My introduction to Cape Town South Africa was this little guy and other adorable young people like him. I met my friend/fellow PIM/Globally Grounded Co-op family, Bianca in South Africa and while in Cape Town, we stayed with her super sweet, awesome soccer playing soon to be med-student cousin, Melissa. Melissa took a year off after undergrad to work with the organization called, Grassroot Soccer. The organization teaches young people about HIV/AID prevention and other life skills using soccer as its medium for teaching young people about prevention.Grassroot Soccer in Khayelitsha (thanks Bianca). Melissa picked us up from the airport and we went straight to soccer! As most of you know that know me, I don't "get" soccer but I love that GS is using this sport that is loved by so many around the world as a teaching tool for prevention and positive and healthy living.
At the end of soccer we were handing out apples and pears to the kids (very delicious granny smiths I might add) and these guys were our helpers. The big boys came and tried to take over but they just shooed them away. it was hilarious. They were so happy and made me want to scoop them up and bring them home!
The kids were rounded up in a session discussing what they know etc.Khayelitsha Township
It's really hard to believe when you see a township in a city as beautiful as Cape Town. Things have changed but there is still a lot of work to be done. 
One of my favorite things about Cape Town was LOCAL DESIGNERS with fabulous locally supported work. There is a young designers market every Wednesday at 210 On Long which is a new and fabulous green shoppin gmall. The space is rented out to local, up and coming designers but there's also lots of vintage stuff, and other artsy fartsy stuff. I loved it, of course. After a tiring day of soccer and shopping it was dinner time.
We headed to the various famous and beautiful V&A Waterfront. We enjoyed a nice dinner with live entertainment outside under space heaters with warm blankets, hospitable Turkish servers and South African beverages...can't ask for much more.
Two weeks before I left Barcelona to head to South Africa I met a pretty cool South African girl that goes by the name Kate :) Kate lives, works and plays in Barcelona but is from Cape Town. She was spending Semana Santa in the Cape too so we met up for a drink and some coloring.While I was in Cape Town I stayed at the Grassroot Soccer house which is right down the street from the stadium that's being built for World Cup next year. Here's where they are so far on it...
District Six Museum Day two in Cape Town was spent at the District Six Museum and acting a fool 3,000 feet above sea level on Table Mountain.
District Six was originally created by and for freed slaves, merchants, immigrants and was a completely mixed district of Cape Town. The area underwent changes and shifts in population and wealth distribution and is 1966 was declared a white only area under the Group Area Act of 1950. More than 60,000 people were forcibly removed from their homes and displaced to the area known as the Cape Flats. The homes that had once housed happy families and were bustling with vibrant life were flattened by bulldozers. In 1994 the museum was established to commemorate the life of this district and explain the history of forced removals during Apartheid. 
streets that were bulldozed.
Walking around District Six I found these quotes and I thought they were worth holding on to:"My desire is to assert my pride in my own identity, my African heritage, my culture and memories" - Roderick K. Sauls (1999)
"The struggle of man against power is the struggle of memory against forgetting" - Milan Kundera
I went into one room and stumbled across these adorable kids. The area around District Six:
Table Mountain!!!!
This place makes you feel just a little bit closer to heaven, literally...you feel like you're almost there. If you ever have the chance to go to South Africa you will be amazed by the beauty of this mountain in the middle of the city. Its enormity and presence makes you feel so small and irrelavent. 
Inside the cablecar...the floor rotates...and um not such a good idea for me. I had to take a seat alllll the way up and alllll the way back down. I had to fight a little fat girl for the seat and Bianca lost out on musical chairs and had to stand.
taking in the view
getting all Vermont and zen
putting in some work on the mountain. Moving mountains is a hard job...
Okay so...don't be fooled I'm not dangling my feet very far over this ledge because I like life and I'd like to keep living it as long as God lets me. Bianca was trying to get me to swing my legs over the ledge with her but I'm a punk so I didn't but this is my version of hanging legs over a 3,000 ft. above sea level mountain. 
Gotta love the souvenir shops with puppet animals. Clearly Bianca and I do.Cape of Good Hope/Cape Point
The following day we drove to Simon's Town and the Cape of Good Hope. Both were amazing! Melissa (with her new manual driving skills) drove us first to Simon's Town and Boulder Beach which is home to a huge colony of African penguins. Yes, I know, it's hard to believe, penguins in Africa but my friends, I tell you the truth. They are there and in full effect!
The following day we drove to Simon's Town and the Cape of Good Hope. Both were amazing! Melissa (with her new manual driving skills) drove us first to Simon's Town and Boulder Beach which is home to a huge colony of African penguins. Yes, I know, it's hard to believe, penguins in Africa but my friends, I tell you the truth. They are there and in full effect!
