Cape Town, Yours Truly

We've been having a wonderful time in gorgeous Cape Town. We are staying right by the ocean, have a favorite coffee shop downtown called "Yours Truly," and have been hiking around every day. Tanner, my high school buddy and ping pong nemesis, has also now joined Dave and I for the remainder of the trip.

A city of about 3.7 million, Cape Town is still largely segregated 19 years after the fall of apartheid. The beautiful coastline is inhabited by more affluent South Africans, while the poor townships are tucked away on the other side of the mountains, far out of sight. One of our hosts in Johannesburg remarked that you could grow up in a nicer part of Cape Town and never even know that hundreds of thousands of blacks lived in poverty a few miles away. While the laws that kept the rigid boundaries of apartheid in place are gone, the boundaries themselves largely live on. The lingering separations in South Africa certainly provide a stark contrast to a place like India where the poor and super-rich are so intermingled.

To be sure, the country is a lot like the US in that it has deep wounds from a long and brutal history of racial oppression that are still slowly healing. From my crude observations, though, I think things are -- understandably -- a lot fresher in the national psyche here. While there is a rising middle class of "Black Diamonds," it seems like integration hasn't made as much progress in the country as it has in at least some parts of the US. On the more positive side, however, I think people here are a little more open and honest about race in daily conversation. At the end of the day, our country and theirs both have a long way to go. The farther we get, I know the better off we'll all be.

Speaking of race, a black South African author we hung out with in Jo'berg was telling Dave the other day how he thinks it's ridiculous when African Americans like Oprah -- who has lived in America her whole life -- treat a visit to Africa as a coming home sort of thing. In front of hundreds, Oprah kissed the sacred African ground, talking about Africa as her long lost motherland. To him, besides the color of her skin, Oprah really has quite little to do with the Africa he knows and lives. I thought that was interesting.

I suppose it would be ridiculous if I were to go to Switzerland or France (or wherever I'm from) and kiss the ground in a big hullabaloo too. Still, I think there's something to be said about cherishing where you're from, no matter the generational gap.

Anyway, here's a few hiking photos...

Yours truly,

S.R.L.

Lion's Head.

Hiking it, with Table Mountain somewhat visible in the background. It's great to have Tanner on board!  

Scaling the steep rocks. Thankfully there were a few stainless steel outcroppings fortuitously jutting out at some of the trickier spots.

Nearing the top.

Coming down, victorious. 

The World Cup stadium. Our hostel was to the lower left.

Dinkmeisters.

On top of Table Mountain with our hostel roommate/ massive new Norwegian friend, Ruben. He's from a town of 300 in Norway, but loves traveling and seeking thrills. A few years back, he came to the US as an exchange student for high school in Oregon, just long enough for the football coach to convince him to play running-back and to win a state championship, doing what every kid dreams of, although in this case doing so just a few months after learning how to play. It wasn't wasted on him though, he still carries his ring around with him everywhere he goes.

The view from Chapman's Peak, on what is widely thought to be one of the most beautiful roads in the world. It's the site of many a car commercial, and at least one James Bond scene.

Cape of Good Hope.

Curiosity.

Grasshopper on a rock.

 The sun does it again.