Cape Town

Our first day after arriving in Cape Town was just a relaxing day. The next day (Friday) we decided to take a taxi into the city. Now the taxis are not like the ones in NZ. These are basically vans that go around with the guy yelling where they are going to. They pack so many people into them and all for only R6. It was our first taxi experience in SA and it was fun.

At this point I am just going to go on a bit of a tangent and talk more about the country for a second. For us in SA everything is so cheap. To get from the SA Rand to the Australian $ you divide everything by 6 (5.5 for the Kiwi). To take the 30mins taxi into town it cost us R6 each or $1. Another example is food. For us to have a nice meal would be about $10 for the both of us! (This is our excuse for eating too much and putting on weight!) I can imagine it would be pretty good have the pound here because then you divide everything by about 14!!!

The other thing about SA is that because there are so many people, the labour is really cheap and therefore they have people doing the jobs that in NZ we have machines to do. For example car washes are all done by hand and about 5 people would work on one car. Another example is that at the petrol stations they have pump attendants so you just sit in your car. And of course a lot of people have maids because it is quite cheap. This is so different from what we are used to.

Another thing you have to get used to here is the squatter camps everywhere. Huge areas of "houses" made from sheets of corrugated iron. I will put a picture in so you can get some idea.

Squatter camps (although you could pay a lot for that view!)

Anyway back to what I was talking about. We took the taxi into town and made our way to the tourist center to get information on what to do etc. When walking out of the center we see a city sightseeing bus just ahead of us. It is one of those open top, hop-on hop-off buses where you pay a certain amount and can get off wherever you want and get on another one later on. So we decided to jump on that to get a general overlook of the city. It took us through the center of town, up to where the cable cars leave for table mountain and all around the coast back into town. It was a beautiful day and I have to tell you that Cape Town is one of the most beautiful cities I have ever seen!! You have these huge amazing mountains in the background and the water right there. We jumped off along the coast at a place called Camps Bay (also a topless beach) and had lunch there and then headed back into town. Camps Bay reminded us of Mission Bay in Auckland. Another thing to note about Cape Town in how windy it can get. Its mainly when the South-Easter blows and this is known as the Cape Doctor. Its called this because it basically clears the pollutants and smog away from the city. Windy Wellington almost compares to the gale force winds experienced here. The wind comes down off the mountains and Shailen's dad was telling us that when it gets really windy they have ropes across the street to help you cross. People on Motor bikes get blown off their bikes crossing the street!!!

Table Mountain itself is just so beautiful that photos don't do it justice! The clouds come and settle on the mountain and when this happens they refer to the clouds as the "table cloth". There is also the legend of a Dutch sailor, Van Huck, who challenged the Devil to a pipe smoking competition. They say the 'cloud' is due to the smoke produced from this ongoing battle.

The next day was Saturday and Shailen's dad had to work until 1pm so we went with him to his work which is near a big mall (N1 city) and had breakfast there and walked around. We didn't do much for the rest of the day but that night we were introduced to our first Gatsby's. A Gatsby is a huge sub with pretty much everything you can imagine on it. For example a Chicken Gatsby would have chicken, chips and salad. Other ones have egg and all sorts of other things. Now when we say big it would be about from the tip of your fingers to your elbow!! They have them everywhere in Cape Town so we had to try it at least once.

Alisa with only HALF of her Gatsby!

We had a pretty quiet weekend and then spent the next couple of days updating the last posts on our blog.

On the Wednesday we were going to go into town and look at some of the museums. When we got there we realised we left our student cards and so there was no point going as we would get it a lot cheaper with them. We met up with Shailen's Uncle (Ravesh Mama) and walked around the city. We did manage to see some ruins left over from the early Dutch settlers from the 17 Century! It was a canal that brings down water from the mountains to refresh sailors that are docked at the port and also for soldiers and the Mayor in the Castle. It was an awful day raining and really windy so we didn't end up doing much more. That night we went out to The Grand West where there is this big casino, hotel, restaurants, movies, ice-skating rink etc and had dinner there which was nice.

Ruins left of the canal at Golden Acre.

