one of the girls wasn't feeling so well so me and the other girl (lorna) went into cape town. i hadnt actually been right in the centre before, and its quite intimidating you know- there are lots of big tall buildings that seem to crowd in on you... we got the train in which cost us R4 for a single. and in " realmoney" that is 28p. shocking, eh?!
we went to the markets, then walked down to the V&A waterfront where we walked about, had some dinner ( i had chicken potjie which was interesting- and again, surprisingly cheap- i paid about 10pounds (theres no "pounds" sign on the keyboard- i just noticed that!) which was my main course and a bottle of pinotage which we shared. despite being on a wine tour, lorna assured me that pinotage was white... it wasn't...
then off to the cinema to see spiderman3 (R40 for the cinema, again, nice and cheap!although they don't appear to do student discount anywhere).
some things we were shocked to find in the cinema:
- they dont sell sweet popcorn
- if you buy popcorn, you have to put the flavour on it yerself. they had tables with shaker things on with ridiculous popcorn flavours like bbq, sour cream, "aromat" and salt and vinegar
- they dont clean the cinema between showings. i had to move someone elses empties off my seat before i could sit down. not impressed (as usually im a tidy person...)
saturday was culture day, as we went to robben island.its as well we picked that weekend to go ,as from today the maximum security compund is closed to the public for restoration for the nex year or so. so we went down to the waterfront again )to the nelson mandela gateway, to be precise) and hopped on the ferry. when first stepping onto the island, i thought "this is too much like the island from lost" it reminded me lots of the "others" bit, with the little houses and speakers about the place... so first we had a bus tour round the whole island, seeing various different parts. then we had a tour round the max security prison, given by an ex prisoner.it was a very moving tour, and it really made me wonder why he was still there. he was sentanced to 25 years, due for release in 2009. yet he's still on the island? (all the people who work for the museum live on the island) later on he told us that when he was released he had no employment prospects and a family to feed- being a prison tour guide is literally the only thing he's equipped to do.
the last prisoners were released from the prison in 1991 and it was opened as a museum in 1997. a sobering boat ride back to the waterfront and then to Long Street for dinner.
sunday brought a whole feast of exciting things, as we met up with mums friend neil. who,despite being "not southafrican" sounded like he was doing a pretty good job at pretending. its a strange accent he has, a mix of staffordshire, norn iron and south africa. so neil picked us up and we went to cape point and the cape of good hope (not so much a cape as a big rock) it has the privilege of being the most southwesterly point of africa. a little walk around there, lunch in the restaurant, linefish for me please, and then a drive round the peninsula and onto boulders bay.
boulders bay has been one of my top 6 favourite moments so far. boulders bay is where the penguins are- and i wish i coudl get my pics up here, as you just have to see the penguins to belive it- penguins, but no snow! penguins, waddling about in sand!
saw some ambulance staff today. love those green and yellow coats!
1 comment:
You, usually a tidy person!! Yea, right, we're still trying to clear up after your last brief visit. Glad to hear things are going well and you're seeing the sights, as well as working hard (you are, aren't you?) Reference to ambulance people duly noted. Hope the fun continues!
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