2/6

I have been waking up at 7:00 am for the past few days unable to go back to sleep. In Thandi’s house it was because the kids would wake up at sing and rap and speak incredibly loud so I would wake up and enjoy a cup of coffee and relax and read before starting my day. Today I woke up at 7 and couldn’t fall back to sleep. I hate to admit it, but I love being up that early. I feel like I know something that someone else doesn’t, being up when others are still in bed, experiencing things that others are missing out on. This morning I came downstairs, had a cup of tea, and sat on the big comfy chairs in the hostel’s café and read. It was quiet, the sun was just rising, fairly blissful. At 8:30 I woke Brittany so that we could go to the market before we started our day. We picked up a few essentials (rice, yogurt, eggs, muesli, peanut butter, etc.) and made it home by 10. The plan was to take the hop on-hop off bus to Table Mountain, hike to the top, then finish the bus tour. Unfortunately, as I am quickly learning, nothing happens as planned. The clouds covered the mountain, so we decided to stay on the bus until the end and perhaps miss the mountain today.

The bus took us to the base of the mountain where we had a gorgeous view of Lion’s Head, the entire city, and the ocean. I’ll talk more about the view later, but here’s a glimpse for now. The bus went over a pass and we were face to face with the 12 apostles, cliffs near to the Atlantic Shore. Clouds blanketed the jagged rocks, giving the entire scene a majestic, romantic flair. The colors were brilliant, with the ocean matching the sky, the green hills, and the white clouds covering both regions, tying the picture together.  Our bus continued along the coast to several beach towns, including Camps Bay. I was blown away not only by the beauty, but by the wealth. One home recently sold rights to its garage, which alone costs 2.3 million rand. FOR A GARAGE. Because the lots were so steep, most homes had private cable cars to take them from their garage to their front doors. Contrast that with the core-shaking poverty in Khayelitsha, and I would say they are the two most opposite places in the entire world, though they are within kilometers of each other. I couldn’t have imagined a scene that better depicts the polar lifestyles existing in Cape Town than the mansions in Camps Bay and the metal slabs in Khayelitsha. This was the stretch of ocean that the whales migrate to during this season (beginning this month!) so I’m sure we will be back to this side of the peninsula soon…

We continued down the coastline to the Waterfront, a new area near the docks. The three most important things about the Waterfront are shopping, food, and the aquarium. We plan to take the ferry to Robben Island on Saturday morning, then spend the rest of the day at the Waterfront, enjoying ourselves by people watching. They also have an ampitheater with live performances and music, so I know that’s where I will be hanging out.  Near the Waterfront we also drove by the soon-to-be finished World Cup 2010 stadium.

The bus than headed into the city. There is not much to say about the city itself. In all honesty, parts of it reminded me off L.A. There were some markets and some gargoyle-esque animals that reminded me of where I was, but other than that you could probably imagine what the buildings looked like. I am excited to go spend time on Long Street, the heart of the city.

We stopped at our hostel for a quick bite, and then decided to try our luck with the mountain again. The clouds moved so quickly (I would say at least 200, maybe 300 miles an hour) that only luck could offer you a clear view from the top. And that is exactly what we were blessed with today. We made it just in time to spend about an hour and a half of cloud free viewing from the top of the world. We took the cable car up (we’ll do the hike later, but with so few clear days, we wanted to make sure we saw the view as best we could) and arrived within 3.5 minutes. The second we exited the building I felt a sense of awe. I felt like I was standing on clouds. They poured from the 12 apostles and flooded Camps Bay. They came from the sea and rushed past the boulders below our feet. But then everything went clear. We could see to the end of the earth in all directions. All was quiet. Despite any hectic-ness below, all was quiet. The xenophobic attacks had not happened. The thousands of people displaced were found. The rising interest rates froze. Time did not exist. Stress did not exist. Nothing existed but me, the clouds, and what I imagined beyond them.

As you can tell, the theme of today is clouds. They were our organizers, rearranging our schedules and they were our solid ground on top of everything. So I was pretty excited to read a sign about where they come from:

“Table Mountain’s tablecloth is the stuff of legend. One names an old Dutch pirate, Van Hunks, who was challenged to a pipe-smoking match by the devil, with his eternal soul as the prize. The smoky results of this as-yet unresolved duel pour over the mountain.” 

Now you know.

After we floated back down to earth, Brittany and I cooked dinner and spent time talking to FeFe, one of the hostel workers, about music. She played some of her favorite South African bands, and promised to take us out Friday to hear some of them live. I can’t wait! The rest of the evening was spent talking to two women from Salt Lake (near Olympus) who moved to Long Beach (such a small world…) in our hostel, and doing some reflecting.