The next day (Thursday) after making sure we had our student cards we headed back into the city. The first place we went to was the Castle of Good Hope which is more of a fort really. It was built by the first Dutch Settlers and changed hands many times between Dutch, British and French. It was started in 1652 and completed in 1663. At the time that it was built it was right on the water but since a lot of land has been reclaimed and it is more inland. They also had the entrance to the Castle on the waterfront but it later moved due to the water coming in during high seas. We arrived just in time for a guided tour and so went along with that. It was quite interesting learning about it all. The place is huge and was 3 museums within it. It would take you all day to go through everything! We were there for the key ceremony which happens at 12 o'clock. They also fire this tiny little cannon which is so cute (& they coincide it with the firing of the noon gun - read on to find out about this)!!! We were able to walk around the top of the castle and look at the view around which was nice.

Cape Town's Town Hall.

The flags showing the era's of The Castle. From left to right: Dutch, British, Batavia, British again, Old South Africa and finally New South Africa.

The Key Ceremony.

Lighting of the little cannon at noon.

Shailen shackled in one of the torturing chambers in The Castle. Prisoners were tortured to confess their crimes and only then can they be punished by death. First was whipping them, then if they didnt confess they were hung by their arms from the ceiling for 24hours and then dropped onto a concrete floor! And if you still survived all this and didn't confess, you were put into an adjoining room in confinement with 20 other prisoners for 3 days with no food or water. And if your will was still strong after this, you were still killed!

This is one of the two Sun-Dials at The Castle. They have a summer one and a winter one.

From the Castle we headed to the South African museum. We were actually really disappointed with it. A lot of the cabinets were empty and maintenance was taking place. They did have an interesting exhibit on dinosaurs and so on but apart from that it was quite average. After the SA Museum we went to Long Street which if you didn't guess by the name is the longest street in Cape Town. Had a relaxing drink and wedges with pesto and mushroon sauce (YUM!!) and headed back home.

That Saturday we were going to go for a drive out to Cape Point. We didn't leave until about 4pm because Aloma (Shailen's Dad's partner) had work. We went along the coast and stopped at a place called Simon's town which is famous for its Boulders penguin colonies. So we stopped off and saw the penguins which are very cute. There was one right near us so we got some good photos. From there we went to Cape Point arriving at the gates at about 5.45 only to find out that you have to pay R55 per person to get in and the gates shut at 6!!!!! This is a National Park of South Africa and they are charging these prices to basically see nature! We decided it wasn't worth it and headed down to Hout Bay where we were told we had to experience their world famous fish and chips. After getting lost a couple of times we made it there. We went to the famous place and the takeaway place was closed but their restaurant upstairs was open so we decided to go there. We went in and sat down opened the menus and nearly had a heart attack at the prices! LOL Our waiter Craig came, dropped off some complimentary bread and introduced himself and told us the specials etc and then after he left we all got up and left!!! I have never been so embarassed! We all ran and hid in the car it was so funny! We then went to another place and got it nice and cheap so we still managed to have fish and chips in Hout Bay.

This is the prison where Nelson Mandela was moved to after his exile on Robben Island.

The glorious Hout Bay at sun-set. It is basically a fishing village.

On Sunday we decided to go up Table Mountain. We decided to walk up it through the Platteklip Gorge. It seemed like a good idea setting off.............. It took us about 2.5 hours in the boiling sun walking straight up the side of the mountain!! Man it was hard work! There were many stops during the way but with extremely sore legs later we made it to the top. We climbed up 1086m and travelled 3.5Km to reach the top! The view is stunning from the top you can see all around in all directions. We went and sat and took our shoes off and recovered. We then went and had some lunch at the cafe there and then just went found a spot with an amazing view and lay down for a while. Everywhere you look at the top of the Mountain there are lizards and at one point one even came and touched my foot! It was so beautiful from the top that you could just sit there for hours and look at everything. We were going to take the Cable car down, but for some reason we decided to walk back down.

