The last few months of the study year were hectic so I have fallen a little behind in my blogging. I have settled in well, having just moved into a gorgeous new apartment in the historic area of town and have acquired yet another South African boyfriend, Johannes, an extremely sweet philosopher who lectures at the university. He is finishing his second PhD from Cambridge University and is genius enough that I don’t actually understand what he is talking about some of the time. I suppose he is amused by my endless stream of nonsense talk and ability to find amusement in the simpler things. However, we travel well together and are heading to the Seychelles, Dubai and Abu Dhabi in a couple of days. While I do still really miss my friends from home I have at least established a solid base of people who I really like here which also helps with the settling process.
I have managed to undertake a few activities of note, including cage diving with great white sharks off the coast of Ganesbaai. It wasn’t as terrifying as one might expect and turned out to be a really interesting experience. It’s a shame the visibility is so bad in the waters though because you can only see the shark when it is about a metre from the cage...and your face. It makes for a pretty up close and personal encounter, and one’s tail even managed to slip between the bars while we were in there, as did an overly friendly sea snake which then proceeded to wrap itself around my leg. If there was one thing shark cage diving taught me, it is that I will never go swimming off the coast of South Africa again. We were maybe 350 metres from shore and were surrounded by ten sharks, some of which were five metres long and one of which had a giant bite out of its fin (her name was Demon and she is known to be a real bruiser). With the terrible visibility you could be swimming two metres from a massive shark and have no idea, which is not an appealing thought.
I also made the trip to Robben Island, a notorious former jail situated off of Cape Town and best known as Nelson Mandela’s home from 1964-1994. As far as prisons go, I found Alcatraz more interesting. The idyllic location and relatively comfortable surroundings actually make this one feel more like a resort. Though it has been a prison for more than 400 years, in its 20th century heyday it housed a lot of ANC political prisoners, particularly those involved in the fight against apartheid. I couldn’t help but think it wouldn’t be a bad idea to return some of the current crop of outrageously corrupt and inept ANC politicos to the island. To be blunt, I worry for the future of this country. Beyond the crime, illegal immigration and seriously flawed policies supposedly promoting equality (BEE does not work in anyone’s best interests)…the general ineptitude and greed of the ANC may well see South Africa head the way of Zimbabwe. Living here, it’s hard not to develop strong opinions about the farcical state of the government.
I have also visited Cape Point National Park on the Cape of Good Hope, which is the southern most point of SE Africa and a notorious ship wreck location containing an old lighthouse and other historic buildings as well as the usual baboons, bokkies and wildlife. It’s a stunning spot! Simonstown, a small coastal settlement has turned out to be my favourite local area with its penguin colony and pretty setting sandwiched between ocean and mountain. I made the trek to Franchoek a couple of times, a town setteled by French Hugenots in the 1700s and with some of the best wine farms the area has to offer, which is no small feat when you consider there are literally hundreds to choose from. In Johannesburg I went to the Joberg Day music festival and learned that there are a lot of great South African bands…which led me to reflect on just how much crap music Canada produces (Lavigne-Bieber-Dion-Nickleback anyone?). We also drove up the wildflower route through a bizarre little drag queen and farmer village (odd combination, I think?) called Darling to the coastal towns of Langebaan and Paternostre, which boasts some pretty impressive fields of colour in springtime.
I’m sure the next year will hold more adventures, especially as I plan to head out further into Africa.
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