Adventures in South America

Long overdue South Africa Wrap Up

During our last two days in South Africa, we just enjoyed being there. We spent one afternoon at the beach. Afterwards we went to a bar in Clifton and met two lovely Black South African women named Cynthia and Moretlo. We had very interesting conversation with them – the conversation started because they were sitting at the table next to us and one of them began to loudly express her glee over the fact that the South African movie “Tsotsi” one the Oscar for Best Foreign Film. This was big news in South Africa and was in every newspaper. We invited them to join us at our table and learned that they both moved to Cape Town from Johannesburg several years ago (they are both in their early 30’s). Moretlo is a Hair Stylist in a salon where most of the clientele is white and Cynthia is a Make up artist. It was very interesting to hear their perspectives about the race situation in South Africa. Their general sentiment, which seemed to echo the feelings of the black South Africans that we came into contact with, is that to forgive, but not to forget. They don’t seem to harbour any negative feelings about Apartheid and are just trying to improve their lives. This was a really enlightening evening for us, as this was the first meaningful contact that we had with young, black professionals in Cape Town.

On our last night, we went to an Improvisational Comedy Show at the Artscape Theatre Center. That night we also happened upon the opening night party being held at the center for the Cape Town Theatre Festival. It was quite a big shindig with free food, wine and entertainment. There were several hundred people there! We had a good time at the ‘pre-party’ before watching the enjoyable Improvisation group. Afterwards we went to a bar on Kloof Street (the “nightscene” of sleepy Cape Town).

Some other observations about Cape Town
Many of the roads are one way along the drive to the Garden Route. Common passing courtesy in South Africa dictates that you put on your blinking emergency lights when you pass someone on a one lane road
The hardest part about the Garden Route drive was that the radio stations were AWFUL. There were two stations for most of the drive – one was in Afrikaans, the other seemed to be big fans of Jefferson Starship. For a country that has such a rich musical history, we had a hard time finding any decent music on the radio.
As is the case in Buenos Aires, in Cape Town you are also expected to Tip ‘Car Attendents’. These Car Attendents were self appointed locals who would come up to your car as you were parking, and inform you that they were going to guard your car. They expected a tip upon your return.
Baboon Crossing signs – Along several points along our drive to the Cape of Good Hood, there were signs indicating a Baboon Crossing. That was a “you know you are in South Africa” moment for me.
Kingklip Fish – the most common type of fish eating in South AFrica
Umoja – a very entertaining play that we saw while we were in Cape Town. It was a musical that told a story about the history of South Africa music – lots of great dance numbers.
Hitchhiking is very common – there does not seem to be a great public transport infrastructure.
Rooibos Tea – basically the national beverage of South Africa. It is a type of tea that is grown only in South Africa. It’s considered very healthy and has no caffeine. We drank this tea nearly every day and purchased quite a bit to bring back.
Springbok (a type of antelope) and Ostrich meat are commonly found in the grocery store.
Woolworth’s in South Africa is an upscale Target-like National Brand. In addition to selling clothing and household goods, they also have great grocery stores
In many of the restaurants we went to in Cape Town, there were very few blacks that weren’t part of the staff.
“Pleasure” We heard this phrase over and over again while we were in South Africa. Instead of saying “You’re Welcome”, “Pleasure” is said – short for “It’s a pleasure.” Ile de Pain and Lush in Thesen Islands - two restaurants we ate at while in the Garden Route

posted by Kathy T @ 8:57 AM