Cape Town in 48 Hours

Also published on http://desicritics.org/

If there is heaven on earth, it is this, it is this, it is this, said the Mughal Emperor Jehangir for Kashmir in India. But I am sure that if he would have seen Cape Town, he would have said the same.

En route to a desert adventure trip in Namibia, I had only 48 hours to spare. Cape Town is located on the southwestern tip of the African continent and I could not pass up the chance to stand at the historic Cape of Good Hope, the same spot that Vasco de Gama rounded on his way to Asia. So I decided to go for it!

The Table Mountain is the focal point for the locals and is visible from almost anywhere in Cape Town. A visit to this famous landmark, right at the beginning, helped me get my bearings. Though there are many hiking trails to the top, I took the cable car, which rotates 360 degrees and affords some fantastic views on the ascent. Reaching the peak of a mountain cannot get easier than this. The top of the mountain is so flat that you can keep walking for two hours without falling off the summit. There is also a restaurant for refreshments. Such luxury at 1067 m above sea level! On a clear day, the views from the Table Mountain are unrivalled. But alas!, on that day, the clouds and the mist had spilled over, shrouding the mountain in its “tablecloth”. However, I did manage to capture some beautiful pictures at Bloubergstrand, where the Table Mountain can be viewed flanked by Devil’s Peak on the left and the Lion’s Head on the right. \

The legendary Cape of Good Hope is popularly perceived as the colliding point of the cold Benguela Current of the Atlantic Ocean and the warm Agulhas Current of the Indian Ocean. Standing at the most southwestern point of the African continent, amid the rugged landscape, looking over the foaming waters that stretch as far as the Antarctic, I felt as if I was living a piece of history when the courageous early explorers navigated the “fairest cape in the whole circumference of the Earth”. Mother Nature has been particularly benevolent in bestowing this region with a rich variety of flora and fauna, many of which are endemic (ocurring naturally nowhere else on earth). No wonder the Cape peninsula is home to the smallest of the six floral zones of the world.

The Indian Ocean on the eastern seaboard of the Cape peninsula is warmer, the shallow waters extending quite far and therefore best for swimming. A short drive across this narrow finger of land is the Atlantic Ocean on the western seaboard, which is some degrees cooler than the Indian Ocean. The beaches on the Atlantic side enjoy longer daylight hours and offer spectacular sunsets. Also known as Cape Town’s “Riviera”, these beaches are frequented by the fashionable set and stretch from the Victoria and Alfred Waterfront to the Hout Bay.

Still a working harbour, the V & A waterfront boasts many world-class five star hotels and is the more upmarket option for staying. It is the perfect spot to hang out when you are in the mood to “paint the town red”, with opportunities galore for shopping and entertainment. The Belthazar restaurant offers a complete dining experience, with the juiciest steaks and the finest wines. The amphitheatre here showcases some extremely talented street performances, giving a glimpse of African music and dance. I loved the Victorian style architecture of the buildings in the harbor and spent some time observing harbor activity.

A more economical and ‘heart of the city” option is Longstreet and the adjoining Greenmarket Square. It is only a 10 minute drive from the V & A waterfront, though there are many pubs and restaurants in the vicinity too.
The cobbled Greenmarket Square hosts a daily market, where beautiful curios from all over Africa can be bought at bargain prices. Numerous cafes line the square, offering respite from the frenetic pace and an opportunity to quietly observe the craft on display at the Square. This gives time to decide on that perfect “dinner conversation- inducing” adornment for your house. The part of Cape Town nestled between the Table Mountain and the harbour is aptly called the City Bowl and is best explored on foot. Armed with a guidebook, it took me a couple of hours to visit St Georges Mall, the City Hall and the District Six Museum.

At the end of 48 hours, Cape Town had completely wooed me and I vowed to return for whale watching at Hermanus, tour the spectacular vineyards, do the Garden Route…..

ONE DAY IN SWAKOPMUND

We get up at seven this morning-a real luxury after having got up at five these past few days. After a quick breakfast, we leave to tour Swakopmund-the idea is to see as much of the town as possible. The town is shrouded in a thick fog and it is difficult to make out much of the buildings.

