Cape Town, South Africa

Cape Town or the “Mother City” as it is often referred, gave me this unexplainable rush of energy as there is so much to do that you want to do it all at once. Landmarks like Table Mountain, cultural attractions, and an array of species found nowhere else in the world represent a small portion of things that bring people from all over the world to the Cape. My adventures in Cape Town reflect my obsession with museums, markets, and massive views.

If you’ve read my previous posts, I’m sure you’ve heard me say this about Zambia, but I feel as if I’ve been to Cape Town before. Yes, this was my first time visiting but every piece of the city reminded me of several places I had seen in the U.S. I saw streets reminiscent of midtown Atlanta, shopping areas designed like the Church Street Marketplace of Burlington, Vermont and all encompassing characteristics of Southern California. Many times I had to remind myself that I was in South Africa not the U.S. I shared this feeling with a lady I’d met from Germany who had never visited the U.S. She was in a love affair with Cape Town so I’d randomly mentioned that it reminded me of the U.S. She replied with “No offense, but that disappoints me that Cape Town reminds you of the U.S.” I opted not to delve into the reasons for her perceived disfavor for the U.S. So I readjusted my headwrap and carried on with my adventures.

After the awe of being in Cape Town rinsed away, the truth beneath the layers of architectural beauty became clear. With a history weaved in a well-known anti-apartheid struggle, South Africa as a country is still trying to overcome suffering, and I felt it. I felt it in the utterance of Afrikaans, I felt in the deep hues of my skin tone as an outsider in a coffee shop where those of lighter hues stared (for whatever reason). Their history of racial segregation is very fresh with racial classifications of White, Black, Indian, and Coloured still being upheld today. At the airport, my taxi driver found it necessary to give me a crash course on “how to be” during my visit…which ended up being code for staying safe as Black in Cape Town. I had already socially assigned him as Black, but he later revealed that he was actually Coloured. His self-identification as Coloured wreaked of pain and uncertainty as he told how his ‘Colouredness’ came to be.

1.  MUSEUMS
In the interest of learning how bodies of color were displaced from their land and how the Islamic faith made its way to South Africa, I visit 2 museums:  The District Six Museum and the BoKaap Museum.

District Six Museum

The District Six Museum displays the history and personal reflections of former residents who were forced from their homes before and during the 1960s by the apartheid regime in what was known as ‘forced removals’. Originally a community of newly freed slaves and immigrants, District Six was situated in close distance to the docking area and represented the beginning of new life for those who were oppressed. The forced removal of Black South African and Coloured residents began years before the apartheid era but was further codified into law in 1966 through the Group Areas Act. Through this act government officials declared inner city Cape Town a ‘whites only area’ and consequently removed residents who were not categorized as white from their homes, stripping them of their land and later demolishing all that was left behind. Officials cited many reasons for the demolition of the District Six community, ranging from viewing the community devoid of value, to belief that racial mixing should not occur. These ‘forced removals’ resulted in millions of District Six’s residents, majority Black, being displaced and relocated to a distant township area known as Cape Flats.

Much of the museum was filled with personal stories of former residents who were trying to piece together the lives they once knew through photos and words.

“You know it’s only in the District that I feel safe. District Six is like an island in a sea of apartheid. The whole District Six is one big apartheid, so we can’t see it. We only see it when the white man comes and forces it on us, when he makes us see it – when the police come, and the council people come and so on – or when we leave the District…. Then we again see apartheid. I know the District is dirty and poor and a slum, as the newspapers always reminds us, but it’s our own and we have never put up notices which say ‘Slegs Blankes’ or ‘Whites Only’.. They put up the notices. When the white man comes into the District with his notices he is a stranger and when we come out of the District he makes us realize that we are strangers. It’s funny but that’s the way I see it”  (Richard Rive: Buckingham Palace)

For a moment, feel the world through their experience. Imagine. One day authorities arrive with a truck to take photographic memories off the walls of your home, removing family heirlooms…and once the house was empty enough they removed the black bodies of yours and your parents from your home. After removing your family from a home built by the 9 to 5 earnings of your parents, you then watch as a bulldozer crash through the foundation of your home flattening it to the ground. To further injure your souls, without your permission, your black bodies are loaded into a truck and dropped off in a dilapidated township with few resources, and you are told to start over. You would spend years sprawling in poverty trying to piece together this new life, much different from the one you had before. Years would go by… some 30 years.   Authorities would then give you the opportunity to reclaim your land that was taken, only if objects of proof could be shown that you were a former resident. Proof?? You recall the only thing you arrived to your new township with were the clothes on your back. Your proof rested in the clinic records or receipts that were bulldozed in your former home 30 years ago.

Bo-Kaap Museum

The Bo-Kaap museum details how Islam made it to Cape Town and the struggles they endured to remain.   A kaleidoscope of eye catching canary yellow, magenta, lime green, baby blue, and lilac colored homes line the narrow streets of the small community of residents who have resided in this area for over 300 years. Aside from the brightly colored homes, Bo-Kaap is the home to the first established Muslim Mosque in South Africa. As with most early inhabited areas of Cape Town, Bo-Kaap was one of the areas under siege by the apartheid regime. Its residents are descendants of early slaves from Malaysia, Indonesia and other African countries who were brought to Cape Town by the Dutch. These slave carried with them skills in carpentry and artistry and also their Islamic faith. As a result of the Group Areas Act, about 150,000 non-Muslim families were removed from the neighborhood and relocated. They have since reclaimed their community and solidified their presence with these beautifully colored homes. Apartheid is now a worry of the past for residents of Bo-Kaap. Their new struggle rests within warding off gentrification, as their unique neighborhood has a high market value due to its centrality to business centers.

