Dear South Africa,
I feel like we have become so close in our short time together, I couldn't leave without writing you a letter. An interesting friend, you have been gracious yet challenging. You are amazing, beautiful, and heartbreaking all at once, and I will think of you very fondly until we meet again.
Your clean, modern waterfront led us on the first day to a ferry ride to rugged and windswept Robben Island, where Nelson Mandela, Robert Sobukwe, and the gentleman who showed us the former maximum security prison were political prisoners for so many years before the end of Apartheid in 1994. While Jr, Grandpa, and I walked through dark hallways and past windswept rocky beaches on Robben Island, Sr was spending the day on a field lab for his Biomedical Ethics class in one of the black townships. He and his classmates served food in a soup kitchen and visited a school. The contrasts were just beginning to become clear to us this first day.
On our second day, you sent us off to the Eastern Cape town of Port Elizabeth by plane along with 26 other students, faculty, and lifelong learners from the ship. On the way to the airport, we saw golf courses on one side, neighborhoods of shacks made from corrugated metal on the other. After landing in Port Elizabeth, we drove 90 minutes to the small town of Kenton-on-Sea, then to the Kariega game reserve for a two and a half day safari. The facilities, guides, and animals were world-class. I'm pretty sure the chalet Sr, Jr, Grandpa, and I stayed in was bigger than our house in the US, plus it had a tiny swimming pool. It was easy to forget about the rest of the world while on safari, with days full of animal sightings and wonderful meals of mostly European style food. I will write a separate post about the safari, otherwise this letter will never get finished.
As we were leaving the game reserve on the fourth day to travel back through Port Elizabeth to Cape Town, you reminded us that we were still in a country with many infrastructure problems. For reasons that were never explained, 5 of our group were able to fly back on our originally scheduled flight to Cape Town, but the other 25 of us were bumped to a later flight. We Semester at Sea folks are nothing if not flexible, and we had lots of help from the local tour company agent to find a few things to do in Port Elizabeth during the hours before our rescheduled flight. Thanks to my colleague who volunteered to be the faculty member in charge of the small group who went back at the originally scheduled time. We weren't worried when it came to be our turn to arrive at the airport. When we checked in and found one student's ticket had not been rebooked on the later plane, South Africa, you put my trip leader skills to the test. After several calls back to the ship from the airport, we came up with the plan to swap the bumped female student with one of the adults on the trip. Sr volunteered to swap with her, so became the hero of the day. He also became the hero of the next day since that was when he finally was able to fly back to Cape Town. The student who did not have a seat on the flight was calm and collected the whole time, but extremely relieved when I came back to the ticket counter to swap her for Sr. Grandpa, Jr, I, and the remaining 21 people on the trip flew back to Cape Town and the ship that night. The tour company was a huge help once they knew of the situation, sending the guide who had already left the airport back to Port Elizabeth to help Sr work out the ticketing and waiting. In the end, Sr ended up in a hotel for the night in Port Elizabeth (with a nice dinner and breakfast), then on the morning flight. To make up for the mess-up, the tour company sent a car and driver to retrieve Sr from the airport and also take us around Cape Town the rest of the day. John was our friendly guide and he took us to several places, including the cute town of Stellenbosch, the botanical gardens at Kirstenbosch, and even the Two Oceans 8k race Sr was registered for around University of Cape Town. It turned out John's son and daughter were running in the same event's 5k, so he was able to see them start and finish while Sr was running. What started out as a scary situation the night before with a student stranded in the airport turned into a remarkable next day.
On the evening of that same day, Grandpa and I had tickets on a SAS "Jazz Safari" evening outing. 15 of us were transported by minivan to the home of professional jazz musician Blackie Tembe (sp?) who lives in the Guguleto township, about 20 minutes drive from the ship. His family hosted us for dinner in his home while a trio of trumpet, piano, and bass played jazz written by South African artists (including pieces Blackie had written). They were very good, and Sr especially enjoyed it. Blackie's niece, who lives next door and is a professional singer, also came in at one point and sang the famous Miriam Makeba "Click Song" which I really liked. Blackie's home was quite nice, his family was very welcoming, and he invited the students with musical abilities to join in. One of our students is quite a good musician, and played jazz piano with Blackie and his bass player for a few songs. The combined jam was a special few minutes. Next we were supposed to go to a jazz club in a different area, but when we got there, our seats had been given away. It was quite late, so most of us headed back to the ship with one of the evening's two guides. Grandpa and a few of the other people were able to find seats and stayed with the other guide for another hour. He said he enjoyed the contemporary jazz they heard in the club. South Africa, you showed your magical and generous side early that evening, and your growing pains at the end.
Do countries get moody? If so, then I think you were feeling that way yesterday. The huge winds started early yesterday morning and kept up all day, scuttling many plans for outdoor activities, including ours to visit the Simonstown area where there is a large colony of penguins. The tour company graciously recommended we cancel and promised a full refund. You showed us who was boss when Jr nearly got blown over on our walk back the ship. We stuck close to the ship all day, but we did see penguins at the very nice Two Oceans Aquarium, a short walk away at the Victoria and Alfred Waterfront. Apparently winds like those are a hallmark of the later fall and winter season in Cape Town, though fall is just beginning here in the Southern Hemisphere. We had lunch at an excellent Belgian restaurant on the waterfront. Helen, if you reading, I thought of you when I had my first Kwak since the one I had with you all those years ago. Yes, they held onto my left shoe. After a quick trip to a grocery store, it was back to the ship.
I'm not sure I have explained all of your South African contrasts in a way that makes sense, probably because I cannot make sense of them myself. While we were in port, several people from the ship had valuables and money stolen by thieves who approached them directly. No one was hurt that we know of. At the same time, nearly everyone I have heard talking about their experiences here have said they are already planning to return. As we traveled around the city and country, we saw spectacular luxury alongside absolute squalor. I think the contrast between have- and have-not is more pronounced here than even in India, perhaps because the promise of equality, freedom, and political reform is so strong. In the 18 years since the end of Apartheid, you have seen many changes, but I worry for you, my new friend, that you will continue to grow and change in the right direction. So goodbye for now to you, South Africa, the most enjoyable yet dangerous, orderly yet disorganized, developed yet struggling, port so far.