Our first stop is the museum, which is right next to the red and white lighthouse. The museum has interesting displays on the local history. The display on the people of Namibia is very interesting as it details the culture, tradition, language, customs, their contribution to the Namibian society and the impact of modernization on their lives.

For lunch we head to the Lighthouse Café with superb views across the Atlantic Ocean. Adi and I manage to get vegetarian lasagna and a vegetable grilled sandwich. But the seafood platter of our friend looks really delicious-one of the rare moments when I am tempted to give into my ma-in-law’s requests and start eating “at least fish”.

We then visit the Kristal Gallery to see the largest quartz crystal on display and wander into a world of colours, hues and formations. There is the amethyst, ruby, aquamarine and a host of other minerals that have been forced into beautiful colours and textures by unimaginable heat and pressure. I fall in love with the Pietersite stone and buy a pair of earrings made from Pietersite at the jewelry outlet at the Kristal Gallery. Pietersite is golden brown in colour and found only in China and Namibia. It has been named after the guy who discovered it.

Shopping Time! We check out an antique store in the centre of town-lovely stuff from all over the world. All that shopping has tired us and we decide to grab coffee at Anton Café. This café has been around for a long time and sells some authentic German goodies. The Black Forest Cake is heavenly and the freshly ground coffee refreshing. The area in front of the Anton Café is the site, where local crafts are available for sale. The “Big Five” carved in wood, in varying sizes form a significant portion of the items on display. We go closer to examine the handicrafts and are soon surrounded by the stall owners trying to peddle their wares. We beat a hasty retreat-even before we have had a chance to admire the stuff on display.

We then walk to a bookshop that we had seen earlier. I cant remember the name now but it had a decent display of books concerning Africa and more particularly Namibia. I bought Namibia Space by Chris Marias and Julienne de Toit-an excellent read and great photographs too!

We return to our hotel to freshen up and decide to go to “Cairo to Cape Town” for dinner. We have to look for it a bit since it has changed its name and we almost walk past it! True to its name, it has the Arabic hummus, tagine and the labneh dip as well as game meat on its menu. And the service is unobtrusive and friendly. Over a bottle of wine, we make promises to our friend to always stay in touch. What a wonderful end to a beautiful trip!

Preparing for the trip to South Africa and Namibia

Preparation for our desert adventure trip to Namibia was a challenge because of a number of reasons. Firstly, we were traveling to Africa; secondly we were going on an “almost camping” tour (I say almost because the only difference was that most of the time, we stayed in lodges rather than tents) and thirdly, we were preparing for our trip from Cairo, Egypt. Some tips and an update on some experiences:-

BAGGAGE

Baggage- No Samsonite style luggage for this trip. Backpacks and daypacks are the recommended kind of luggage to carry. Check out our hunt for backpacks in Cairo on my other blog at www.egyptiansanks.blogspot.com

VISAS

Namibian visa-Namibia has a High commission in Cairo and the address is as follows:-

41, Nada Square
18 Street, Ist Floor,
Flat No 51
Tel:23590151
Tel: Fax : 23598170

We applied for the Namibian visa on a Monday morning and it was done in a couple of days-we got our visas on Wednesday morning. They are extremely courteous and helpful at the Namibian High Commission. Along with the application form, you will have to submit an invite letter and show proof of flight bookings. The hotel or the tour company that you are booked with can help you with the invite letter. Also you will need to submit four passport-sized photographs.

For a visa for South Africa, allow for at least 6 working days for the visa to be processed. They do not accept any applications on a Sunday-so effectively you need to plan your submission from Monday to Thursday-since the embassy is closed on Friday and Saturday. In this case too, your application has to be accompanied by an invite letter and proof of flight bookings.

BECOME INTERNATIONALLY MOBILE

Activate international roaming on your mobile-in case you do not already have it. This will make you feel more secure, knowing that you are always reachable. Since I am a Vodafone subscriber, I have the relevant information:-

Vodafone recommends Vodacom to be your network during your trip o South Africa, if you use Vodacom, your outgoing calls will be charged at 10LE / minute as compared to LE 28 for any other network. In all cases, your incoming calls will be charged at LE 4/ minute, you can send SMSes at LE 2 and receive SMSes for free.

For Namibia Vodafone recommends MTC. Outgoing calls are charged at LE 28/minute, incoming calls at LE 4/minute, outgoing SMSes at LE 2 and incoming SMSes are free.