2.  MARKETS

Markets. I seek them. They love me. I love them back. I dedicated a portion of my Saturday morning to exploring the Woodstock area of Cape Town, specifically the Neighbour Goods Market at Old Biscuit Mill. This market was packed with people who had waited for the arrival of Saturday just to visit. Rows of food stations filled the inside decorated with sushi, freshly pressed juices, pastries, cheeses, wine, an array of raw and flavored nuts, Mediterranean food, Mexican food, Thai food, name it, I’m sure it was there. Many of these foods had become distant memories to me as I hadn’t seen them since my departure from the U.S.

I’m a foodie, so I counted it a true blessing being in the company of so much food.. even more blessed in that there were unlimited samples (my college roommate used to call me ‘The Sample Queen’, in that asking for a fourth sample is not a problem for me). I sampled so much that when it was time to decide where my appetite and I would dine, I was too full to make a selection. So, I headed outside to rack shop at the standing boutiques and never-ending wall of scarves to replenish my collection.

3.  WINE & DINE

When you think of wine production, France or Italy may be the first to come to mind, but South Africa, not far behind and has seated its way as number 7 in the world of wine producers. The Cape Winelands are the primary wine growing regions in South Africa comprising of the Stellenbosch, Paarl, and Franschhoek valleys. I wouldn’t classify myself among the esteemed ‘Wine Lords’ but I’m definitely a tier or 11 behind them thanks to Pompette’s on 131^st and Lenox in Harlem. I dedicated a full day to learning the history of winemaking and viticulture in South Africa and mastering the 5 S’s of wine tasting: sight, swirling, smells, sipping, and savoring.

In one day I traveled to 5 wine estates in 3 different regions: Fairview Wine Estate, Annadale Wine Estate, Middelvlei Wine Estate, Lovane Wine Boutique, and (to be honest, all fault of my own.. I can’t remember the last one). I usually start my mornings with a cup of tea, but this was probably the first time in life in which my morning began with a glass of wine paired with cheese (the tour started at 9am).

After maybe the 5^th glass of wine, I had grown ‘wine wings’ and was ready to retire to bed for rest.   But it was 10:30am and I had only made it to the first vineyard… I still had 4 more to visit. Somewhere in between staring at the sun and sashaying between vineyard rows I found my second wind to continue.

As the day went on, my ‘wine wings’ increased and my ability to differentiate between Sauvignon blanc and Chenin blanc wines decreased. By the end of the tour I think I may have had about 30 different wines.  My mother always use to say “A lady should never drink from the bottle.” I wonder what she would think of a lady who drinks from a barrel (Thanks Villiera Wine Estate).

4. HIKING, MORE HIKING, & BEACH

And now for the MASSIVE views. My take home life experience came in hiking Table Mountain and Lion’s Head Mountain. Table Mountain is a staple landmark of Cape Town and can be seen no matter where you position yourself in the city. I call it art.. reminiscent of the vastness of a Kehinde Wiley portrait or a silhouetted statement piece of Kara Walker. If you’re lucky, you can see what is known as the ‘table cloth’, which is a thick layer of clouds covering the mountain during specific times of the day.

There are many routes to the highest peak of the mountain, Maclear’s Beacon, all with varying levels of difficulty. I traveled quite far to see Table, so it was only fitting that I opted to climb the longest most intense route, Skeleton Gorge.. which took a whopping 7 hours to complete.

My level of physical fitness was indeed questionable. I’m a former runner coupled with being an on-again, off-again, on-again yogi; however, prayer and meditation are my greatest fitness strengths. I never doubted whether I could actually complete the hike, but my main concern was keeping up with my hiking group. My friends are MONSTERS when it comes to physical fitness.. and I say that with great aspiration. We were a group of 6. One had hiked Table Mountain in the past but had never tried Skeleton Gorge, another was an avid hiker, another has parents who had climbed Mount Everest in their 70s so she was good by bloodline, one worked out every day, and the last one.. well she hiked the Himalayas for 20 days straight.. and then there was ole’ meditating me.

Completing this was one of my most fulfilling accomplishments.  I chase massive views whenever possible, thus I’ve hiked a few mountains in the past but none like Table Mountain. It’s not just the views I’m after, but more of the lessons within the journey to get to the views. It mirrors life in that the mountain represents experiences and with each mountain/experience you will learn a different lesson.. or you will learn the same lesson on a different mountain. But if I’m honest, I’m just like everyone else, I want to see what life is like at the top.

In short, my physical didn’t do much to get me up and down that mountain. I meditated and prayed my way up Table Mountain.

I’m glad that I hiked Table Mountain first, because in the days following I decided to climb Lion’s Head Mountain as well. Table Mountain made Lion’s Head seem like a stroll in the park…I rested easy overlooking Cape Town atop Lion’s Head.

I beached in the company of the Twelve Apostles.

My body
My black body
My female body
Breakable by physical intent
My eyes
Mississippi made eyes
Harlem shaped eyes
Will see life outside the boundaries of this black body
My mind
Evolving mind
Indestructible mind
Will move mountains and destroy all systems that attempt to confine this black body – – KENYA