Shailen - "Just before hiking down, Alisa needed to go to the toilet and there wasn't a toilet nearby, so she watered some plants on the Table Mountain!!! She is definitely contributing to the Flora of South Africa!!! (mind you, I did too!! but Shhhhh.) "

It only took us 1.5 hours to go back down and it was definitely easier but I still arrived at the bottom with very wobbly legs! We had defeated the mountain!!!!

At the start of our hike. Notice, we are still smiling at this point!

Where we are heading..

..still smiling. We still near the bottom!

Almost there..

We made it!!! (Notice Shailen wearing less clothes as he goes up? LOL)

On our way down we turn to see that the 'table cloth' is starting to come over.

We reach the bottom in time to see the table set for dinner LOL.

Lower Cable Station with Table Mountain in the back.

The next couple of days we just let our legs recover and apart from going to an outlet mall didn't really do much.

On the Wednesday we planned to go to Ratanga Junction which is a theme park. Aloma dropped us off before she went to work at about 9.30. We saw that it didn't open until 10am so sat down to wait, we were then told that it was closed until Friday! So we caught a taxi into town in the hope of hearing the Noon Gun. On one of the hills called Signal Point they fire off a canon everyday except Sunday at 12am. We made it up the hill in time and was told about the cannons. They have fired at this time for 200 years. There are two cannons and they fire them alternatively although both are loaded, one as a backup. 1.5kg of gun powder is put into each cannon and although they are manually loaded it is mechanically set off at 12 from a signal it receives from The Observatory and it is transfered through a Telecom line which sets off the primer. I can tell you that when it goes off it is loud!!!!!!! Shailen took a video of it so we will try and put it on.

The Noon Guns (but really, cannons).

A new stadium being built for the 2010 Soccer World Cup.

From there we went to the V & A waterfront named after QueenVictoria and her son Albert. We wanted to book tickets to Robben Island which is where Nelson Mandela was keep prisoner for 18 years. We arrived at the booking office to find that they are completely booked up until the 9th December which was the day before we leave. Once again this is ridiculous because it is a top tourist attraction, and yet they can't cater for the masses! Especially since there is going to be a tourist boom in 2010 because SA is hosting the Fifa SoccerWorld Cup. So we booked the tickets but are not sure whether we will go or not also we don't know what the weather will be like on that day. It was annoying that they are so booked because people coming for just a week or a few days won't have a chance to go. Anyway after buying the tickets we had a look around the water front. There is so much to do there. Malls, restaurants, craft shops, markets, cruises, helicopter rides etc After looking around we decided to book a sunset cruise on a Catamaran. It wasn't until 7pm so we spent the rest of the time looking around. When 7pm came we jumped on to the boat and took a place on the Trampoline type front with everyone else. We head out to the open sea and it suddenly became quite windy and rough and everyone is getting splashed with waves coming up from underneath and over the sides. We moved and sat in a place where we didn't get wet at all so we were lucky. People slowly started going inside until we were the only ones left out the front. With the sunset cruise we also got free champagne so there we are on our romantic sunset cruise trying to keep our glasses steady and hanging on for life. My hand was shaking so much that I was spilling my drink! I don't know if it was the cold or fear or both! It was good fun and we couldn't stop laughing!! After a while we turned around and headed for calm water and a beautiful sunset. It wasn't quite what we signed up for but we enjoyed ourselves so it turned out OK.

Auckland is only 14227Kms away in that direction!!

The famous Waterfront Clock-Tower.

The Nobel Peace prize winners. Spot the odd one out!. From left to right: Albert Luthuli, Archbishop Desmond Tutu, F.W. de Clerk and Nelson R. Mandela.

A bomb bag in a shopping mall!!!!

Did someone say "Titanic?"

Another lazy day yesterday and then we went out to Shailen's restaurant. The whole time we have been here Shailen has been going on about how he has to go to this steak restaurant called Spur. So last night we finally made it. Shailen got his ribs and I was happy with my vegetarian fajitas. :)

So that brings us to today where obviously we are writing our blog. We only have about another week in Cape Town and then heading back to Joburg for 3 days before we fly to Egypt on the 13th December. So stay turned for more....

