District 6 - Castle - Harbour Boat Ride

Saturday started as a rainy day but I was determined to not let that get my spirits down.  I had planned to go do some of the touristy things that I had not yet checked off my list of things to do.

First, I headed to the District 6 Museum. If you don't know, District 6 is an area that is pretty close to the center of Cape Town. It originally was an area where non-whites lived. Then during Apartheid, the leaders of Cape Town decided they wanted this prime real estate for nicer housing for whites. During Apartheid they forced almost all people living in District 6 out of their homes and made most of them move to Cape Flats including many townships. [Khayelitsha (the township we have our offices in and the largest township in Cape Town) literally means New Home because many people were forced to move there, especially due to overcrowding and violence in other townships]. The government went house to house and forcibly made residents of district 6 move out. Then they bulldozed much of the area. That is the short, very paraphrased version of what happened.  Evidently that alien movie called District 6 is a "present day" version of what happened using science fiction to demonstrate.  I haven't seen it but sounds interesting.

Sometime between the District 6 Museum and walking to the Castle, the sun came out, the clouds all went away and it was one of the most beautiful days in terms of weather since I’ve been here!

The Castle of Good Hope is a star fort built in the 17th century. The purpose of the Dutch settlement in the Cape was to act as a replenishment station for ships passing the treacherous coast around the Cape on long voyages between the Netherlands and the Dutch East Indies (or Indonesia). 

The head man's quarters with a Dolphin fountain

Every good castle needs a torture chamber!  They said that they would torture people until they confessed, whether they were actually guilty or not!

Had to take pictures of the cannons!  It is a fort after all!

Inside the fort was quite lovely... I wasn't expecting that!

View from a top of the castle.

This picture of the cannon is for you Dad! I thought the whole time I was there how much you would enjoy being there!

View of the inside of the fort with an amazing back drop of Table Mountain!

I thought this was a great picture because that mountain in the background is called Lion's Head... then  the statue there is of a Lion... perfect!

I went to lunch at the Eastern Food Bazaar.  This corridor of Indian and Middle Eastern food places is cheap and amazing!  The whole place is also decorated with ornate designs. I had Indian food for lunch :) 

Since it was such a nice day I decided I wanted to go on a boat ride so I walked down to V&A Waterfront. I wanted to go out on the actual sea on a catamaran sail boat but they said the swells were between 8 and 10 feet and were too big :( But I still plan on going out on one before I leave!

I ended up going on just a 30 minute harbour boat ride. The views were spectacular!

From left to right... that's Table Mountain, Lion's head (which I hiked) and then Signal Hill.

Took this sail boat picture for you Dad!

I will say I am was upset when they told me I couldn't go out on the ocean because of the swells... I was thinking oh come on they can't be that big!  We went to the edge of the harbor and sea was rolling with huge swells... the boat rocked back and forth like crazy!  At that moment, I was happy that I wasn't out on the actual sea! 

This is a picture back of V&A Waterfront... it reminds me a lot of Pier 39  and Fisherman's Wharf. 

I ended the day with some yummy sushi on my balcony.  Not a bad view!  Also, Table Mountain looks so different depending on the time of the day and light that is hitting it.  I love this picture because the light on Table Mountain is so cool looking.





Sunday

On Sunday, I slept in and then went to a local cafe/bar and watched the men's final of Wimbledon.  I really  wanted Murray to win for Great Britain but it didn't happen.  During the first set, I had the most delicious smoothie... it was a Mango Mint smoothie... I am definitely going to try and recreate this at home.  Then later on I ordered a Van Hunks Pumpkin Ale which was a bit sweet for my liking but was still delicious.  Read the story of Van Hunk below that was on the bottle. 

“Centuries ago, Van Hunks is rumoured to have lived on the slopes of Table Mountain. He loved hiking up the mountain to sit on his favorite rock, to smoke his pipe and watch his pumpkins ripen in the fields below.

One day, he was startled to find a stranger, dressed in black and wearing an odd hat, sitting on his rock. Surprisingly, the stranger greeted him by name, so Van Hunks sat down beside him to brag about his smoking prowess. The stranger, however, claimed he could easily out smoke him. Van Hunks took up the challenge – and the smoking began.

They smoked and smoked and smoked. Below, the worried citizens of the Cape watched a billowing cloud sweep over Table Mountain. Still on they smoked. At last, both men began to feel ill and, as the stranger toppled over in defeat, his hat fell off to reveal his horns. It was the devil in disguise, yet Van Hunks had prevailed!

Ever since, when clouds cover Table Mountain, it is said that Van Hunks and the devil are dueling again.”