Early January of 1999, my husband learned he needed to have replaced his right shoulder. He was 45 years, and arthritis meant that he had already undergone two hip operations. The bad news is that there was not a qualified surgeon in Zimbabwe to combat this process, so we had to operate outside the country of travel. The good news is that one of the world's leading specialists in the shoulder, Cape Town, a city that we so much from people who lived there had been heeded. ThenZimbabwe was still six months away from the descent into tragedy, is now, so it was easy to make an appointment with the surgeon to map the costs associated with our company and the air medical assistance for the purchase and contact a friend who has transferred would have been a few years earlier if requested accommodation. It took six weeks to get everything organized, and in early March, we boarded the flight from Harare to Johannesburg and then Cape Town.
Our friend Pete was waiting for us toAirport. After collecting our luggage, we went to his house. The trip across the highway to the airport in Cape Town was our entrance into the city we would call home for the next ten days. The highway has been washed in very good condition and ran through the areas that drained the lane of the road toward the distant mountains. But ten minutes later we arrived at the slum, which had been erected beside the highway.
It was a bleak reminder of ten years afterIndependence of the contrast between rich and poor is perhaps worse. Rusted sheets of corrugated iron and wood, cardboard and wire combined to protect a very uncomfortable when a family called their home form - the huts, where the slums have been any material known to man did. Even more alarming is the fact that many of the houses were shacks wires running to the airlines. This was apparently sanctioned by the dangerous combinationElectricity Board - Pete told us that the community and the government can not keep up with demand for housing for the poorest members of society, and preferred to leave untouched the slums! A waste disposal operating costs by local authorities was carried out to help the slum living. We have seen a number of slums along the main roads during our stay in Cape Town.
Pete lives in a suburb of Somerset West, and his house was a practical andvery modern house in a cluster consisting of about 30 apartments. This lifestyle is very popular in South Africa for reasons of safety and reduced operating costs. The complexes are well maintained, because each owner contributes to the care and maintenance. Some complexes provide communal living for all children's playgrounds, tennis courts and swimming pools. The owners are usually able to keep pets, because every house has a private garden. There is also abest way to live in Africa if you need to travel or go on holiday - keep an eye on the neighbors while you are away. My husband and I were so impressed by this kind of life that we bought a year later in a complex group of my former employers have been hit in Marketing Harare. When we sold our house in 2003 we invested the money in a house the second cluster. If you want to live in Africa is certainly very important, and a cluster home complex offers the best securityfor the houses.
Pete is a bachelor, so that during the night has prepared a barbecue grill Weber in his unit. His friend Pat came to help with cooking, and we had a wonderful evening. The view from Pete's house was great. Somerset West is built on a hill above the town, and the view from his porch offers the classic view of Cape Town - the sprawling city at the foot of majestic Table Mountain, the lighthouse and the Atlantic Ocean. His house had three bedrooms, two bathrooms,a large living room, state of the art kitchen and outside laundry / utility room. He told us he spends most of his time on his porch, or in his garden.
The next morning we had our appointment with the surgeon who was a greek Zimbabwe - Basil Vrettos. After his examination and x-rays we booked into a private clinic, the schedule for the 8.00 am the next morning. When we asked men to go to the hospital that evening, Mr. Vrettos told us to book more 6:00next morning, urging us to spend the day relaxing and walking around Cape Town. He said that the merger would take four hours, and that the hospital stay only three days! We were thrilled. Pete had said goodbye to us during our stay, so the three of us entered the city.
Although Cape Town is a city, it is better organized and more environmentally friendly in Johannesburg, and as a result of non-proliferation in all directions. Driving in the city table mountain was clearlyvisible, to welcome and help us this morning, in what locals call the tablecloth. Although this is just blew up the white cloud above the mountain, when south-east wind blows, it is very impressive, and is a wonderful story that has developed around this phenomenon. A lesser-known mountain near Devils Peak Table Mountain states, and argues that a pirate named Van Hunks was living his days on the slopes of the mountain. One day he met a stranger, who challenged himfor a smoking contest. Van Hunks, the very one-sided, his pipe, the challenge was accepted, and the men spent several days on cable, smoking his pipe. As the clouds of smoke gathered, a wind blowing in Cape Town. Van Hunks won the contest and beaten stranger is revealed to the devil. This is how the Devil's Peak is named, and the cloud of smoke was known as the tablecloth.
