Parking in the City Center

Interesting to see how people park on some of the side streets in the center of Cape Town.

African and American Art

I came across this sculpture while walking through St Georges Mall in Cape Town:




Here is a view from the side:

Beware of the Snakes

You don't have to tell me twice to stay away from the snakes:

The Townships of Cape Town

Today I went to the Townships of Langa (location) and Khayelitsha (location) in Cape Town. A township is essentially a shanty town constructed on the outskirts of the city. Most of the residents of these areas came from District Six, which was forcibly cleared of the existing black and coloured (according to the former SA tiered racial system, anyone who is not considered white or black, such as Indians and Malays) populations by the Apartheid Government to make room for the expanding white population.

The living conditions that these people were forced to deal with were, and still are, terrible. The current government has been working on rebuilding the townships, however, it has taken many years. From what I understand, the sheet metal houses seen here will all be replaced with brick or concrete dwellings by 2014. Unfortuantely for the local population, these areas are still greatly underserviced by public transportation, it costs upto R30 to get into the city, whereas from District Six, most people could walk to their places of employment.

One interesting thing that I did have the opportunity to see was Vicky's Bed & Breakfast, which is located in the Khayelitsha Township. For R220 per person per night, you can stay right in the middle of one of the townships. This price includes both dinner and breakfast. It is truly remarkable to witness the economic microcosms that have developed inside of the Townships.


Here are some pictures from Langa:

Here are some pictures from Khayelitsha:

Hidden Abilities...

Apparently, the Church of Scientology has an office in Cape Town. For those who don't know, Scientology asserts that people have hidden abilities which have not yet been fully realized (quoted from wiki). I guess if I feel the need to audit myself while here a facility is available.

Hello from South Africa

I am sitting here in Cape Town, South Africa (location) enjoying the view. Cape Town is a unique place, it somewhat reminds me of Auckland, which I guess makes sense since it was a British dominion up until 1961, similar to New Zealand. Unfortunately, it was raining all day on Saturday so I spent the day roaming around a giant mall on the waterfront. Today, I went for a ride down to Cape Point and the Cape of Good Hope. Cape Point is the southwestern most point of the Africa continent (Cape Agulhas is the southern most point), where the Indian and Atlantic Oceans come together.

So far I have taken a number of photo's, I will work on getting some of them uploaded tomorrow night. Here is a shot taken from one of the quays, a shot of the Cape Town CBD (Central Business District) with Table Mountain in the background:

Türkiye'den Herkese Merhaba

Hello to everyone from Turkey. Currently, I am sitting in Istanbul, Turkey. Everything is looking good over here, food is good and the economic situation does not appear that bleak. On April 23rd I will be leaving for Cape Town.

I read this article about Airport Security on the way over, very interesting.