Whoever uttered the above quote never flew from Los Angeles<\/b> to London, London<\/b> to Johannesburg and Johannesburg<\/b> to Cape Town<\/b> on a journey that included 26 hours of flying<\/b> and 17 hours of lay-overs<\/b>. \u00a0I think I experienced a bending of the space-time continuum \u2013 I may have even spent some time in the Twilight Zone<\/b>; I\u2019m not sure where I was; I wasn\u2019t even sure who <\/i>I was.\u00a0 All I know is I left Los Angeles at 5:00 Friday afternoon and arrived in Cape Town, South Africa at 3:30 Sunday afternoon.\u00a0 Somebody owes me a Saturday!<\/p>\n
Being There<\/span><\/p>\n 12 Apostles Hotel & Spa<\/p><\/div>\n I can\u2019t remember the last time I stayed in a suite at a Five-Star hotel . . . OK, maybe never.\u00a0 I can tell you it\u2019s nothing like camping in the desert.\u00a0 But when we checked into 5-Star The Twelve Apostles Hotel & Spa<\/i><\/b>\u00a0those long hours getting there just seemed to . . . nah, my back still hurt.\u00a0 <\/i>\u201cThe 12A\u201d as it\u2019s affectionately called, sits on the coast, by itself, between Cape Town<\/strong> and the Cape of Good Hope<\/b>, and it is magnificent!\u00a0 Our oceanfront suite allowed us to sit on our deck and watch the sun sink into the Atlantic \u2013 and all this time we Californians thought the sun always <\/i>sank into the Pacific.\u00a0 The facility, the location and particularly the staff, were marvelous.\u00a0 With \u201cThe 12A\u201d as our base, and with the help of our expert guide, Craig Ziman, we squeezed in as many \u2018points of interest\u2019 that we could in three days.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/b>Seeing There<\/span><\/p>\n Table Mountain<\/p><\/div>\n Table Mountain <\/b>\u2013 it\u2019s a must to take the gondola to the top and spend some time checking out the spectacular views of the cape below from various points.\u00a0 You can even repel down part of the way if you choose \u2013 I didn\u2019t choose.\u00a0 Cape Point <\/b>\u2013 better known as the Cape of Good Hope, where the currents of the Atlantic and Indian Oceans meet was a bit disappointing in that you really couldn\u2019t tell where the Atlantic Ocean left off and the Indian Ocean began \u2013 I suggested they should dye them different colors – I don’t think they were listening.<\/p>\n Ever stay up nights wondering exactly who fought in the Boar Wars?\u00a0 We visited the Castle of Good Hope<\/b>, which is filled with military memorabilia where you can find the answer to that question.\u00a0 We visited a penguin<\/b> beach, yep, penguins in South Africa, as well as the Waterfront <\/b>(shopping and restaurants), Camps Bay <\/b>(more shopping and more restaurants), the diamond district <\/b>(guys, don\u2019t let your wives go shopping there!), where we learned that most diamonds naturally come in . . . you guessed it, a diamond shape. \u00a0We also took a trip out to the wine area of South Africa, conveniently called The Winelands<\/b>. \u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n “Township”<\/p><\/div>\n Juxtaposed to the quaint, up-scale villages and elegant homes in The Winelands are the shanties, euphemistically called Townships<\/b>, which line the freeway for miles leading back into Cape Town.\u00a0 The shanties are a 10 x 10 foot room made from aluminum siding and plywood with no running water and public port-o-potties for bathrooms.\u00a0 We were told that over one million people are living in such conditions. \u00a0Apartheid has ended and there are many wonderful sights here, but this is a clear sign that the complete development of South Africa is still a work-in-progress.<\/p>\n The Best Reason to Go<\/span><\/p>\n It\u2019s about an hour\u2019s boat ride from the Cape Town Waterfront District<\/b> to Robben\u2019s Island<\/b>, where Nelson Mandela spent 18 of his 27 years of incarceration. The prisoner\u2019s living quarters varied from one room jammed with 30-40 prisoners, to a single 8 x 8 cell, to something smaller, that were previously used as dog kennels.\u00a0 Food was bad and sparse; prisoners were forced to work 8-10 hours a day in lime mines on the island and were often physically and mentally tortured for various reasons or for no reason at all.\u00a0 Solitary confinement was worse.<\/p>\n Robben Island cell<\/p><\/div>\n Our tour of the island\u2019s prison was conducted by a former prisoner who talked about conditions in the prison.\u00a0 He said, \u201cThey tried every way possible to beat us down, they torture us and treated us like animals, but in the evening we were able to gather together for about an hour or so and we would use that time to educate ourselves \u2013 there was a saying, \u2018Each One, Teach One\u2019 \u2013 that way those who could read taught others to read, those who knew math taught other to do math and so on.\u00a0 The main thing we continued to reinforce with each other was that whatever they did to us, we were not going to let them break our spirit.\u00a0 At night, if time and guards allowed, we would sing, we would dance, we would do little plays for ourselves \u2013 anything to keep our spirit alive \u2013 that was the most important thing, to keep our spirit alive.\u201d\u00a0 <\/i><\/p>\n “African Spirit”<\/p><\/div>\n We came away from Robben\u2019s Island amazed and inspired, but what we didn\u2019t know was that we were about to experience that \u2018spirit\u2019 on our boat trip back to Cape Town.\u00a0 We started our return trip sitting on benches on the outside deck of the boat, but as the sun went down it quickly cooled and we moved inside.\u00a0 Soon after we came inside, a middle-aged black man stood up and started singing in a native language, other blacks, men and women, quickly joined in and although they didn\u2019t all know each other, they all knew the song and each would either join in singing the melody, harmonies or a background beat \u2013 they sounded as if they\u2019d been rehearsing this routine together for years. \u00a0It didn\u2019t take long before all the black men and women were up singing and dancing in the aisles.\u00a0 We few whites on board just stood, listened and watched in amazement.\u00a0 The music was so infectious, I tried to join in, and with the help of the black gentleman standing next to me, I learned a couple of words and joined in the singing.\u00a0 If my skin color didn\u2019t give me away, my voice and my dance moves did; I soon realized what I should be doing is recording this \u2013 so I did.<\/p>\n As we prepare to move to the next phase of our journey, the safaris, we are amazed at all the wonderful things we saw in and around Cape Town, but what I will remember most are the people \u2013 their great smiles and wonderful dispositions.\u00a0 I\u2019m not sure how they do it, but I\u2019m thinking it has something to do with that great \u2018African Spirit\u2019 that will not be broken. \u00a0Perhaps it is about the journey.<\/p>\n Next: African Diary \u2013 Part 3\u00a0 Game Drives<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" by Bob Sparrow (from Africa) \u201cIt\u2019s not about the destination, it\u2019s about the journey\u201d \u00a0Getting There Whoever uttered the above quote never flew from Los Angeles to London, London to Johannesburg and Johannesburg to Cape Town on a journey that … read more![\"12A\"](\"https:\/\/fromabirdseyeview.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/05\/12A.jpeg\")
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