The Garden Route

The beautiful Garden Route. The clouds rolling over the mountains were really a spectacular sight.

That first day driving we stopped at Wild Coast to have a look around. It is a big resort on the coast with a casino and activities to do. We went to have a look around and I saw a monkey just running along the beach. Crazy stuff!! We randomly decided to go for a horse ride along the beach so that was fun. It had been a very long time since both of us had been horse riding so we really enjoyed it.

Shailen on Starlight.

Me on Candy.

We were supposed to stay in Port Elizabeth that night but as it got too late we decided to look for somewhere closer, in East London. Unfortunately everything was either booked up or too expensive. We had a place booked in Plettenberg Bay for the following night so decided in the end to drive through the night and try and check in earlier in the morning. We stopped off for breakfast and to stretch our legs so by the time we got there it was about 10am. Luckily they could check us in early and we had a lazy day swimming in the pool, sleeping and having a late dinner. Shailen and his Dad had a bet on as to who would win at pool. After Shailen won all 3 games his Dad owed him a back massage. Then we all pretty much collapsed in our beds.

A bridge near where we stopped for breakfast.

Shailen's dad made sure we were part of the landscape.

Plettenberg Bay.

The next morning we got up and had a look along the beach and the neighbouring towns. The coast along there is really beautiful. We then drove more inland to a place called Oudsthoorn which has Ostrich farms everywhere. The reason we came here was for the nearby Cango Caves in the hillsides. We arrived just in time for the last tour of the day. There are two different ones that you can do, the standard tour or the adventure tour. Shailen decided that we were going to do the adventure tour and ran off to get the tickets. (I still wasn’t completely convinced). It was really neat though. It was only the three of us on the tour so we had our own private guide (Ravesh Mama wasn’t feeling well and decided not to go) and apart from one moment of hysteria I managed to do it. The rock formations are really amazing and huge! The difference between the tours is that on the adventure tour you go through tiny spaces, climb up through tunnels and even slide on your tummy at some points. But with just the 3 of us it was a lot of fun and yes Shailen I am glad we did it.

Entrance to the Cango Caves.

On the sides of the cave you can see the different water levels from millions of years ago.

"The coffin" named after the shape not because someone died here (the guide was quick to tell us).

Shailen posting himself through the "Letter Box".

From there it was straight to Cape Town with one stop for dinner arriving at about midnight. Then BED!

Diwali

This brings us to Diwali. It is otherwise known as the festival of lights and is one of the most important days for Hindu’s. Preparations begin days before hand with the baking of many different types of biscuits (really yummy ones!!!) We tried to help out but I think we were hindering more than helping most of the time. I was worrying about what to wear on the day when Shailen’s Aunt (Toeki Kaki) and Yaksha gave me a beautiful Punjabi to wear as well as matching bracelets, necklace, earings and Bindi so I was sorted.

We woke up early and went around to the house for prayers. I wasn’t too sure what was going on but they explained to me what was happening at each point and it was nice to take part. After prayers it was more preparing as plates are made with biscuits and sweets to give to guests as they visit on the day.

The white Indian :)

Shailen, his Dad and Aaji

Sanesh (Shailen's cousin), Yaksha (his wife) and baby Xavara.

The boys - Nishal (shailen's cousin), Shailen, his Dad and Rajen Kaka.

As Diwali is a religious day everyone fasts. We had a late lunch and then went to visit some friends of Shailen’s Dad’s. Then it was back for the lighting of the lamps as the sun is setting. Although we only had one ‘main’ meal, we were constantly snacking so didn’t feel hungry. That night they had fireworks. Everyone has fireworks and it is crazy to see the whole town lit up. The ones that we had were huge and LOUD! We actually had to cover our ears as they went off. There is no way that these fireworks would be legal in NZ so it was quite a sight to see. It was then off to bed after a tiring day.

The boys enjoying the fireworks.

It was a really special day overall and I am glad that we got to spend it with Shailen’s family. It will defiantly be remembered with fondness.

The last two days in Durban spent visiting family and saying goodbye to everyone. It was sad to leave we had some great times in Durban so thank you to everyone!

