Well. That was quite an adventure. Today's main event was a hike up on Table Mountain, the iconic mountain that looks like, well, a table, that serves as a backdrop to the city. Before I get into that though, let me just give you a quick rundown of yesterday's events.
After the 11-hour flight from Frankfurt (on which I sat next to two pretty cool dudes, one from Norway the other from Switzerland-Joe and I couldn't get seats together-the plane was absolutely packed too) we arrived in Cape Town (I'll call it CT from here on in, if that's acceptable) at around 10:00 local time in the shiny, world-class-looking airport. Taxis aren't THAT cheap (certainly cheaper than the US or Europe) but they weren't much more than the alternatives, so we hopped in with an Indian cabbie to our hotel downtown, an area known as the city bowl. The drive in afforded us our first view of Table Mountain the nearby Lions Head (a large, very tall rock formation shaped somewhat like-wanna take a guess?) and also took us past an area known as the Cape Flats-an area separated from the bowl by Table Mountain that is poverty, crime-ridden and comprised mainly of shack dwellings that is likely one of the world's most dangerous places). Driving by the flats offered quite a contrast to the ultra-modern airport that we were coming from.
After resting up a bit in our, if I may say (I booked it), stellar hotel (view of Table Mountain, on the city's most famous street, free breakfast, free internet-though a bit dodgy-and quite affordable) we set out to explore a bit of the City Bowl, ambling towards the city's famous Victoria and Alfred Waterfront. Long Street, the location of our hotel and, again, CP's most famous street, has a number of buildings that would not be out of place in New Orlean's French Quarter, and thus served as a nice starting point. The immediate impression is that this can't possibly be in Africa-it has a distinct European feel. The weather was absolutely gorgeous though-which isn't very European, not in December at least.We turned off onto Shortmarket Street which ran in front of Green Market Square, a small public space filled with stalls selling purses and crafts (at the time, at least). There we grabbed lunch of pizza (Joe) and chicken and chips (me) at a little eatery. It was pretty cheap, and I enjoyed my lunch (I didn't get ill either, so that's a good sign). Re-fueled, we made our way down to the waterfront.
It was mid-afternoon, and the waterfront area was packed with pedestrians and diners-most of them probably tourists. It is primarily shops and restaurants in the area, though the city's dockyards abut the pedestrian parts. Neither one of us is big shoppers, but this was just our first day, and we do plan on going back, so we just strolled around a bit, and stopped to listen to a street band that had drawn a large crowd. It was composed of one crooner (who was sweating profusely-he was dancing too) one dude banging on the inside of what looked like a giant bowl with drumsticks, and two guys on, I don't know any other way to describe them, giant xylophones. I would say that their music was "pretty dope". Good stuff.
Still tired from the long haul, we headed back early, stopping in a grocery store for some provisions. The store was definitely first world (actually had more snacks than you would see in America) but was still pretty cheap compared to its western counterparts. We grabbed a quick dinner in the burger joint next to our hotel, and called it a night.
It's quite late here now, so I will have to pick up here tomorrow. I will be sure to catch up then, I don't want to be a day behind each time, but we are bushed from today's escapades. Come back to hear about them, along with tomorrow's activities (again, I will try to catch up).
Cheers.
After the 11-hour flight from Frankfurt (on which I sat next to two pretty cool dudes, one from Norway the other from Switzerland-Joe and I couldn't get seats together-the plane was absolutely packed too) we arrived in Cape Town (I'll call it CT from here on in, if that's acceptable) at around 10:00 local time in the shiny, world-class-looking airport. Taxis aren't THAT cheap (certainly cheaper than the US or Europe) but they weren't much more than the alternatives, so we hopped in with an Indian cabbie to our hotel downtown, an area known as the city bowl. The drive in afforded us our first view of Table Mountain the nearby Lions Head (a large, very tall rock formation shaped somewhat like-wanna take a guess?) and also took us past an area known as the Cape Flats-an area separated from the bowl by Table Mountain that is poverty, crime-ridden and comprised mainly of shack dwellings that is likely one of the world's most dangerous places). Driving by the flats offered quite a contrast to the ultra-modern airport that we were coming from.
After resting up a bit in our, if I may say (I booked it), stellar hotel (view of Table Mountain, on the city's most famous street, free breakfast, free internet-though a bit dodgy-and quite affordable) we set out to explore a bit of the City Bowl, ambling towards the city's famous Victoria and Alfred Waterfront. Long Street, the location of our hotel and, again, CP's most famous street, has a number of buildings that would not be out of place in New Orlean's French Quarter, and thus served as a nice starting point. The immediate impression is that this can't possibly be in Africa-it has a distinct European feel. The weather was absolutely gorgeous though-which isn't very European, not in December at least.We turned off onto Shortmarket Street which ran in front of Green Market Square, a small public space filled with stalls selling purses and crafts (at the time, at least). There we grabbed lunch of pizza (Joe) and chicken and chips (me) at a little eatery. It was pretty cheap, and I enjoyed my lunch (I didn't get ill either, so that's a good sign). Re-fueled, we made our way down to the waterfront.
It was mid-afternoon, and the waterfront area was packed with pedestrians and diners-most of them probably tourists. It is primarily shops and restaurants in the area, though the city's dockyards abut the pedestrian parts. Neither one of us is big shoppers, but this was just our first day, and we do plan on going back, so we just strolled around a bit, and stopped to listen to a street band that had drawn a large crowd. It was composed of one crooner (who was sweating profusely-he was dancing too) one dude banging on the inside of what looked like a giant bowl with drumsticks, and two guys on, I don't know any other way to describe them, giant xylophones. I would say that their music was "pretty dope". Good stuff.
Still tired from the long haul, we headed back early, stopping in a grocery store for some provisions. The store was definitely first world (actually had more snacks than you would see in America) but was still pretty cheap compared to its western counterparts. We grabbed a quick dinner in the burger joint next to our hotel, and called it a night.
It's quite late here now, so I will have to pick up here tomorrow. I will be sure to catch up then, I don't want to be a day behind each time, but we are bushed from today's escapades. Come back to hear about them, along with tomorrow's activities (again, I will try to catch up).
Cheers.
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