Happy Feet can't keep up with this little guy! 
It seems like this was a very popular car in South Africa and it is one of my favorite cars so I figured I would celebrate the awesome VW bug with you and picked one that was quite festive to do so with. 
lunch on the Indian Ocean...
On our way to Cape Point we met some friends...the baboons. We were warned to keep our windows up because they like to jump in cars, eat bananas you might have lying around your cars and such. They didn't come to join us for our ride to the Point but we did enjoy some patches of traffic because they were all over the roads. 
This is my attempt at the karate kid over Cape Point.
Las tres damas hermosas doing some very serious posing for the camera.
The cousins aka two of the 5 Mexicans in South Africa :) 
The Old Biscuit Mill Farmers Market
The Old Biscuit Mill farmers market located in Woodstock in Cape Town was one of the highlights of the trip. It seems like such a small thing but really it was vibrant, full of color, and of course full of food and local "stuff" which I loved!
You have your choice of foods, clothing, antiques, and international music. I spent the most money I spent in South Africa there. That market is trouble, but where else can you buy awesome mohawk yacht shoes, handmade dresses, blueberry muffins, an antique vase and butter chicken with pineapple water?! the answer is NOWHERE!
Stellenbosch Capelands Wine Tour
This year, I must say that I've felt like quite the lush since most of the blogs you see me post, I'm on some type of a wine tour but we all know better. I just love a good photo op. :)
When visiting South Africa, a wine tour is a must. We (Me, Melissa, Bianca, Maren) went on a tour of Franschoek and Stellenbosch which was great. I brought back a few bottles and I might let you taste them if you ask nicely. :)
More than anything, I enjoyed just sitting out side with a cheese plate in the beautiful wine estate.
Robben Island
My final day in Cape Town was spent visiting Robben Island which is where Nelson Mandela and other Black and Coloured political prisoners were kept during Apartheid. Nelson Mandela was imprisioned there for 27 years.The name is actually Dutch and means seal island. We took a boat out to the island (It felt very Titanic like being out there...those were rough waters) and first, went on a bus tour of the island. After the bus tour we walked around with a former political prisoner who showed us the cells, and explained what life was like during the movement against Apartheid.
On the bus tour we passed by this area which was where the prisoners were forced to work. They were to work these mines tirelessly, daily moving the lime back and forth from one area to the other. The prisoners were not allowed to wear protective gear in this field and the majority of them have gone blind or have had serious eye surgeries because of the damage this work did to their sight. One positive thing that came of this is that those prisoners who did not have formal education, and could not read and write, learned here in this cave. Prisoners who could read and write taught their peers, knowing that they could be severely punished for these teachings. 
When Mandela and the other brave political prisoners were freed from Robben Island they returned to this place and Nelson Mandela started this pile of rocks that are made up of different colors and shapes that represent South Africa and it's transformation and struggle.
This area is where Robert Sobukwe was kept. He was the only prisoner kept completely separate from all the other prisoners, complete solitary confinement. He was not allowed to speak with anyone. He was an Africanist and very influential in the struggle for freedom from the Apartheid system. He eventually went mad because he was not allowed human contact. They changed guards that watched him every 3 months so that they would not establish relationships with the prisoner. They sent him into exhile in Kimberly and his family was on house arrest. It is believed that he witthered away and started his decline long before leaving Robben Island. He died of lung cancer in 1978 but many believe he was slowly poisoned to death. 
This gentleman was our guide.
This is the entrance into the individual cells
This is Nelson Mandela's cell. He lived here for 27 years. You wouldn't believe me if I told you how small it was.
Although you might not be able to read this, this is the menu for the prisoners. The Black prisoners were given much less for and much worse quality of food. The Indians and other Coloureds were given better for and more quantity wise. This was another way to help to tear apart the political prisoners and further divide them but they all banned together and the Coloured and the Blacks shared everything equally which helped them to not break their spirit even though it was challenged daily.
This is where prisoners slept before they provided them with beds.
after many complaints, this became the accomodations for many
South African Blessing
Walk tall, walk well, walk safe, walk free, and may harm never come to thee.
Walk wise, walk good, walk proud, walk true, and may the sun always smile on you.
Walk prayer, walk hope, walk faith, walk light, and my peace always guide you right.
Walk joy, walk brave, walk love, walk strong, and may life always give you
song.
Walk tall, walk well, walk safe, walk free, and may harm never come to thee.
Walk wise, walk good, walk proud, walk true, and may the sun always smile on you.
Walk prayer, walk hope, walk faith, walk light, and my peace always guide you right.
Walk joy, walk brave, walk love, walk strong, and may life always give you
song.
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