Adjust the local music to your liking!

Dear Family and Friends,

Hello again from the S. S. Universe Explorer!  I'm now a few days out of Cape Town, South Africa and have some time to reflect on my experiences.  The seas have been extremely rough the past couple of days and, needless to say, a lot of people are getting seasick.  However, I'm happy to report that my iron stomach and I are holding up!  Cape Town, South Africa was like nothing I've ever experienced.  Such immense beauty and horrid squalor juxtaposed so close together.  It's hard to even try to describe it in words, it really has to be seen with your own eyes.  I'll describe it the best I can, but remember, my descriptions won't even come close to giving it justice.
Without a doubt, Cape Town and its surrounding vicinity is the most beautiful place I've ever visited.  We woke up early on the morning of March 18th, as our ship waited quietly in the harbor, and were greeted with a spectacular view of the sun rising and Table Mountain sitting proudly above the city of Cape Town.  I had my heart set of hangliding off Lion's Head, a nearby mountain, the first day however I was disheartened to hear that the winds weren't very favorable and that you needed reservation well in advance.  Not to be let down, Jimmy and I decided to take a ferry out to Robben Island, the South African equivalent to Alcatraz.  Robben Island used to be a leper colony and was later converted to a maximum security prison.  The prison recently closed in 1994 and has since been converted to a museum.  This is the same place where Nelson Mandella spent 18 years of his life as a political prisoner.  I saw his cell, as I toured the prison grounds, along with many exotic plants and wildlife.  The island was teeming with wildlife and we saw ostrich, penguins, springbok, snakes, and seals.  There were also many shipwrecks that dotted the rocky shores.  By the time we got back to the mainland it was time for dinner on the ship and then Jimmy, Shabby, Crystal, and I drove to the top of Signal Hill to watch the sunset.  It was beautiful and we stayed a couple extra hours to watch the stars come out.  I was amazed to see many of the same constellations that we have in the Northern sky.  Orion, The Little Dipper, The Big Dipper, and Cassiopeia, were easily spotted.  I also made sure to note the Southern Cross and we saw loads of shooting stars and satellites.  It was a very relaxing evening!  We got back to the ship and decided to head out for a night on the town.  We walked along the main street in Cape Town until we came upon a five star hotel that had a glass elevator.  After some smooth talking, I convinced the people in the hotel to allow us to use the elevator even though we weren't hotel guests.  The person that showed us around and later invited me to play their grand piano, in the main lobby, for their hotel guests.  It was a very fun experience indeed!  After the hotel we made our way to "Mama Africa's," a nice restaurant with indigenous tribal music.  I ate exotic foods like Springbok, Kabu, Ostrich, and Crocodile.  I liked them all except for the Ostrich which, no, did not taste like chicken.  After wining and dining the night away it was time to head back to the ship for a good night's rest.
The next morning, Dave, Jimmy, and I got an early breakfast and headed to the train station.  Our destination was Stellenbosh, the heart of wine country.  We arrived there an hour later and proceeded to roam the streets, we stumbled upon the "Stumble Inn", a youth hostel where we would later spend the night.  The town of Stellenbosh was located in the heart of the mountains and the views were spectacular!  We made our way to the Simonsberg Cheese Factory, where we got huge blocks of cheese for the equivalent of 75 cents in the US!  We then visited the Bergkelder Winery where we took a tour and got to sample 35 wines for 84 cents.  As you can imagine, the wine was ridiculously cheap as well.  After the tour we walked around the town and Jimmy and I decided to get our hair cut.  It was very interesting and took about an hour and a half.  The guy who had cut my hair before had never cut a white person's hair before so he had a lot of fun styling it before he actually got around to cutting it.  I was everything from a punk rocker to a guy right out of the 50's! We then got a bite to eat and hit the streets for a night with the locals.  Stellenbosh has a large university so the nightlife was just like that of a college town in the US. It was a whole lot of fun.  After a night of partying with the locals we called it a night and headed back to the Stumble Inn for some much deserved shut eye.
Early the next morning we took a train back to Cape Town.  We decided to buy a third class ticket this time around because it was cheaper and we wanted a little adventure.  It was very interesting to be the only three white people on the train.  We didn't feel threatened at all and enjoyed the experience because we felt more like a local South African.  We got back to Cape Town and met up with our new friend Feroz.  Feroz has lived in Cape Town all of his life and is related to one of my friends at Cornell.  We had been emailing for awhile before I started my voyage and he was nice enough to take Dave, Jimmy, and I around Cape Town area for a day. We started off with a tour around the city and then proceeded to Camp's Bay where we had a beautiful view of the "12 Apostle's" a mountain range that extends behind Table Mountain.  Along the way we passed through some very rich neighborhoods with some very impressive houses.  Many of these houses are built into the mountains and have their own private cable cars.  These people were rich!  We then proceeded along the coast, which is considered the most beautiful stretch of coastline in the world, and for good reason.  The mountains rise straight out of the water and produce very impressive landscapes.  We ended up in Boulder's Beach where a large colony of penguins makes it's home.  I had a great time frolicking with the penguins amongst the rocks.  I didn't pet any for fear of being bitten, however, we did get very close.  We then proceeded to the very tip of the cape and ran into a troupe of baboons along the way!  Some of them were even jumping on people's cars!  We finally made it to our main destination, Cape Point, the meeting point of the Atlantic and Indian Oceans.   We hiked up to the lighthouse at the tip and were greeted with an unbelievable view.  After a while of enjoying the scenery, we drove back to Cape Town.  We said goodbye to our friend Feroz, gathered our sleeping bags, and made our way up Signal Hill, yet again, to watch the sunset and the stars come out.  We slept on top of a roof and had a great time shooting the breeze.  We fell asleep fairly quickly and woke up early enough to watch the sunrise the next day.  We then hiked down back to the ship and got ready for another day of adventure.
