#fortheloveoftravelling

Greetings from Johannesburg dear ones. It has been a while and I decided to start talking to myself and thinking aloud again so that I could write.

I guess I had lost myself in the Jozi routine of work, gym, home, eat, movies and sleep for a couple of weeks that I had not reflected in a while. While I appreciate routine, I can only stand it for a short time and will start to feel suffocated after a while. I was starting to get bored and really passive towards everything in Johannesburg that when a friend suggested we take a short trip to Cape Town, I was completely on board.

We had been talking about doing it for a few weeks but had never committed to a date so the whole trip was quite last minute and that made it even more exciting. Anyway, to share of my tours and travels, here’s a few pictures from the trip;

Woodstock;

My friend and I got a room in a guesthouse (listed on airbnb.com) in this area and I must say that I loved the neighbourhood. Downtown location in a very chill area surrounded by food places and a few minutes from all the places we wanted to visit. The houses around the guest house looked like they were straight out of an ancient painting. The view of Table mountain was a plus and it was amazing 🙂

Robben Island Museum;

I knew I wanted to take a tour of this museum even before getting to Cape Town. I love history and I wanted to see these things for myself. However, the museum was small and this prompted me to take the cruise to the actual Island. The picture of the beautiful lady with a head wrap on the right is Mrs. Winnie Mandela. Seeing the letters that relatives wrote to request for permission to see their loved ones stirred up a few emotions. The visits were only 30 minutes long once every six months :(( this changed after a long time.

V & A Waterfront;

This place is so many things in one and is extremely big. It is also a must see if you plan on visiting Cape Town. It’s a dock, has a shopping mall, a few rides, space for performances, a bunch of restaurants, the Robben Island museum, among others. We spent a few hours there and did not cover it in its entirety. It was something…

Long Street;

As the name suggests, this street is quite long and goes on and on for a couple of blocks. We covered about 3 – 4 blocks in the quest for food but my friend went back at night and he says there was much more to see. The street has shops in categories, for a few blocks each, there are food places, bars, clothing stores and other random stuff. This street is definitely a must walk, give it a few hours on a well fed stomach, by the time you finish you will be hungry I promise. Unfortunately, I don’t have any pictures of the street but I do have indoor pictures from a cute small cafe called Rcaffe that we ate at.

Table Mountain;

It is one of the seven wonders of nature and I completely agree. Table Mountain is amazing, its view from the ground and from above is breathtaking, I was blown away – literally, by the wind..jeez, my phone almost fell down the mountain..hahaha..but even figuratively, it’s a must visit 🙂 It is beautiful. We took the cable car up the mountain but there is an option to hike your way up there (as if 😉 ) One can see the “Lion’s Head” mountain, Signal Mountain, the World Cup stadium, the beach and a beautiful view of the city from up there.

Camps bay Beach;

This beach is so beautiful and the view of the sea and of the backdrop is breathtaking. The winds were strong and the water was quite cold but still, I enjoyed my time there. There are a few restaurants across the street and the food was really tasty.

Robben Island;

I was not going to go to the Island at first but after visiting the museum, I felt drawn and booked our tickets for the trip. Am not new to the history of South Africa and the period of Apartheid, as we studied about it in primary school and I took on History further for HSC but nothing prepared for what I would feel when we were given a tour by an ex prisoner and listen to him explain how they were treated.

Mr. Nelson Mandela’s prison cell is the picture of a prison cell with a maroon bucket (which was used as a toilet) . He spent most of this stay in the prison there and has been maintained as he left it after 18 years at Robben Island. Also, fourth row, second from the left / right is a burial ground for the Leprosy victims. Much earlier, lepers from the main land were taken to Robben Island to die there without infecting anyone. The tour guide said that the lucky ones who were given headstones are the ones at that burial site otherwise, those that did not have are still buried somewhere on the Island. Also, most of the political prisoners were buried by the Government and their bodies lie somewhere on the Island and have never been found.

The issue of racial profiling is still a painful topic for most South Africans and Africans in general, I can only empathise. It stirs up questions that we tend to avoid; Do the white people who psychologically and physically tortured the South Africans feel guilty ? (because some are still alive), What drives one human to treat another human like animal just because of their difference in colour (slave trade) ? Why did the white people leave their home land to come into another person’s home land, in most cases uninvited, only to treat their hosts like savages (colonialism) ? Where is the crime in one standing up to oppose the white man’s rule in his own country, is that not taking back what was yours anyway (political rebellions) ? Food for thought…

Most of the prison is maintained as it was left after the Independence of South Africa.