We stayed with Kay for most of that week and even though we didn’t see as much of her as we would liked we really enjoyed ourselves. So Thank You! J
On the Monday we left for Cape Town. There were four of us – Me, Shailen, His Dad and Ravesh Mama. We were going to take a couple of days to drive down via the Garden Route which is a really pretty drive. Our plans for leaving at 6am in the morning didn’t really happen but at 12 noon we said goodbye to Durban.

Kwa-Zulu Natal (Durban)

We arrived in Durban and were picked up by Shailen’s aunt Dolly and stayed there the first night. The next day started our bad luck with cars. We were supposed to use Shailen’s dad’s VW beetle to drive around in. We found out that day that the car was not road worthy and were slightly stranded. Luckily Aunty Dolly had a spare car for us to use and we were off on our way…. For now.

That night we went to stay with Shailen’s mum’s aunt (known as Kakhi). She was a big part of Shailen’s childhood so it was nice catching up with her and also for me to find out stories about him. We got on really well and she told Shailen in no uncertain terms that he was not allowed to leave me! LOL Hopefully he listens to her. Kakhi lives close to the beach so the next day we decided to have a look at the sun, sand and waves of Durban’s North Beach. Apart from the rain it was really nice. The waves were quite big and the water there is really warm due to the fact that it is the Indian Ocean and you have the warm Mozambique current coming from the north. Along the beach there are these amazing sculptures. There is a guy who spends his day making them hoping for a little money in exchange. He is in the photo below with some of his sculptures. We also went to visit mini town on the beach front which has miniature models of some of the attractions in Durban. It was neat to see and for Shailen it brought back lots of memories.

Shailen with his cousins Jerome, Nadene and Annie.

Street performers on the beach front.

View of Durban from the beach front.

That night we went to stay with Kahki’s daughter, her husband and child. We spent the next couple of nights staying with Shailen’s cousins and on the Friday night after watching South Africa win the Rugby world cup they took us into town. We went to this place called Groove and although it was a nice club it was as though we walked into a club in India. I think I was one of maybe 3 white people in the whole place. Although apartheid finished in 1994 people still do not mix freely. For me especially it is strange to see.

The next day we went to stay with some more of Shailen’s cousins (believe me when I say he has a big family!). We got there fine and because the driveway was full we parked just down the road. They had guests and once they left we parked the car in the driveway. A while later we went to move the cars around so they could get there’s out in the morning and it didn’t start!!!! We tried kick starting it and so on but no matter what, it didn’t start. There we were with no vehicle again and feeling bad because we don’t know what has happened to the car. There were mechanics that lived around the area and they were saying that the engine was blown which made us even more worried. We left the car parked there and continued on to Pietermaritzburg (PMB), which is about 100 km away from Durban (like Auckland to Hamilton). There we met Shailen’s Uncle ( Ravesh Mama) in PMB who flew down from Joburg on a little 27 seater plane through terrible weather. He was telling us how his plane was getting thrown around in the bad weather and it felt like a roller-coaster ride!

Shailen trying the hubbly bubbly for the first time with cherry flavoured tabaco.

The next day it was Shailen’s birthday. We didn’t do much but he spent his birthday in the town that he was born in, so that was pretty cool. We even drove past the hospital that he was born in 22 years earlier! :) We went out for dinner on his birthday but otherwise it was a quiet one.

Out for a birthday lunch with Ravesh Mama and Shirley Mosie.

And for a birthday dinner with Ravesh Mama.

On the Thursday night we went out to a club in PMB called Crowded House where it was packed. Shailen and Ravesh Mama really enjoyed themselves as there was a lingerie show on! But there was a great atmosphere and we really enjoyed ourselves. While in PMB we also went to the Lion Park which was a bit of a disappointment for me. You drive into this small area and there are about 8 Lions all grouped together in a cage at the end so you couldn't really see them properly. But the best part was as we were driving out there was a Rhino at the side of the road with a man leading him. We were able to pat her. Even thought it was small its skin was so hard!!! But it was neat to see it up close so it wasn't a complete disappointment.

