Now after more than 36 hours in a confined airplane with no more than 6 hour sleep, it's understandable that when trying, and failing to locate where we needed to be for our Uber ride a small argument arose in Cape Town airport, however after a small wild goose chase around one of the many airport car parks we were our way.
The next 3 weeks would prove to be full of wonderful sights, trips and activities as well as a time for meeting some awesome people and building some great new relationships. There would also be some lows, which as we've come to realise, are to be expected, but overall our time in Cape Town was awesome!
We were staying in Vredehoek (a suburb at the foot of Table Mountain) in an Air B'n'B which, for any of you who don't know, is basically where people from all over the world hire out spare rooms or their entire house/apartment. In our case we were staying in the spare room of a small apartment with a guy called Nigel. We had chosen to do this as we were keen to stay with someone who had local knowledge of the area and thought that as we were staying for 3 weeks it would be fun to get to know somebody.
We had a really great time at Nigel's and over our time there we shared meals, wine (Melissa did anyway) and conversation with him on a regular basis. He gave us countless tips and offered advice which helped us feel comfortable and at home. It was really rewarding getting to know him - however as he works from home we were probably 'chilling at home' a bit more than he would have liked!
So here is a glimpse of our three weeks in the southern most city in Africa...
'the worst thing about being a tourist is having other tourists recognise you as a tourist' - Russel Baker
Obviously when heavily jet-lagged it's normal to take a couple days just to rest and get over the flight, well I guess we just had ants in our pants as on our first full day we took part in the annual 'Gun Run', Cape Town's half marathon event. Before you go any further thinking 'woah these guys are athletes', stop right there! There is also a 10k and 5k event for the slow and unfit and so we signed up on the day to run the 5k. We saw this as a good way of getting to know our way around the city a little bit & an opportunity to keep up our attempted travelling fitness regime.
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| With our well deserved medals! |
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| Before and after getting covered in powdered paint |
that housed Nelson Mandela, as well as many other political prisoners, for year after year during apartheid South Africa. The tour includes a fairly rapid ferry ride out to the island followed by a bus ride around the village. The island is home to a variety of wildlife including penguins, tortoise and even a few deer. The finale is a tour of the high security prison which of course takes you past the 7x8ft cell that the late Nelson Mandela endured 18 years of his life imprisoned in.The tours of the prison are given by former political prisoners meaning we heard plenty of stories and facts about 'life on the island'. It was a really worthwhile and humbling visit which reminded us of how blessed we are to live in the safe and equal society we do in the UK. We were also able to reflect upon how much we take for granted the freedom that so many people were, and still are today, prohibited from enjoying.
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| Mandela's prison cell |
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| This as close as we ever want to get with a shark! |
Although we had managed to get around via walking or uber'ing' we decided to hire a car for a couple of days to get a little further afield. On one of these days we took a drive down to Cape Point. We set off up to the lighthouse, then along a coastal path to share a kiss at the very end of Africa, or so we thought... It turned out neither of us had done our research properly and so Melissa was fairly disappointed when we discovered that the most southerly tip of Africa is in fact at Cape Agulhas, a fair drive along the coastline. Never the less we made the most of our time at the almost most southerly tip of Africa and particularly enjoyed seeing a family of baboons ravaging a French family's picnic from their car boot!
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| What we thought was the southern tip of Africa... |
We also used the car to drive over the other side of the mountain to a lovely little place called Simon's Town. It wasn't long before we spotted a fairly large film-shoot in progress. On inquiry we gathered it was a production of something to do with Queen Elizabeth' first visit to Malta and Simon's Town was playing the part of the port of Malta! We had lunch overlooking the filming and then took a boat trip out to Seal Island, a small rocky island about 16km out to sea home to a few thousand sea lions, penguins and a multitude of sea birds. We unfortunately didn't see any whales or sharks on our trip, but the boat ride in the sun was absolutely glorious!
