Cape Town, South Africa, Part 2

Wednesday has arrived and our time in Cape Town is slipping away. The weather has deteriorated a bit, and it is cloudy and cold. We headed out to visit the District 6 Museum. The District 6 Museum documents the history of an area which was originally a melting pot of races and cultures. In February of 1966 it was declared a white area under the Group Areas Act of 1950 and the government began forcibly removing residents from their homes. They also bulldozed all the houses. People were relocated, but where you ended up depended on your race, as specific races went to certain areas outside of town.

Our guide, Ruth, lived with her parents and her 11 brothers and sisters in a house on Confederation street. Her mother was white and her father was black. Her designation was Coloured. She was required to carry an identity card. The system was much worse if you were black. You had to carry a "Dompass." You were required to produce it on demand to the police and if you couldn't produce it, or if you were in an area not specified by your pass, you were given a fine. Since many people could not pay the fine, they were thrown in jail for 3 to 6 months. Ruth's father was an activist, but he died of old age early on in the removals. Her mother refused to leave her home and continued to live in the house even when they turned off the water, and the electricity. When she went out with her children she had to pretend they were her domestics. Eventually in the 1980s she moved to a house in the suburbs. She only lasted 24 hours. Ruth said she died of a broken heart.

The museum has a lot of photographs and stories from previous residents. The saddest part of the whole story is that the government never did anything with the land. Much of it remains barren and unoccupied. Many former residents or their families have put in for restitution, but it is a long, laborious process, which will take years to settle. 

We have been waiting for Thursday to roll around because we have arranged for a guide and we are going to hike up Table Mountain. We have elected to avoid the crowds and the cable car. We are hiking with Dominic, also known as "The Fynbos Guy." (For your information, Fynbos is the name given to the hard leaved shrub-lands and heathlands found in the coastal plains and mountains of the southern Cape.) 

 

Dominic picked us up and we drove to Camps Bay (the area of new money) and parked. The houses are perched on the side of the cliff overlooking the Atlantic Ocean with million dollar views. It was very windy as we started our ascent. We initially walked up a jeep track, but then we walked on what looked like a goat path. Dominic has a wealth of knowledge about the flora in this biome. There really aren't any animals here, although we did see a couple of types of birds, and evidence that porcupines had been foraging along the path. At about 11:00 we stopped for tea/coffee and gigantic chocolate croissants that Dominic picked up at the bakery. Then we continued up the path and came out at the Valley of the Red Gods. The path seems to come out of nowhere. You think there is no route and you are stopped, but then it appears. After a quick stop at the Mountain Club of South Africa hut (altitude 730 metres) we started our descent. By this time the wind had died down and the sun actually had some heat to it. It was a pleasant stroll back to the car. By 3:00, we were back at Parker Cottage on the porch with some bottled beverages.

 

Friday afternoon we have a flight to Windhoek where we will spend two nights in a guesthouse before we start our Namibian self drive vacation. Stay tuned...

Photos