Back to our itinerary. We drove to the Victoria and Albert Waterfront,Cape Town's most popular tourist attractions. We walked to the restaurant area, and saw some sea lions frolicking around one of the pillars. It was so interesting to watch, and seemed not to be afraid of boats and the noise in this section are well-developed port. We found a great restaurant right next to the sea, and ate an excellent lunch of calamari, shrimp and French friends, all washed down with beer and wine. We then continued our lunch, in some windowsof 400 branches, the water. We went to visit the craft market and museum before being Two Oceans Oceanarium, so named because two oceans meet at Cape Town - the icy cold Atlantic Ocean and the tropical heat of the Indian Ocean. Later we drove along the coast and stopped at the point where the ocean meet. One would expect a significant change or an indication that this meeting be convened to look at, but there was nothing except a great viewthe blue waves of the ocean.
The Oceanarium provides a unique representation of all marine life. We remained open-mouthed, looking at the Rockhopper penguins endangered African penguins and mixed with the oyster fishermen in a room designed to perfectly imitate their natural habitat - also their water directly from the sea. There is also a large hall, where visitors watch a colony of sea. This room is actually a part of the sea, and it contains huge rocks and sandy beaches barnacle encrustedfull of shells. The highlight for me was by a Plexiglas tunnel on foot, while sharks and other sea creatures massive glide around you. You can view the sharks to feed on standing in this tunnel, so that the impression, which was rather disturbing to sea with them while they eat. We were also able to handle starfish and sea urchins - the Oceanarium is known for educating children about their natural world, have a lot ofGuided tours for school classes. I will never forget you said that a squid is actually an incredibly intelligent beings, and many of the octopus can be seen in the Oceanarium staff! Do not stop me from eating them!
The next morning I left my husband out of the hospital, and spent the next few days pass between Somerset West and the hospital. The operation went very well, and care was excellent. My husband had a shoulder and not limitedthan replaced, because Mr. Vrettos said that damage to the arthritis can not guarantee the removal of bone from the shoulder. Three days later he was out of the hospital, the only evidence of his ordeal, the sling is released on his left arm. To celebrate, we decided to visit Table Mountain.
Towering above the city 1 km of Table Mountain is reached by a funicular, and the way the top is spectacular. The car turns around 360 degrees all the way up, offering passengers a unique view of the CapeCity. More than 600,000 people travel to the summit of Table Mountain every year. Many excursions are for those fit and enough energy to climb the mountain - but it takes at least six hours. The top of the mountain is three miles long to follow with lots of marked nature trails for visitors. The vegetation is incredibly, there are over 250 different species of daisies, and several species of plants that survive and thrive in the unique ecosystem of the tableMountain. This is a rare wild orchid and silver tree, which produces silver protea. The wildlife on the mesa is varied, including baboons, porcupines and the Table Mountain Ghost Frog. We saw none of these animals, but I lose my heart to a creature called Dassie rock. It looks like a rabbit, guinea pig the size, and surprisingly its closest relative is the elephant. They are incredibly docile and have no fear of humans. I wanted to take a house, but manignored my pleas rather pathetic! Table Mountain is one of the most popular tourist destinations in Africa, but there is still a relatively natural habitats. There is a restaurant at the top and a post office where the mail with the stamp of Table Mountain. At the foot of the mountain is a gift shop, and bought a small fridge-magnet in the shape of a wine bottle full of small stones from Table Mountain. Today, the magnet sits on my refrigerator door here in Greece.
