Postcards from South Africa

The Rainbow Nation

When and Where: 03/2023 – Durban, Johannesburg, Cape Town, Cape of Good Hope, Simon’s Town

67^th Country Visited; 4^th African Country Visited

Interesting Facts:

- South Africa is the only country in the world with three capitals: Cape Town (legislative capital), Pretoria (administrative capital) and Bloemfontein (judicial capital). Every year, Parliament meets six months in Cape Town and six months in Pretoria.

- The world’s first heart transplant was performed by Dr. Christiaan Barnard in Cape Town in 1967.

- Table Mountain in Cape Town is one of the oldest mountains in the world.

- The biggest diamond in the world was discovered in South Africa.

South Africa is a complicated country. After years of Apartheid, there is still racial inequality. I saw makeshift shack homes and I saw lavish sprawling estates. There is abject poverty and opulet wealth. The middle class is a small minority. My safari journey started in Durban where I, along with my travel companions Nancy, Dan and Roxanne offboarded the Zuiderdam. We were strongly warned prior to arrival in Durban that South Africa is unsafe. Specifically, South Africa is known for armed robberies, kidnappings, carjackings and even murder. The only somewhat safe city is Cape Town. We were instructed to check driver’s identification, take a picture of it, and take a picture of the license plate before getting into a cab or Uber. Once in the vehicle, I texted the pictures to Joe in case we were to disappear. And we were told to track the cab or Uber via Google Maps in case the driver veers off in the wrong direction. My plan was to request an Uber. Instead once we offboarded, an Indian cab driver approached us and quoted me a price similar to what Uber was charging. I felt somewhat safe. On the ride to Durban airport, I sat beside the driver in the front seat. He talked about the dangers of South Africa. He had been carjacked twice, stabbed once, and shot in once, just above his heart. He lowered his shirt to show me the bullet entry point. The bullet is still in his body as surgery to remove it would be risky. The cab driver also sternly warned us about travel in Johannesburg. We had heard this from others on the cruise as well. Johannesburg is one of the most dangerous cities in the world. We arrived at Durban’s King Shaka International Airport early, checked in for our flight, and proceeded to go shopping.

Our flysafair flight departed Durban at 11:45. Shortly after departure, I inserted my earbuds and proceeded to sit back and relax. A young Indian man seated one row ahead of me across the aisle seemed to be annoying the passengers around him by touching them and trying to strike up conversations. I didn’t pay that much attention until he tapped me on the knee. I removed my earbuds. First he commented on my physique and asked me if I lifted weights. I nodded affirmingly. Next, he asked for my phone number. I declined. He went on to tell me that this was his first flight and he had consumed a full bottle of vodka prior to boarding. I’m thinking “We’re going to have a problem”. Next, he got up to use the lavatory. Back at his seat, he was too messed up to figure out how to resecure the seatbelt. By now, the flight attendants were annoyed. One of the two flight attendants belted him back in the seat and sternly warned him not to leave his seat again. A few passengers complained to the flight attendant. Soon after, he again removed the seatbelt and fell into the aisle. A few more passengers complained to the flight attendant. While one of the flight attendants resecured him back in his seat, the other was on the phone. Next, he started vomiting. He proclaimed he had air sickness. Not! The rest of the flight, one flight attendant had to stand and watch him while the other remained on the phone. Upon arrival at Johannesburg OR Tambo International Airport, he was detained by authorities.

At Johannesburg Airport, we arrived, collected our bags, and proceeded to walk to our hotel which was adjacent to the airport. A “kind” gentleman walked us to an elevator, and pressed the button for floor 3. I noticed the signage said the hotel was on floor 2. Once the doors closed, I pushed floor 2. I’m thinking there was somebody waiting for us on floor 3 to mug us in the parking garage. We got off on floor 2 and walked a short distance to the reception area. For security reasons, Nancy and I shared a room. The hotel was modern and beautiful. At less than $100, it was a bargain. The three of us shared a few bottles of wine and had an enjoyable meal at the hotel. We crashed early in anticipation for our morning flight to Kasane Botswana. The next morning, we feasted on the complimentary continental breakfast and walked back to the airport. After an hour of shopping, we boarded our small Airlink plane bound for Kasane. I was pleasantly surprised by the airline. They offered a free meal and free drinks including wine and beer.

Coming back, we all flew Airlink back to Johannesburg where we went through immigration, collected our bags, and rechecked the bags to Cape Town. At the airport, I ran into one of my favorite crew members on the Zuiderdam. The busty young Brazilian woman, Manoela asked me to go clubbing with her and some of the crew back in Cape Town that night. We had partied together in Sydney. Despite being exhausted from the prior 4 days, I agreed to go out for a drink. Once we arrived in Cape Town, we grabbed “our” bags and proceeded to the Uber pickup location. I summoned an Uber. Nancy then realized that she picked up the wrong bag. The Uber arrived. Dan and Roxanne stayed with the Uber driver while I walked back with Nancy to try and find the bag. There was much confusion among staff as to where we should go. Finally, we were directed to go back through the secure area to the baggage carousel. Security would let Nancy go, but not me. I firmly exclaimed “I need to help my mother” and they finally let me accompany her. There was no luggage on the carousel and no Airlink staff to help us. Back past security, we found a genuinely kind man who walked us around to several locations in search of the bag. Eventually he brought us to a secure part of the airport where Airlink had their offices. By now, it was 10pm and I was beginning to think we were not going to find Nancy’s suitcase. But once in the office, the only employee still in the office had Nancy’s bag. She exchanged her bag for the bag she accidentally picked up by mistake. About 45 minutes later and easily 1.5 miles of walking, we finally arrived back at the Uber pickup point and much to my surprise the driver was still there.