VACCINATIONS

Vaccinations-Traveling to the African means the red alert for health related precautions. To err on the safe side, every possible vaccination is recommended and the malarial prophylaxis are a must-take. Read all about it on my other blog on www.egyptiansanks.blogspot.com


TRAVEL INSURANCE

Travel insurance-Get a travel health insurance in place for those unforeseen emergencies and exigencies. And look out for that airlift clause which will pay for your air-dash to a hospital in the event of an emergency since the medical facilities in the African continent are not the best and not easily available. We approached a number of insurance companies but none of them were offering the airlift option. So, finally we decided to go ahead with the travel insurance from Egyptian Saudi Insurance House. For a premium of LE 150, we were provided an insurance cover worldwide (excluding USA and Canada) for 15 days

Nama traditions

The Namas are an African ethnic group spread over Namibia, South Africa and Botswana. Frances also spoke to us about certain aspects of the culture and traditions of the Nama people. One very interesting aspect relates to their marriage. If a Nama sees a girl whom he likes and wants to marry, the right thing for him to do is to inform his parents about it and they in turn approach the girl’s father. If the girl has more than one suitor, then the father will decide the matter by asking the suitors to kill an oryx. Oryx is the national animal of Namibia and with very pointed horns and even the lion is wary of attacking this animal.

The suitor who is the first to hunt down an oryx and return with its tail becomes eligible to win the girl’s hand. Here Frances stresses that it is important that as soon as the oryx is killed, its tail must be cut, if it cannot be carried away by the hunter. Else, it is possible for any other person to claim the dead oryx as his own. This tradition ensures that the girl marries a person who is a good hunter and will be able to provide food for the family.

Frances also had an interesting piece of advice for the women to keep the peace in the family-“SWEET TONGUE…..KEEP SMILING”

China in Namibia

China is said to be the next superpower of the world. Entirely believable after you see the evidence in Namibia. Every town in Namibia has a shop that reads “The China Shop”. When we queried JoJo, our tour leader on this, he told us that the proprietors of these shops are Chinese and hence the shops are called “China shop”.

The Chinese have arrived in Namibia in more ways than one. Not only are “made in China” products flooding the Namibian markets, Chinese construction companies are doing brisk business. These companies are owned by Chinese and staffed predominantly by the Chinese and are at the forefront of “Building Namibia”. China has been very generous with giving aid to Africa and in return, Jojo informs us that the African nations have agreed to allow China to send its prisoners who have been sentenced to exile to live and work in these countries. Many of them work on the various infrastructure projects being funded by the Chinese government. In fact, China has had the foresight to invest heavily in the oilfields and minefields across the African continent which will ensure an uninterrupted supply of raw materials for its economic growth.

The locals have recognized the fact that China and the Chinese are here to stay and the Chinese language courses are very popular in Namibia. Not too far away, the Chinese will probably be the new “white” people of the African continent.

DAY 7

It is a cold, bitterly cold morning. Wrapped in coats, mufflers and wearing thick socks and gloves, we try to warm ourselves by wrapping our hands around our steaming mugs of coffee. With our teeth chattering, none of us are able to get much breakfast in. Winter nights and early mornings in the desert can be very cold-hard to imagine that as the sun comes up, we will be pulling off our layers of clothes as the day becomes hotter. Soon, only a T-shirt is bearable. The extremes of weather as can be experienced only in the desert.

We stop at the town of Solitaire-the smallest town in Namibia. At the only café in this town, we have the most divine apple crumble. The generous portion is welcome to make up for going without breakfast that morning.

The Tropic of Capricorn passes through Namibia and we cross this imaginary line on our way to the Walvis Bay.

On our way to the town of Swakopmund, we pass what is known as the moon landscape. The landscape is made up of eroded hills and valleys and is called the moon landscape because of its resemblance to the surface of the moon.

We drive into Walvis Bay and we could be forgiven to think that we are not in Namibia. Beautiful houses line both sides of the street-the style and colour very appealing to the eyes. The idea is to catch sight of some flamingoes that frequent the Walvis Bay but the thick mist that shrouds the town has probably driven the flamingoes away. It is difficult to see much further than 10 metres across the Atlantic Ocean.