I shouldname a few other mountains here. Signal Hill is a hill, relatively flat floor with a complete view of the city and the sea. There is a cannon on the hill, a legacy of British rule on the Cape at the end of the 19 th Century. Originally, the cannons were fired to announce the sighting of a ship. Ship to India from Great Britain would have filled a stop in Cape Town for supplies before continuing their journey. Today the guns are fired at noon every day -except Sundays and public holidays. Another name for Signal Hill is the Lions Rump. This is because in reality it is a natural extension of the mountain called Leeukop, an Afrikaans name meaning lion's head. From one point of this mountain actually looks like a lion's head.
We visited the sanctuary in Africa's largest bird, the bird world. It houses over 3000 species of birds, visitors walk through the huge aviaries and experience what it would be like to see these birdsin the wild. I remember an enormous hornbill, with an affinity for the visitors - he sat on his thin, calling people scratching their heads. It was at least the height of my upper body and very bright with a frighteningly large curved beak feathers. The bird life includes eagles, swans, herons, Guinea fowl, flamingos and a variety of rare birds from around the world. World of Birds takes care of injured birds, and is a breeding center for endangered species. The center is also home to a numbervarious mammals, and we saw meerkats, squirrels, mongooses, foxes, cats and a giant tortoise Genet relaxing in homes large and very comfortable. I can not bear to see animals in cages, so for me to walk through the aviaries and cages was like in the wild bush.
No trip to Cape Town is complete without a visit to one of the local wineries. South African wine is world famous, and the Chief of vineyards can be seen even angry. A number of wine routes areavailable, but not actually part of a crowd, and because we had an excellent guide in the form of Pete, we have our way through the districts of Paarl and Constantia. We stopped at two wineries excellent. The first thing we had on the porch in a friendly and old Dutch Gable style house compliments glasses of wine with an assortment of delicious cheeses SA The second vineyard called Meerlust and why I remember the name, because the framework of our tastings.They are sitting on a knobby Rhodesian teak table in the basement. Surrounded by a massive hundred barrels of wine, we tasted some really good Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon, Pinotage and Chardonnay. There was also an excellent rose, and some gorgeous harbor. Pete, husband and I take several bottles to take home. On the way back down the winding roads, we stopped at a restaurant Green, originally an office of the stationmaster. The old building, complete with railroad tracks was a realPiece of memorabilia from the rich and varied history of the Cape.
That evening we went to the first international cricket match to watch in Paarl. Sri Lanka were beaten by South Africa in front of 9,000 spectators. A number of players from both teams are still active in the world of cricket today - Muralitharan, Kallis, Gibbs and Boje are names that I remember. It 'been a day-night game, which means that the second innings was played at night, and began to clock 20.30. There was a lunar eclipsethat night - I had never seen one, and it was pretty impressive, even if viewed without binoculars. Sitting on the lawn, drinking wine and eating sausages and syrupy sweet Koeksisters (braided bread, fried and then dipped in syrup), while an international cricket match at the stars ... even if you are not a cricket fan is a special experience.
My only regret is that they have the opportunity to visit Robben Island. When used as a leper colony, the island is 12Miles cost and clearly visible from Table Mountain. Robben during the 19 century, Iceland has said several ships laden with treasures and coins have been washed ashore from shipwrecks. In the second half of the 20 th century Iceland Robben was famous as a prison, and one of its most famous occupant was Nelson Mandela, who spent 27 years in a cell on the island.
We left Cape Town a few days later, after her husband had the green light to Mr. Vrettos. After the birthand raised in Zimbabwe, I visited several cities in South Africa. Cape Town is unique, and is a city that I would call home for 1 day. The combination of sea and mountains with the wonderful story Cape Town make it a perfect varied and interesting. Cape Town is very different from other cities in South Africa as Durban, Johannesburg and Pretoria, it is a truly international city. People from all over the world have decided theirHomes. The first settlers of the Cape are the Dutch, the French and the English, who have left their mark in this very beautiful city. We have friends who live in Johannesburg, and we say that they (the financial hub of Johannesburg in South Africa), there for the money. Johannesburg residents are complaining that people are very relaxed from Cape Town, because their life is less stressful. I agree with the premise, and I would even say that I have chosenQuality of life over quantity any day. Cape Town is a beautiful vibrant city.
0 comments:
Post a Comment