Verse 41: Weekend - World Cup

Another weekend, another road trip. This time the car rental company gave me a Tata Indigo, such nice lil car with all the lil gadgets. Although it's an upgrade over the Kia Picanto I drove the last two trips, it isn't as versatile.; the handling is a bit off.

Ok, enough about cars.

My plan for this weekend is to drive along the southern coast of South Africa (and Africa, for that matter) to reach Cape Agulhas, the southern-most tip of Africa, or in some sense, the tip of the world. This route is known as the whale-watch route; as the name suggests, tons of day trippers take this drive, trying to see a whale or two along the way. At night, I'll stay at the nearby town called Struisbaai. I'll catch the sunrise at the tip and make my way to Gansbaai, where I'll do a dive with the great white sharks. I'll explain the dive. A boat is going to take me into the ocean, I'll be in scuba gears and be locked inside a metal cage. Then the cage is going to be dropped into the ocean, and along with it, large chunks of raw meat. The blood from the meat is going to draw in the great whites. In the mean time, I'll be in a metal cage watching the whole process... After the shark dive, I'll head back to Khayelitsha where I'm going to take a few of my colleagues to the beach. Sunday, I'll drive to Cape of Good Hope once again, the weather wasn't co-operating last time so I didn't waste my R85 entrance fee.

Chapter 1: Smooth Drive

I started out early on Friday, picked up my car and left Cape Town at 1PM. With ocean on my right side and newly paved roads bending gently around the shore, I sat back, shifted into 5th gear, and cruised at a good speed; I should make it to the point by sunset.



Chapter 2: Back to Hermanus

It was 6 weeks ago Anna drove to Oudtshoorn where we rode ostriches and explored Cango Caves. En-route, we made a detour to Hermanus which I remembered as a very nice coastal town. The charm of Hermanus didn't stop me as long this time, I did some grocery shopping and was quickly back on the road. The next town on the route is Kleinmond. It seemed a tad bigger than Hermanus, but the coastal area isn't as scenic. Past Kleinmond, trouble started.

Chapter 3: Road to Napier

I was behind in time. The newly paved road is no more. Underneath my tires laid dirt and medium-sized rocks. I had to drive slow to avoid skidding. There were no road signs for many miles; the sun was quickly setting. Luckily I didn't miss any turns. I ended up at Napier at around 5PM, the sun sets in half and hour.



Chapter 4: The Tip of the World

They call Napier the gateway to the tip of Africa. From there, there's a perfectly straight road going south. Once I reached Struisbaai, signs were everywhere to guide visitors to the point. There's a light house at the point; I was very excited to see it. The colour of the water isn't the usual deep blue; at the southern coast, it's light green with white waves scribbled across the surface. I've made it, I'm at the tip of Africa, tip of the world! ... Just in time for sunset. It was an unbelievable feeling, a form of excitement, happiness, and thrill all mixed in one.



Chapter 5: Part Two

Part Two of the trip was to do a shark dive at Gansbaai. At dawn, I started from Cape Agulhas. I ate rusks (dry bread) while watching the sunrise from the hood of my car. Mr. Weather however wasn't cooperating; as soon as I turned the ignition, it started to rain. The drive back alone the coast was wet and gloomy. The dusty road was muddy and slippery. Once I got to Gansbaai, shark dive was not in operation due to bad weather... And that sucked.


Chapter 6: Plan B

Because of the poor scenery on a rainy day, I went back on the N2 highway. Instead of shark cage dive, I visited Stellenbosch - a midsize town in the center of Cape Wineland. Stellenbosch is beautiful; 18th century Dutch architectures lined up the narrow streets. Most of the buildings are white - a common trait in all hot n' dry places. In a rainy day like today, the white buildings contrasted well with the dark wet roads.


Chapter 7: Inspiration

At 1PM I was back in the townships. This is when I was supposed to take a few workers and spend our afternoon at a beach. The beach has a special significance to the Xhosas; it's a place of cleansing for both the body and the mind. Twanna, being recently put out of work, could really enjoy some time at the beach. But rain, rain, and more rain...None of the guys showed up as planned.

Nevertheless, the afternoon turned out well; I took 5 kids from the township to the city in hope to inspire them. Most of them have never gone to Cape Town, a host-city of the World Cup. We went to Greenpoint Stadium, V & A Waterfront, Signal Hill, Fan Fest...their jaws everywhere we went. We finished night at the Fan Fest, where we saw the young German squad clinch 3rd place over (the damned) Uruguay.
Taking an escalator for the first time



Chapter 8: Down to Cape Point

Sunday morning, I left township at the first morning light. I drove alone the coast of Khayelitsha west to Muizenberg, the South to Simon's Town, Fish Hoek, Miller's Point...Around 9AM, I was at the entrance to the Cape of Good Hope. This time, the weather is nice, and there weren't many tourists. The drive down to the Cape of Good Hope was soothing. I retraced the route taken by Charles Darwin centuries ago. I saw many wild animals on the side of the road. Over my shoulder rooted magnificent landscape squeezed in by two bodies of water. I parked the car near sea level and climbed all the way up to the lighthouse. There, I had a good view of the Cape. I pictured the Great Explorers sailing around the Cape; sensational.



The -only- Canadian symbol I had with me

Chapter 9: Boulevard Drive

From Cape of Good Hope, I set out on the Western Coast (came down on the Eastern coast) of the peninsula going north through Cape Town winelands. I drove through a nice boulevard at Kirstenbosch. Tall trees lined up along the curvy road through the forest. I had my windows down and some nice music going; what better way to make a drive more enjoyable?


Chapter 10: Feel it, it is heeeee-ah!

You can't NOT feel it on the day called "July 11th". Early afternoon, I found my way into the FIFA Fan Fest where fans are already lining up and partying it up. I got in just fine; here I am, at the world's biggest party with 85,000 fans from all over the world. The afternoon was filled with entertainment. I danced, I played soccer, saw live musical performances, and mingled with other fans. I called Robert to bring his family down here, he did, but just narrowly missed the cut-off to get in the festivity. Without Robert's company, I spent the afternoon and night with a group of Spanish girls. Can you imagine how wild they got when Spain won the cup? ...