We thought we would have a much quieter day today following yesterdays excitement. It was only when lying in bed last night and reflecting on the day that it really sank in. I think it took that long for the adrenaline rush to subside. I don't think I actually mentioned yesterday how cold the water is. It's winter don't forget and that piece of water we were thrown in had just come straight up from the Antartic and was just a tad on the chilly side. The other thing that hadn't occurred to me till much later was isn't this the place people come to see Great White Sharks? Oh how we chuckled over that this morning at breakfast! I am pleased to report that Kieran's leg is OK, though you should see the bruise.
So, we thought we would kill the day by visiting some museums before our helicopter ride and Sunset cruise. The cloud I have ordered is well and truly here and the table cloth I was hoping for resembles a bloody great blanket and Table Mountain is nowhere to be seen! So, I may not get that shot after all.
The first thing we happened on today was a market just by the Castle of Good Hope. We have discovered that by far the cheapest way to get around town is by matatu, taxi-minibuses. These guys drive like they are crazy, of course, the more fares they get, the more money they make, so they all drive at high speed and it is a huge race competeing for fares and I guess the quicker you drive around Cape Town, the more times you get to go around it, meaning more fares, meaning more money. There doesn't seem to be a limit as to how many people they will squeeze into one of these things either and the locals don't seem to be that fussed about where or who they sit on. As Kieran discovered this evening when, amongst all the arses and elbows that we were jammed up against, an elderly gentlemen just plonked himself right in his lap. Unfortunately I didn't know the Swahili for, "excuse me sir, you are sitting on my son" and niether could I converse to the lady beside me "madam, your elbow is crushing my testicles".
The market wasn't much to write home about but Dan was able to get his hair 'dread-locked' properly here, and whilst we were waiting for Angela from The Congo to finish the job, a huge commotion suddenly made it's way up the street. If there were going to be protests against the government, it was going to be a day when we decided to visit down town! K and I went to check it out, it looked a little hairy in places so I quickly deposited kieran back to the safety of Angela from The Congo, grabbed my camera bag and decided to mingle. This was to good an opportunity to miss.
Now, I had seen protest marches before in Athens, and had coped resaonably well when confronted with around a 1000 angry Greeks marching towards me whilst I sat in the middle of the road to get that perfect low shot, but a 1000 angry South Africans wielding pick axes, shovels and clubs was something totally different. I had 2 choices, run like hell, or stand my ground. I chose the latter and it was like the parting of the Red Sea when they reached me and swarmed all around me as they passed, whisking me up in the melee and carrying me along for good measure. God knows what they were chanting, but it sounded good so I joined in and soon became part of the hubbub and I would say they took to me pretty well, the only white face amonst this ocean of chaos and occasionally they would stop and let me take their photo, or I would be tapped on the shoulder and the scowls and shouting would change to toothless grins to pose for me. Once establishuing that I was not in any immediate danger, I ran back and got the boys, Angela from The Congo had finished the mission in hand and had been paid, and we went back to view the march from a safe(ish) distance. Unfortunately, it had pretty much died down by the time we reached the crowd, so we didn't stay too long, and decided to go and visit some museums instead!
This pretty much took up the rest of the afternoon, well that and some shopping on Long Street where my son shops like a woman. Well and truly stocked up on Vans (shoes) now, well who can resist a bargain at 15UKpounds a pair. We've also got hats, big old woolly hats in Rastafarian colours, what with Dan and his dreadlocks and Kieran in his multicoloured beany, it was like walking round Cape Town with Bob Marley and his brother!
Because it was so cloudy the helicopter ride was cancelled, just as well, knowing our luck we would have flown straight into the side of Table Mountain, and we decided to knock the sunset cruise on the head as well as it would be more like 'The Fog' than 'Tequila Sunrise'
We pushed the boat out tonight and dined at a great resteraunt in Cape Town called Ngoni's Kraal. Kieran, being Kieran decided to find out who the owner is on arrival and within minutes Colin Nygoni, the owner was sitting with us and was learning all about our adventures so far. Colin has a son who is also 9, and I think he took a shine to us, and as well as desserts on the house, Dan and Kieran were given free T-Shirts. We have decided to see how much stuff we can blag this trip, and so far the count is 1 helicopter ride, which we hope to take tomorrow, a sunset cruise which we are going to give to Sandra and Zak, and Irish lady and her 10 year old son who have been travelling around the world and we have become friendly with, and 5 T-shirts. Not bad for 5 days work I guess.
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