We headed back to Durban for the weekend. On Saturday we went to a place called Ushaka which is a combined Wet n Wild and Sea World. We went into Sea World first and saw a dolphin show (so cute!!!!) and also a seal show (not as good). We then went to Wet n Wild which was a lot of fun. It boasts the highest slide in Southern Africa but also has lots of other steep ones also. Shailen went on all the slides but unfortunately at the last minute I decided not to go on the highest. But I went on all the others so was proud of myself! They have ones that you can go down in tubes and so on which are fun. They also have one called the Lazy River where you sit on tubes and go all around both parts of the park. You go past the shark tanks which are a little scary but otherwise it is nice and relaxing.

Entrance to Ushaka.

That night we went to Aunty Premi's house and had my first South African Braai (BBQ). A whole lot of his cousins came round and it was a good night. They decided that because it has just been Shailen's birthday that he had to have a birthday 'shot' which was in a cup and consisted of some of what each person was drinking - vodka, tequila, southern comfort, brandy etc. He managed to down this with no problem at all to the amasement of his cousins. A few Beers, RTD's and Tequila shots later and he was still fine while everyone else was asleep! Too many years behind the bar i think but doing us kiwi's proud! LOL

Shailen with his cousins and Uncle.

We just spent the next week visiting other family members with Ravesh Mama and spent some time with Shailen's Aaji (Granny on his Dad's side) on her 84th birthday! It was really special.

We spent one night staying at a penthouse apartment in the city that was a friends of Ravesh Mamas. It had a beautiful view over the city and waterfront so we will put some photos on. We were woken up the next morning to the sound of a bagpipes as there was a parade going down the street we were on. So we had a great view of it from where we were. The parade was for Diwali (not sure why the bagpipes?!?).


******Stay tuned for video showing Durban City.******




During that week we also took a drive around the places where Shailen used to live and the area's he remembered which has neat for him to see.

The first place Shailen lived. Flats in PMB.

For those that have seen "Our Little Hobo" picture, this is the set of the photo shoot.

Shailen lived here in Alita Pl (Road named after his mum) after the flats.

Then he moved to this house in Nilgiri Cres in Isipingo.

Then this flat in Isipingo Beach.

Shailen's dad flew up from Cape Town to join us on the 3rd of November and we spent the next week visiting his side of the family (before then it had just been his mum's side!) The night that he arrived we attended Shailen's Uncles 50th birthday which was alot of fun. Everyone was dressed up beautifully and it was fun for me to watch them dancing etc.

Shailen and his Dad.

Me with Dolly Mosie, Dhanu and Niri Mosie.

Parents, Aunts, Uncles and Cousins!

Between visiting family we took a drive out to the mountain range known as The Drakensberg which are beautiful. It would have been nice to stay there for a couple of days but we didnt have any time so just went for the day. We went to a resort in a place called the Drakensberg Gardens and had lunch by the lake. It was really beautiful (even if the service was shocking! - I ordered a cheese and spinach sandwhich and they gave me a cheese and chicken, when I told them they scraped the chicken off and put spinach on-top but there were still pieces of chicken there so it was obvious what they did!!!) Anyway we also played Bowls which was a first for me and a laugh but Shailen is a natural and his dad is a pro from way back so it was good.

Me and Shailen's Dad with the Drakensberg in the background.

The beautiful view we had while having lunch.

A great action shot (even if my technique is all wrong! LOL)

We stayed in PMB again that night seeing his Dad's family this time and visiting places they used to live at there. Once back in Durban Shailen's dad (a super mechanic) managed to sort out the car that had broken down earlier. Thankfully it wasn't too bad and it was nothing that we did so we were happy about that.


While in Durban we also went to this HUGE mall called Gateway which has everything! It even has an surfing area (see below). It takes you all day to walk the mall let alone actually spend time in the shops. Def puts St Lukes to shame!

****Another Video to appear here.****




Shailen and I went to his pre-school, Toddler's Inn, where he went to when he was 4-5 years old and he could still remember most things!!! They could also remember him and his sister and mum so it was neat for him chatting to them.

That Friday the 9th it was Diwali.