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| Penguins at Boulders Bay - Simons Town |
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| Muizenburg bay |
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| Uncle Ben & Adele playing at the wine tasting |
We had set off at about 7:30am to try to avoid the heat as the gorge is totally exposed to the African sun all day. However, by 9am the temperatures were already climbing through the mid twenties and it dawned on us how different this walk was to our experience in the English hills. We eventually got to the top just before 11, almost 3 1/2 hours after setting off (including the time my detour took). Despite dripping in sweat and being desperate for a cold drink the challenging walk revealed utterly incredible views from the top that of course were totally worth it and ridiculously photo-worthy.
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| Admiring the view on the top of the table |
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| The view from Lion's Head of the sun setting over Cape Town |
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| Watching the sun set on our last night in Cape Town |
'tourists don't know where they've been, travelers don't know where they are going' - Paul Theroux
Before leaving England we had hoped and prayed that volunteering opportunities with churches or charities would reveal themselves, and that it would become apparent who we could help and where. When in Cape Town we decided that instead of just using our time in the city to be tourists, we should be open to get stuck in wherever we could with whoever needed us. Reflecting on this decision it is clear to us that this is where one of our prayers got answered and that God directed us to this particular opening.
We had wanted to check out Hillsong Cape Town, a church that is also local to us in Tonbridge, and so headed there on our first Sunday. We went to their 6:30pm service in Century City and it happened that on that night Martin Smith (who was lead singer of Delirious for those of you that are into your christian music) was leading a special worship celebration night. It was a fun hangout despite being in the upper reaches of the auditorium where I had to arch my neck to avoid the low overhanging cables and wires. After the service we saw a banner advertising 'Hillsong Africa Foundation' (HAF) and so went over to inquire into what this was. We ended up speaking to the guy who helps run the organisation who informed us it is a charity set up by Hillsong to work in the townships and communities in Africa. For those of you who don't know Cape Town as a city is made up of many areas, some of these will be wealthy places with very expensive homes, at the other end of the wealth spectrum there are also several township communities in which life can be pretty tough.
After a brief email conversation we were invited to volunteer with the team for four days. Unfortunately on the first day I had to go out with the team on my own as Melissa was suddenly very unwell. (Thankfully it turned out to be a 48 hour sickness thing and she has fully recovered now.) I went with a small team from HAF into Gugulethu township where I ended up playing football with roughly 25 young boys for a few hours. Anyone who knows me will know that I was completely in my element despite me not understanding a word of their native Xhosa language (prounced Khosa, but the K is a clicking noise). However, I did have to assure them that just because I was from England and I liked football it didn't mean I knew Wayne Rooney.
Our second day with HAF was spent with a much larger team in another township called Mitchells Plain. Here we got stuck into their 'Light's On programme', an after-school club for about 70+ kids where we played games, delivered a 15 minute lesson and a bible verse. Despite all this being done on a windy dusty playground it was still a great success. Understandably the children have very different upbringings to the life we are used to at home, and in parts it's really tough to know what to do or say when you hear some of their struggles. One instance of this happened at the end of every session when HAF gave every child a peanut butter & jam sandwich and an orange. Some of the most placid, gentle kids during the games suddenly changed once food was bought into the equation, and it enabled us an insight into how challenging life without a steady food source can be on these little ones. Our journey home was delayed somewhat with the 'blessing' of having to change a flat tyre. However I was glad to be of use as I used every bit of knowledge from my tyre changing lesson I received in the UK once from Dave Spring. I wonder whether this impacted my invite back the following week!
On day three we went to Gugulethu again, this time to visit a clinic where adults with disabilities were involved in making bags and other products from recycled t-shirt materials. We also went to the school next door for children with disabilities. In the clinic we delivered a short 'sermon' to the adults and prayed together and in the school we ran the same 'Light's On' programme we had in Mitchells Plain. It was loads of fun and particularly rewarding, especially seeing how happy the kids were when HAF arrived. Many of the children who live at the school were in wheelchairs or extremely handicapped and yet we witnessed them all having such a good time and learning so much about Derek Redmond's story on never giving up.
Since it was our fourth and final day we had arranged to go in the morning as well as afternoon and got involved in preparation for the day. This mostly included us helping to make and pack the 300+ peanut butter and jam sandwiches needed for that day. The afternoon took us back to Mitchells Plain to the same school as before. Again we played games and there was a short lesson, despite the boys giving all kinds of trouble.
