South Africa - A Pleasant Return but Troubling Undercurrents

After 5 nights and 4 full days of safari (and eating), we were ready to return to reality.  We were tired of sitting in the safari jeeps and boats and just wanted to have our own schedule (when we did not need to get up at 5:30 a.m.) and get some exercise.  Cape Town provided the perfect recovery destination. 

Between the Maldives, Dubai, Zimbabwe and Botswana, we had been away from our floating home for 21 days and we were happy to reunite with the MV World Odyssey in Cape Town harbor.  The ship was docked near the V&A Waterfront so we spoiled ourselves with familiar comforts and amazing food.  Looking ahead to Ghana we knew we needed to stock up!

After a sedentary few weeks, we were psyched to do the steep 2+ hour hike up Table Mountain.  We enjoyed the stunning views from on top before taking the gondola back down.  The second day we walked along the water front for hours and just enjoyed being in the comfortable bubble of Cape Town. 

We were sorry we did not have time to revisit our favorite places around Cape Town.  In 2009 & 2012, we overnighted in the townships, toured Robbin’s Island and went to Cape Point.   We also regretted that we missed meeting Desmond Tu Tu, who sailed on our ship between Mauritius and Cape Town (when we were doing our own independent travels).  How special for the shipboard community to interact and learn from the leader who partnered with Mandela to bring about peace and forgiveness at the end of Apartheid.

South Africa’s economy has weakened and the currency had dropped by half against the US dollar.  In US dollar terms, everything we bought seemed incredibly cheap due the weak Rand.  There seems to be more unrest and increased tensions within South Africa.  Without Mandela, there is no political leader that everyone supports and the current president, Jacob Zuma, is widely (and correctly) viewed as corrupt.  However there doesn't appear to be an alternative as the ANC has strong overall control.  

There is a widening gap in wealthy and poor and increasing frustration with the lack of upward mobility for the masses.  The current crop of new voters are referred to as "Born Frees" as they were born after Apartheid came to an end and the expectation that this would lead to new opportunities for them has been largely unrealized.  The most disturbing trend is the rise of racially motivated nationalism and talk of how Zimbabwe did the right thing by expropriating land from (wealthy) white land owners and putting the means of production in the hands of the (poor) black majority.  If you wonder how that went, look back two posts to see our blog post on Zimbabwe.  Desmond Tutu is one of the last links to the era of forgiveness and reconciliation and there are true concerns of what will happen when he is no longer around to symbolize the Rainbow Nation.  

Not all is lost though.  As in our previous voyage in 2012, we saw hopeful signs that South Africa will overcome.  We noticed in 2012 that the mix of people in shops, both customers and staff, was more diverse than we had seen in 2009, suggesting to us that the new generation were integrating.  We saw even more evidence of that in 2016 and hope that is an indication that, to many in South Africa, race is less of a barrier than it had been.  We are hoping for the best for South Africa.  It is a place of great beauty and people and we hope it can live up to it's promise to show the rest of us how reconciliation is possible!