My biggest dream of entering South Africa had been accomplished.
One year after Covid, after monitoring and counting the days for the reopening of borders, I was able to reach the destination of my Post-Graduate studies: the Socio-Political Situation of this controversial country on the very bottom of the breathtaking and diverse continent of Africa.
After meeting with the harsh reality of Johannesburg, where all the neighnbours are all separated and race discrimination was the biggest issue of the city, I decided to give it a chance to the most popular Cape Town.
I landed in Cape Town in a stormy afternoon, leaving the airport in a heavy rain. There was supposed to be a train leading from there to the city centre, but it was not operating because of the lockdown lifted less than two or three weeks before. The taxi driver talked to me and explained that tourism was slowly coming back, but that the city was still slowly unblocking.
The hostel I was staying is called a Sunflower Stop Backpackers: it was located in the neighbourhood of Green Point, at 30 minutes walk from the Victoria and Alfred Waterfront, and 44 minutes from the Cape Town City Hall. The most common way to get around is taxis, which are very cheap and can also be called trough the Uber App.
Simon's Town
Simon's town is a part of Cape Town that is a must do when visiting the city. It is quite famous for being one of the oldest town of the area.
It has an important maritime area and still holds the South African Navy base. These cute colourful houses made of wood are located in the iconic Muizenberg beach, where you can experience the water of the Atlantic Ocean crush against the rocks or dedicate your time taking beautiful pictures on the way.
But the most amazing thing that characterizes Simon's Town and will make your one hour driving south on the outskirt of Cape Town, is the presence of an active colony of African penguins that populate its beaches. Their home is Boulders Beach, directly belonging to the Table Mountains National Park. Foxy beach is the place where they put their nests from February to August, and you will be able to see them from a free boardwalk build around the beach, allowing visitors not to bother or scare them.
Simon's Town is also the perfect place to spot a beautiful sunset with the majestic Table Mountain. This tabular shaped mountain is the most recognised landmark of the city and the whole country! It is crazy how flat it is, and its horizontal constitution gives a real justification of the name that it was given to.
Remember that South Africa is located on the Southern hemisphere, and has a similar distance to the equator of the south of Italy or the portuguese capital, Lisbona. This means that the seasons are reversed compared to Europe: from November to February is their summer, and from June to August there is winter.
Better not to fotget this when you pack your luggage!
Iziko Bo-Kaap Museum
The last good neighbourhood that could give you outstanding memories of Cape Town is Iziko Bo-Kaap. This central located area has an historical heritage that dates back to 1760, being built by former slaves coming of Malaysian origin that had been set free during one of the waves of emancipation during the centuries.
I visited Bo-Kaap with the beautiful Happiness, one girl with Rwandan origins, that was born and raised in South Africa. It was very interesting to get to know her story of emancipated African woman and her strong passion for writing, very similar to mine.
The very beauty of South African is definitely its multicultural society. Not only is present the white and black population, but also many other asian cultures like the Indians and Malay. The city of Cape Town has this variety of ethnicities living all together and can get more similar standards of living. This is very different from her compared Johannesburg, where their difference is much more evident and every culture still stay separate a segregated one from the other.
A beautiful country like South Africa has a lot to offer, and has a warmness of spirit that I felt in not many others. I really enjoyed my three months spent there, but I also have to admit that life is still tough there. Many people can have a good life but there is still the burden of the general status of many others that is slowing down the whole nation.
I still hope that this article was enjoyable for you and you could learn new things about a country that you are wishing to discover or just curious about. Go read my experience as an international volunteer in the Kruger National Park and let me know all your opinions in the comment section below!
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