Cape Town

Cape Town has been an interesting experience thus far. Graeme (Karl's Dad) and Libby treat us very well and we are having a fabulous time with them. Sometimes when sitting eating breakfast on the stoop it makes me feel like I'm on some American tv programme about wealthy Californians (like Entourage except without the entourage!).
Cape Town is stunningly beautiful. Beautiful beaches, buildings, weather (although the 'Cape Doctor' wind has kept us cool some days). We've been for walks and climbed Lions Head which was a bit of a scramble at the end and required pauses on the way down to wait for the gusts to pass us by.

We visited a cheetah park where cheetahs are reared for breeding and education purposes. Wellington Zoo also help by sponsoring dogs which are trained there to protect sheep. Cheetahs annoy farmers by eating their sheep and so the farmers shoot the cheetahs. The dogs are trained to become part of the flock of sheep and scare away the cheetahs.

We spent the day today driving around the 'Winelands' visiting a number of 'wine farms'. These wine farms are huge and decadent affairs with a tremendous amount of money spent on the aesthetics of the restaurants and gardens etc let alone the vines themselves. There were spectacular views of the vineyards and mountains all along this area. We had a delicious meal at one of the vineyards. I had my first taste of African fare, springbok and a taste of Graeme's kudu.

All of this is in stark contrast to the lives of many around here. On our way to and from the Winelands we passed Khayelitsha. This is a massive township on the Cape Flats. Home to over 2 million people. The government has begun to build housing with water, electricity and sewage systems, however, there are still so many people living in shacks made of corrugated iron with roofs held down by tyres. Apparently, illegal immigration adds to the problem as people arrive faster than the government can even begin to build houses. In the 10 years that Graeme and Libby have been here, this township has increased in size tremendously.

Also difficult to come to terms with as we cruise the streets in Libby's beamer is the fact that any person walking along the street in the residential areas is black, every gardener, street seller, parking attendant is black. I can't help but wonder what their lives are actually like. And what will happen next in this country of extremes.