In all the above when I say "we did this" or "we went here" what I mean is Melissa and I and the group of volunteers & interns we were with. We are incredibly grateful to the team at HAF for making us feel so welcome. They were all so passionate about our story and really encouraged us to be involved and share in the wonderful work they do. We gained so much from our four days with them and met some awesome people from all over the world including the Philippines, Brazil, Holland, Germany, America, Canada and also many local South Africans. We didn't feel we offered much more than just a spare set of hands but it was a great time and if we are ever back in Cape Town we will be sure to visit again. For any of the HAF team reading this, thank you - you & your work is totally awesome!
(A special mention has to be given to Norbert, you my friend, are so brave, so good at what you do and we are both so thankful for your encouraging words)
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| Norbert, Ben & Melissa in the Hillsong HAF offices |
'the best way to travel abroad is to live with the locals' - Zach Braff
Nigel also offered us countless little nuggets of wisdom including answering our prayer as to how we were going to travel up The Garden Route. Back in the UK we had assumed we might be able to buy ourselves a car when we arrived in South Africa but on further investigation we realised this would likely prove to be a huge headache. After a long, tiring and fruitless evening of researching the best / most affordable way to travel we headed to bed a tad depressed wondering what we were going to do. We prayed God would show up and direct us as to how we would overcome this and we were delighted that the very next morning Nigel said over breakfast "you guys should try the Baz Bus". This not only answered our prayer but gave us an option that we hadn't previously stumbled upon despite thorough research. Perhaps 'Baz Bus' need to improve their advertising but it was 100% what we were after and offered us the freedom to travel, at our own pace from Cape Town, via Durban up to Johannesburg . We'll speak more about the Baz-Bus in our Garden Route blog but it is basically a hop on/hop off bus service designed to give backpackers the flexibility to travel safely from one place to the next.
Honestly, although we can't wait to beach hop for the next 3 weeks, we are gutted to be leaving Nigel and our Cape Town 'home'. Nigel was an awesome host and we will miss his humour and hospitality. We probably won't miss the almost gale force winds coming off the mountain (which Nigel described as 'this is hardly wind at all') but the time we spent will be remembered very fondly indeed. Anyone debating an Air B'n'B holiday - we absolutely loved our experience and you really do get under the skin of a place by living with a local.
As you can tell from the length of this blog post (sorry & thanks for sticking with us!) we packed in so much in during our stay here, but now we feel ready to move on-wards and literally upwards as we travel along The Garden Route to Durban where we will stay with my Aunty & Uncle. We're planning on taking about three weeks to make this trip so watch out for another blog post within the next few weeks. We're not sure what's in store for us but we're pretty confident we're going to enjoy a bit of sun, sea and sand!
Totsiens, lekker dag!
Ben
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- That God has a watchful eye over us as we travel up The Garden Route. That car journeys, transport, backpackers, and hostels are all safe because he is with us. Pray against any delays or harmful situations.
- May we be kept safe and well when entertaining ourselves, be it in the waves on surf boards, or walking along coastal paths / through unfamiliar areas. Particularly in areas such as Plettenburg Bay and Jeffreys Bay that despite being beautiful, nature has claimed lives so recently.
- We ask that our three weeks journeying with the BazBus and hostel hopping will be fruitful, especially when conversing with fellow travelers. We pray that we remain open to new and Godly encounters and endevour to plant seeds of faith, be it through conversation or just how we choose to live our lives.
- Give God thanks for his blessings already, particularly for our time in Cape Town at Nigel's and the days he gave us with Julia, JP and the girls. May they know how much we value their hospitality and generosity. We pray that conversation with Nigel blossom and he is able to fully connect with his Father in Heaven.
- May the good work of HAF continue to bless all those they work for. We pray against any harmful situations and particularly ask God to guide all the interns who face tough decisions whether to return home or stay with Hillsong once their year is up.
- We pray for all our family at home, as we enter our third month away from home, we especially pray for good conversations and good internet connection in hostels that enable us to tell them we are safe and well.
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