Musings on a Cape Town Tour and Pictures!

Today we woke up early and got on a bus to go tour the city. Our trip took us all over Cape Town and some of the surrounding area and we got some incredible views of the scenery and city. Throughout our time, we had a tour guide, Colleen, who was explaining the history behind everywhere we traveled. She was a very interesting woman who was labeled as “coloured” by the Apartheid regime and was part of the freedom fighting movement. I think having her with us really made the trip.

The beginning of our trip was through the middle of the town. We traveled by the original slave lodge as well as the sites of parliament and city hall. We stopped in front of city hall and Colleen began to tell us about her experiences there in 1990. She was there among a crowd of 40,000 people when Nelson Mandela was released from prison. The way she described it was very powerful. Though the rest of the world knew his face, the South Africans had never seen him because all media showing him was banned. The moment he was released was the first time that South Africans had seen him and could unite behind him. She described it as a very moving experience and I found it very interesting that this was the first time that South Africa had seen their future leader.

As we kept going, we listened to more stories that Colleen told. She also was at the first flag-raising of the new South African flag. It was apparently a pretty clandestine event and she was racing to try to find the spot. She ended up standing next to Albie Sachs, one of the leaders of the freedom fight. Colleen’s stories really made me feel like I was in the moments before the end of Apartheid. I really felt the energy and excitement that Mandela and the new flag brought. We’ll be traveling with her to the townships and the District 6 museum with her on Thursday. I think it will be interesting to hear more about her life story then.

After our time in the city center, we drove up through a predominantly Muslim area that was very colorful on our way to an overlook near the city. We drove up to a place where we could see the 4 mountains that surround Cape Town: Devil’s Peak, Table Mountain, Lion’s Head, and Signal Hill. The views were spectacular and we had a view of both the city and the ocean. On the way back down the hill we stopped at the burial site of an Islamic sheikh on Signal Hill and at another spot where we could look out over the World Cup Stadium.

We then drove down through Camps Bay and Clifton Beach which were two very different areas from those we had been in this whole time. I think a good comparison would be to Malibu, California. The view is absolutely breathtaking and the beaches are great. There are tons of tide pools and rocks to climb on as well as flat sandy beaches to lie on. It was also a very rich neighborhood and is made up of exclusively white South Africans. During Apartheid, these beaches were closed to anyone who was not white and the economic disparity has kept these areas as predominantly white.

From there we traveled to the waterfront in the city and walked around a few shops. It was pretty modern looking and was very near the World Cup Stadium. I think it’s a shame that many of the people coming to Cape Town for the World Cup will not really get to see South Africa as it really is. They will be looking at the waterfront and places like Camps Bay which is basically a resort town. I hope that people really get a chance to see more of what Africa is actually like.

On our return bus ride, Colleen shared a few of her thoughts about the World Cup and it really made me think about whether it is actually good for South Africa. She said that when the tournament was being sold to them, it was supposed to be a chance for economic growth and stimulation by the multitudes of tourists coming into the country. Even the poorer economies such as craft markets were to benefit from the event. Unfortunately, this was not to be. FIFA has forced everyone involved in the World Cup to register with them. That includes hotels, stores, taxis, and even airlines. Through this FIFA banned all items that portray a soccer ball and 2010 on them from non-registered markets. I learned that even some non-profits which were making these items were told they could not sell them within 50 km of the stadium. Hotels were forced to give 30% of their profits from the World Cup to FIFA and as a result these hotels raised their prices. The increased prices decreased the ability of tourists to travel and as a result FIFA cut 65,000 registered beds. Many of these had already been upgrading their facilities in hopes of new tourists and are now stuck without the benefits of FIFA customers. In addition, FIFA blacked out many seats on airlines to South Africa causing an increase in airfare costs. This further limited who bought tickets and though these seats have recently been released, it is too late for many people to plan a trip to South Africa or get tickets to the games. On top of all these other problems, South Africans were required to purchase tickets online with a credit card. Most natives do not have a credit card and very few have regular internet access. As a result, most didn’t get tickets. Banks were granted the ability to hand out tickets in March of this year, but by then, most tickets had been sold.

All of this information about how the World Cup is being carried out makes me question whether this is actually good for South Africans. One thing is for sure – it is nothing like it was promised to be. I hope that tourism actually does stimulate the economy and help pull this country out of the development stage. I am continually amazed by the huge discrepancy between living at Stanford and living in Cape Town. It is like a night and day difference in basic living situation. When we visit the townships on Thursday I know I will see this discrepancy even more acutely. I hope that maybe some of those coming to the World Cup this June will also see this and be spurred to action. I haven’t even seen the worst of it and I already know this place needs much more help than one person can give.

I’ve tried to attach a couple pictures of my trip on Picasa. Hopefully this will make it less of a downer of a post. http://picasaweb.google.com/twolfe1/CapeTown#


Tim