There were three stops in South Africa. The first was Durban. I had an important assignment and was in dire need of wifi to download a multitude of journals. The wifi on the ship made my dial up back in 1997 seem cutting edge. So we spent most of the day in a hotel, and did not see much of Durban. But I wrote a great piece on the rabies virus’ ability to evade the immune system, which I’m sure beats all of Durban’s sights. These are the ship’s lanterns in Durban harbour anyway.
A few days later we arrived in Mossel Bay. Its harbour could not accommodate our ship so we had to go ashore in the life boats, which was absolutely thrilling! We felt like big eyed kids watching them being winched down, and the grown ups in us found it a bit worrying how slow the process was. But what was more exciting was the notion of these waters being filled with white sharks! It has been a life long dream of mine to cage dive among them, but since it isn’t eco-system friendly, I can’t bloody do it. But I’m sure they were there, lurking beneath the life boat, biding their time.
We went on a more ethical kind of safari and saw the usual suspects. Waterbucks (seen above), rhinos (de-horned to prevent poaching), giraffes, lots of different antelope species…
…wildebeests and adorable zebras. Some odd decade ago, just outside Nairobi, I saw wild zebras for the first time, and I shrieked like a lunatic. I still (almost) shriek when I see all kind of animals, even though I handle them everyday at work. Their presence never ceases to amaze and amuse me.
These magnificent lions lived in the national park, but were kept semi-wild in order to protect them from poachers. Seeing all these animals was fantastic, but could not be compared to the safaris that we have been to in Serengeti.
A geological lion’s head (that’s what this mountain is called) greeted our ship the next day when we arrived in Cape Town early morning. There is something dramatic about approaching a foggy, cloudy coastline – almost as if there is a thought behind what parts it chooses to reveal.
We were welcomed rather suspiciously.
We wanted to go up table mountain, and see the rock hyrax (a furry little animal related to elephants), but queues were ridiculous so we walked around and marvelled at art deco buildings instead. I love these reliefs of regional animals – here elephants and baboons can be seen. Little local details like that makes me inexplicably happy. There is something about themes that appeal to me immensely.
We visited the South African National Gallery, and were introduced to Moses Tladi’s beautiful paintings. Tladi (pronounced with a click) was the first black artist to be exhibited in SA. They also had an impressive Flemish collection.
We managed to find a protea species, and I got thrilled again since it is SAs national flower – appealing to my theme spirit.
In the afternoon we had reservations at Belmont Mount Nelson Hotel, where we had the best afternoon tea we have ever had. As a life-long anglophile I have had my fair share. Champagne (SA version so not real) was very cheap…
…and things got slightly out of hand. We got increasingly greedy and gluttonous, and continued to a wine tasting bar in the harbour, where we stayed until we almost missed the ship at midnight. So many deadly sins in one day.