Our destination for the day is Swakopmund, a town in western Namibia. When our truck enters the town, I get a feeling of déjà vu as if I were in Munich, Germany. The town has a very German feel to it with brightly painted houses and bakeries with names like Konditorei- a relic of its German colonizers. The name Swakopmund is German for “mouth of the Swakop”. The Swakop is a major river in the western part of Namibia and it reaches the sea at the southern edge of the town of Swakopmund.

We stay at Villa Weise-not a very comfortable place. But we are focused on planning our itinerary so as to make the best use of the time that we have left on the trip. Tomorrow is our last day in Swakopmund and in Namibia. After depositing our luggage in our rooms, we head out to explore the town. The fog that we had encountered in Walvis Bay follows us here. We decide to grab a cup of coffee at the Swakopmund café as much to really have coffee as to get out of the cold. The spinach quiche at the café is very delicious and so are the scones.

That night, while going out for dinner, we walk in a group; Jojo tells us that it is advisable to not walk about alone at night. Our group is the only people that we see for most of the way to the restaurant. What a marked contrast to Mumbai in India or even Cairo in Egypt, where I am presently living-there are always so many people around.

My fellow diners sample the oryx and the springbok meat for dinner; Adi and I stick to a pasta and pizza fare. Being vegetarian in Namibia is proving to be quite a challenge!

DAY 6

The alarm goes off and I come awake with a start –today is the day for visiting the number one attraction of Namibia-the Sossussvlei dunes and I cant wait to get started. We dress quickly in the numbing cold putting on layers of clothes to keep ourselves warm. There is no time for breakfast and we carry our breakfast boxes out to Peter Torche to have it on the way. After all, we will need our energy to climb Dune 45, the most accessible of all the Dunes and so called because all the dunes in the Sossusvlei are numbered and it is the 45th in number. Early morning is the right time to climb it because later in the day, the heat and the footprints of the earlier climbers will make the ascent tough.

On the way, the rising sun plays peek-a-boo from behind the hills. Parts of the desert landscape are bathed in the wintry morning sunlight and the desert hosts – the springbok, the oryx etc are out grazing the grass and getting their water fix from the dew drops still clinging to the grass.

We reach the gates leading to the Sossussvlei Park before they are open but a couple of cars are already there. We sit in the truck impatiently waiting for the gates to open. Once inside, we speed towards Dune 45 which is 150 m high. It is hard work going up the dune but the promise of a fantastic view from the top keeps us going. By the time, I am two-thirds of the way up, I am completely out of breath. The ascent is not only tough but also slow since I kept admiring the changing landscape. The red colour of the sand is due to the rusting iron present in the sand grains.

As compared to going up, the descent is a cake-walk as we take the short-cut and slide down the wind-swept side of the dune. I have so much fun doing it that I want to do it all over again but the difficult ascent deters me.

The desert may appear barren but it supports a unique ecosystem as we learn later from Frances, our guide, who takes us for a walk in the desert and the dunes. He is a Nama and totally at home in the desert. He explains to us how the moisture carried by the fog and the bits of plant matter deposited by the wind nurture life in the desert. Though the surface temperatures may exceed 50 degrees centigrade but below, the sand particles allow air to circulate freely and provide a cool shelter. Beetles are aplenty in the dunes and the beetles known locally as toktokkie have an interesting way of deriving moisture for drinking-by condensing the fog on its body. What was particularly fascinating was the tunnel house of the large dancing spider. Frances found one such tunnel house and opened its door with a stick and started funneling sand into the tunnel. Within seconds the spider was there to shut the door!

We then pass the Crazy Dune-so called because it is an extremely tough dune to climb. At 388 metres, it is the highest dune in the Namib desert and hence the highest in the world. But there is no dearth of people attempting the ascent of the Crazy Dune.

The Dead Vlei with its cream floor and dead trees provides ample photographic opportunities.

After a very enriching session with Francis, our last stop for this eventful day is the Sesriem canyon, which is the smallest canyon in Namibia. After having seen the second largest canyon in the world, this is obviously not that breathtaking but the excitement and the danger factor comes in when Jojo our guide almost steps on a poisonous snake. But Jojo being seasoned with the ways of the desert hears the hissing sound just in time. We overnight at the Hammerstein.