We arrived back at the Zuiderdam around 10:45pm. Once in my cabin, I had multiple messages from Manoela. Against my better judgment, I agreed to meet her back off the ship at 11:15pm. We took an Uber to Havana Cubana Lounge where me met up with about a dozen other crew and one passenger, most of which I knew. The Afrobeat music was pumping, there was a lot of drinking and hooka smoking by the patrons, but no one was dancing. Five of us (Andrew, a passenger from NJ; Neli (another of my favorite crew members) from South Africa; Fabian from Chile; and Manoela) headed to Long Street, a street lined with bars that reminded me of Bourbon Street in New Orleans. Manoela wanted to go to the gay bar assuming there would be dancing. After being patted down by security, we entered only to find out the bar was boring. We left and walked further down Long Street to a bar called Mama Africa’s VIP Lounge where we sat and enjoyed beers. Finally at 2:15am, we headed back at the cruise terminal. During the short walk back to the pier, we lost Neli and Andrew. I think they slipped away from us on purpose for a romantic interlude.

I had an 7am wakeup call the next morning and at 8am met Nancy, her partner El, and another passenger Joe. El rented a car for the day and invited me along for the ride. I traveled with El and Nancy in Tonga and Kangaroo Island so I felt completely safe. El who is in her mid-70’s and a doctor, grew up in Nigeria as her father was a missionary. From her experience, she is an excellent driver on the left side of the road. Unlike Nancy, El and Joe, I was hungover, bloated, and exhausted. But I really wanted to explore the south Cape region, see Penguins and ride out to the Cape of Good Hope, the southern tip of Africa. Initially we got lost and drove through a very wealthy neighborhood in Cape Town. Once back on track and after a winding drive along a cliff, our first stop was Chapman’s Peak. We stopped at a few points along the way to take in the views. Looking down from Chapman’s Peak onto the turquoise water surrounded by rugged mountains was breathtaking. It is probably one of the 5 most naturally beautiful places I’ve seen in all my travels. We then proceeded south down the Cape. As we got further down the Cape, the weather changed from sunny, to foggy and extremely windy. We stopped at Boulders Beach, a beach with unusual rock formations similar to those found on Kangaroo Island Australia. Perched all over the rocks and sand dunes were hundreds of penguins. People are forbidden to go near the Penguins as they bite. There is a meandering boardwalk that traverses the sand dunes for people to walk. The wind was extreme; I’m guessing it was in excess of 50 mph. My brand new Botswanan ballcap blew into the penguin enclosure. Fortunately, I was able to get it back as the wind blew it out the other end of the walkway about 10 minutes later. When we arrived back at the car, I noticed signs warning people to check under their cars for penguins prior to leaving.

Back in the car, we proceeded down the coast to Fisherman’s Beach, another stunning South African beach. We proceeded a bit further south to Scarborough Beach which was just as beautiful, but more rocky. El and Nancy walked a few miles down the beach while Joe walked around. I fell asleep for about ½ hour on a boulder sitting where the ocean meets shore. The sun was out again and the warmth felt good. Finally, we approached the entrance to the Cape of Good Hope, a roughly 10 mile drive to the southern tip of Africa. Once again, the fog had rolled in from the ocean and we couldn’t see anything, so we reversed course and headed back north. We stopped in Simon’s Town, a charming suburb of Cape Town along the waterfront where we had lunch. Its very strange to be eating lunch and see baboons roaming the streets. We saw the restaurant owner shoo away one baboon which came to the restaurant entrance. After lunch, we headed back north to drop off the rental car. I napped a bit on the way back. I was anxious to get back to the ship to take pictures of the city. Cape Town is said to be the most beautiful city in all of Africa. In 2022, Travel and Leisure magazine ranked Cape Town the 8^th most beautiful city in the world behind Sydney, Barcelona, Queenstown NZ, Istanbul, Paris, San Francisco and Palermo Italy. We got back to the ship and I immediately went to the top deck to take pictures of the modern skyline with Table Mountain in the background. The enormous Table Mountain is a flat topped mountain forming a prominent landmark overlooking the city of Cape Town. It is the top tourist attraction in Cape Town. The view atop looking down is supposedly the best view of the city. I was disappointed I didn’t get to go, but I only had one day in Cape Town due to my safari. I definitely want to return to Cape Town.