{"id":1441,"date":"2015-05-21T15:09:44","date_gmt":"2015-05-21T20:09:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.iwu.edu\/factrack\/?p=1441"},"modified":"2025-03-03T12:48:38","modified_gmt":"2025-03-03T18:48:38","slug":"a-last-look-at-the-cape","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.iwu.edu\/factrack\/2015\/05\/21\/a-last-look-at-the-cape\/","title":{"rendered":"A last look at the cape"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"At<\/a>
At the Cape of Good Hope<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

We\u2019re leaving Cape Town in the morning for \u201cAfrica.\u201d\u00a0 I\u2019m sure it will be a shock to leave this first world ambience, which characterizes most of the Cape Town area we explored yesterday (the Consulate is in a swank neighborhood) and along the coast today.\u00a0 We did the \u201cCape tour\u201d which took us around the Cape of Good Hope (baptized originally, as I mentioned, as the Cape of Storms by discoverer Diaz, but renamed \u201cGood Hope\u201d by a shrewder King).\u00a0 The highlights are probably best captured in pictures (which I\u2019ll send when I get a chance), but here\u2019s my attempt to verbalize them:<\/p>\n

The ride around the Cape peninsula is a study in wealth expressed primarily in architecture\u2014beautiful homes fronting the Atlantic, in towns like Simon\u2019s Town (the headquarters of the British South Atlantic Fleet until 1957, and a naval base today); a \u201ccheap home\u201d cost around $500,000.\u00a0 The area has attracted a lot of Europeans because of the low relative price for the high relative value\u2014gorgeous scenery.<\/p>\n

The stop at the Cape itself.\u00a0 Though it\u2019s not where the two oceans (Indian and Atlantic) meet, the Cape is where most people think they meet (it\u2019s at another cape not more than 100 meters away).\u00a0 The setting is stunning, with beautiful beaches and cliffs\u2014and about a mile and a half hike for the adventurous (including me) from one of the beaches to the aptly named \u201cTwo Oceans Restaurant,\u201d which served some delicious seafood.\u00a0 I enjoyed the Cape Lobster, partly because someone told me it was less than an hour off the boat.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>We also had another stop at a penguin colony, in a nicer setting than Betty Bay, where I had been greeted by my little friends in tuxedos.\u00a0 This stop, part of the Table Mountain Marine Reserve, started with two pairs in 1982, and with encouragement (numbered fiberglass burrows), some food supplements, and changes in legislation and attitude in favor of environment, the colony is up to 2000.\u00a0 I wish I could swim as well as they do\u2014about 5 miles an hour\u2014but they look really graceful in search of food.\u00a0 Tis said they will feed within 6 miles of the colony.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
The 1890s British Hotel in Simon’s Town<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Finally, I did a little exploration of Simon\u2019s Town.\u00a0 There are some old buildings and a cute waterfront that is renovated.\u00a0 There was one marker I hadn\u2019t seen before though\u2014a monument to the diverse peoples of Simon\u2019s Town who lived together in peace until 1967. We weren\u2019t there long enough to piece everything together (there\u2019s a 1923 mosque in the town), but I suspect that during apartheid, the non-whites were forcibly evicted\u2014a sad reminder of the history that still haunts South Africa.<\/p>\n

We leave at 4 am for Zambia, in what I am sure will not be a \u201cthird world country in a first world setting,\u201d as Consul General\/Ambassador Taylor described Cape Town yesterday.<\/p>\n

Goodnight.\u00a0 Get ready for a Memorial Day weekend.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

We\u2019re leaving Cape Town in the morning for \u201cAfrica.\u201d\u00a0 I\u2019m sure it will be a shock to leave this first world ambience, which characterizes most of the Cape Town area we explored yesterday (the Consulate is in a swank neighborhood) and along the coast today.\u00a0 We did the \u201cCape tour\u201d which took us around the … Continue reading “A last look at the cape”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":36,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1441","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-south-africa-may-2015"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.iwu.edu\/factrack\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1441","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.iwu.edu\/factrack\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.iwu.edu\/factrack\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.iwu.edu\/factrack\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/36"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.iwu.edu\/factrack\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1441"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.iwu.edu\/factrack\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1441\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8514,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.iwu.edu\/factrack\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1441\/revisions\/8514"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.iwu.edu\/factrack\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1441"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.iwu.edu\/factrack\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1441"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.iwu.edu\/factrack\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1441"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}