on the coast but due to land reclamation now some way inland. On the hour when I was there soldiers marched out in historical uniforms (their leader flourishing a sword) to ring the bell to announce ten o'clock. The soldiers were all coloured nowadays; somehow I doubt that's representative of the period their costumes indicate... but OTOH denying coloured or black soldiers this role today would be indefensible racial discrimination, of course.
Cape Town is dominated, of course, by Table Mountain. When I went to Gibraltar, I wrote:
it would appear that gibraltar is frequently cloudy even when the surrounding areas of spain are sunny. I thought this must be because the rock forces the air flowing over it to rise and cool, making the water vapour condense out into clouds; but I am told by a Spaniard that the real reason Gibraltar is frequently cloudy is actually because it's British.Table Mountain suffers similar cloud on the top; endearingly, the locals call it the Tablecloth.
I'd intended to get the cable car to the top of it, but the first time I turned up, on my city tour, the clouds were barely higher than the lower cable car station, and the second time the cable car was shut due to high winds; so I decided to walk. I took a taxi to the foot of the Platteklip Gorge trail, at the level of the lower cable car station (halfway up the mountain); as I approached the trail, a man ran out from a hut checking I had enough water (which I didn't really; he said I could refill my bottle from the waterfall), and, reassuring me there were people ahead of and behind me. He gave me a pamphlet, which said you should only climb in parties of at least four. I thought this was that so that if you ran into trouble―say one person got vertigo or had a medical emergency―one person could stay with them whilst the others went for help. Actually, it turns out the reason was to deter potential muggers. Anyhow, I fell in with an old but very fit Czech couple, and climbed the rest of the way with them, and was glad in the end I'd gone up the mountain the hard way.
When I'd got to the top and had a wander around, taking photos and reading the placards, I found the cable car had opened, and took it down, knowing my dicky knee would not appreciate the descent. I suspect most people who take the cable car one way only take it up and then walk down; those of you who know me will not be surprised to learn I was once again the contrarian!
