Today in Trust member Kate Thompson’s South Africa diary, Kate visits Langa. Robben Island and starts on the wine rather early…
Day 12: Sunday, 20 June 2010
The pick-up time for the tour today was brought forward from 8.30 to 7.00! Our hotel was the first pick-up and we then spent nearly two hours going round all the others, which was very tedious. (In fact when the guide suggested not dropping off in the same order he faced a mini revolt!). We were taken first of all to another township, Langa, which is one of those built on the Cape Flats for people who were evicted from District Six. It was generally of a much higher standard than the other one and some of the houses were very nice indeed. I saw a BMW in one drive and a Mercedes in another, and the guide said there were even more exotic cars. We saw the house of a man who had won the lottery but chose to stay in Langa and just build a nice house.
There were still some shacks but the city authorities have been building new houses, the latest ones with solar panels on the roof. Unfortunately, many of the people can’t afford the rents and so a lot of the houses were standing empty….
Stall Outside a Shack
Our first stop was at a community facility where we saw a pottery workshop and some children playing musical instruments – incredibly loud without any amplification! The pottery was very nice and I bought a plate and a mug. Needless to say there were lots of children, some of them draped in England flags and playing with inflatable balls with ‘The Sun’ written on them; apparently the paper has a Cape Town version.
I took a couple of photos of the children and one of them came up to me and took my hand!
We then drove to the V & A Waterfront from where we were to get the 1.00 ferry to Robben Island. After some difficulty I managed to buy a sandwich and a coffee and then got in the queue for the boat. There was quite a swell but I was able to stand outside and was OK, despite the fact that I am not a very good sailor. We had hardly left the harbour when the mist descended and we could see nothing until almost at the island.
When we had disembarked, we got on a series of buses for a tour of the island – seeing a church, school, the quarries where the prisoners worked, lighthouse, etc. We then had a tour of the prison for the political prisoners, where a former inmate graphically described life inside.
The highlight of course was the cell occupied by Nelson Mandela during his 18 years on Robben Island. I can remember as a teenager in Leicester when the City Council named one of the recreation grounds ‘Nelson Mandela Park’ and my mother was outraged; obviously at the time we only knew what the South African government chose to tell us and I guess my family was not sufficiently politically aware to dig any deeper. What is remarkable about Mandela is his ability to forgive the past, if not to forget, which sadly others did not share – including his former wife Winnie.
Neslon Mendela's Cell
Before getting back on the boat for the 4.00 sailing I went to see the penguins which are on the island. I only had time to buy a few postcards but I think the shop at the harbour in Cape Town will stock the same things. The return journey was very similar to the outbound one, but as we neared the V & A Waterfront there were some stunning views of Table Mountain, the new football stadium, and so on.
I went to the nearby Italian restaurant with a nice young couple, Mark and Lisa, who have rather taken me under their wing. Lisa is Australian so is supporting both England and Australia. We watched the Brazil v Ivory Coast while we were there. Apart from Mark and Lisa, people have been friendly but no one else has suggested I join them. It’s a good job I don’t mind my own company!
Day 13: Monday, 21 June 2010
Another early start, brought forward from 8.30 to 7.15 and the same pattern as yesterday. This was the trip to the wine estates and we visited three. The first one was near Paarl and was called Seidelberg. We were tasting six wines before 10.00 am! I wasn’t particularly keen on any of them, apart perhaps from the dessert wine, and they were not exactly cheap.
I managed to buy a cup of coffee but trying to drink it on the coach meant I spilt some down my newly laundered cream jumper! After a tour of the cellars we moved onto the next vineyard, just outside Franschhoek and called Haute Cabriere. A lady of German descent, Hildebrand, gave a very entertaining demonstration, including removing the corks from two bottles with a sword! They specialise in champagne-style wines as well as ordinary ones. We tasted five wines, which I liked better and they were more reasonable, so I bought some as presents.
We were taken back into Franschhoek for lunch; it is a pretty little town with a big French influence (the name means ‘French corner’). I managed to take a few photos as well as eating. The last wine estate was just outside Stellenbosch and is called Neethlingshof. We drove through Stellenbosch which has some lovely buildings in the old Dutch style, and I would have loved to have spent some time there but it wasn’t on offer. We tasted another five wines, which I didn’t like much (even though they were reasonably priced too) but they produce a medium white which I did buy. We then headed back into Cape Town, where it had obviously poured with rain while we had been away.
Part eight of Kate’s diary will appear tomorrow