Because South Africa is considered part of the third world, I was expecting the city of Cape Town to be very run down, however, I was surprised to find quite the opposite.  In fact, it's quite a modern city.  That morning, Dave, Jimmy, and I met up with our friend Steve and decided to explore "The Waterfront" area of Cape Town.  This area looks surprisingly like the United States because there are several malls and American icons like "Planet Hollywood".  This is the same Planet Hollywood that was bombed, in a terrorist attack, back in August of 1998.  As I was walking through many of these malls, I felt that  I could have easily been in either the Natick Mall or Carousel Mall.  Jimmy and Dave bought some camera equipment and we then walked to the flea market which was located outside the soccer stadium.  It is very easy to barter with people in these countries and I have a feeling that it will be very difficult not to be able to do so once I get back in the US.  After a few hours of bargaining, talking with the locals, and getting some good deals on handicrafts, it was time to head back to the ship.  Earlier in the day we had arranged to have a tour of the townships that afternoon.  The townships lie on the perimeter of Cape Town and are the areas where most of the black and colored (part black and part white) people live.  Up until this point, I thought that Cape Town was a terrific place.  Everywhere I had gone, I felt safe and the sights were beautiful.  I was in for a major shock.  We drove through township after township for four hours.  Here and there we would get out and interact with the local people.  There is no way to describe the sights I saw in words.  All I can say that as Americans, we are very lucky to live where we do.  The people that live in these townships literally have nothing.  Their houses are made out of random boards and pieces of metal that they were able to gather.  Even though apartheid has ended, nothing has changed.  Think of the United States, slavery ended over 100 years ago but things still aren't equal between blacks and whites.  These things take a lot of time.  As of now, the people in these townships seem to have no hope for a bright future.  It was also depressing to learn that in many areas throughout the townships they average one murder per night.  We saw some of this violence directly.  One woman invited us into her home but her husband didn't want us to be there.  They proceeded to fight, first verbally and then physically, right in front of us, it was a very sad and sobering experience.  One of the highlights of my township visit was a home that I was invited into in one of the more "affluent" townships.  This place was tiny but the woman who lived there made space for a keyboard.  I told her that I could play and she insisted that I did so.  After I played for awhile, I asked here to play and she played some gospel hymns.  Even though we didn't speak the same language, she only spoke Afrikaans, we were able to communicate through music.  It was very touching.  Some other people in my group had a Polaroid camera and they were invited into a home where a woman had a newborn baby.  They took a picture of the mother with the 3 week old baby so that they could keep it for memories.  It was another very moving experience.  I can go on and on how affected I was by this township visit but it doesn't do you any good.  I'm sorry but I just can't describe the destitute situation that these people live in.  It's downright depressing.  I can't even fathom the fact how it's possible to have such a large disparity of wealth.  Just footsteps from each other live the very rich and the very poor.  I'll show you my pictures when I get back in the hopes that they will describe things better than I have done.  We then left the townships and had dinner back on the ship.  We spent our few remaining hours in Cape Town wandering around the waterfront and talking about the townships which we had just visited.  Cape Town was a truly unbelievable four days.  We boarded the ship with tears in our eyes and set sail for our next port, Mombasa, Kenya.
A few nights ago our student union was turned into a Vegas Casino!  "Students of Service," a charity organization on the ship raised over $3,000 with games like Poker, Black Jack, and Roulette.  It was a fantastic time and we even had a Vegas Show Spectacular.  My friend Steve (from the hostel in the Bahamas) teamed up with my roommate Chuck (who now has his own band) to do an unbelievable Elvis routine.  Steve does a great Elvis impression and sounded great with the live music of Chuck's band to back him up.  We also had some Divas who were pretty funny as well.  Swing is also alive and well of the ship and we spent a few nights "jumping" and "jiving" the nights away.
Well, Kenya is fast approaching and I must prepare for my upcoming safari and visit to the plant research station so I'm signing off for now.  I hope everything is well with you and that you write me lots and lots of mail!  Thanks for reading. . .

Your friend,

        -Pat

Last Updated September 28th, 2001

© 2001, Pat Lilja
Semester at Sea is a registered mark of the Institute for Shipboard Education