More Cape Town

We took a walking tour of downtown Cape Town, and got to see some interesting landmarks, beautiful gardens and learn some fascinating facts about the area. 

We got a great view of table mountain (without the tablecloth) today.

We found out that South Africa actually has three capitals:  Cape Town is the legislative capital,  Pretoria is the administrative capital, and Bloemfontein is the executive capital.   We saw the house of Parliament which is in session about six months of the year. (looks kind of like the white house) 

 The President of South Africa receives visitors at an impressive area close by.  

There are several memorable people in South African history, and the city has recognized the impact of these individuals in various ways.  

The cathedral church of St. George is the oldest church in South Africa, and is where Desmond Tutu served and is buried. TuTu was very involved in anti-apartheid and human rights.  The cathedral is a beautiful, and impressive structure.

City Hall is where Nelson Mandela gave his freedom speech in 1990, just after he was released from prison.  Many from our group remembered watching the speech on tv. 

The statue of Cecil Rhodes sits in the gardens.  Rhodes who made his fortune in the diamond business was very influential in the area, and bought up land intending to create a British empire in South Africa.  Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe) was named for him, and he created the Rhodes scholar program! However, some of the natives do not have a high opinion of him due to his involvement and continuation of slavery at the time.

An interesting area in downtown Cape Town is Bo-kaap, a colorful row of houses owned by descendants of slaves.  The story is that houses were required to be painted white, but when the rule was lifted, and the slaves were permitted to purchase their rented homes, they painted them in the brightest colors, as a metaphor for freedom.

We saw the oldest tree in Capetown (a pear tree that still bears fruit).  It is believed to have come from Holland and is one of the first trees to have been culivated in South Africa.

The gardens and flower markets were beautiful!

We had our orientation session with the group and got our first glimpse of the motorhome we will be driving, and how we'll spend the next 30 days.  Yikes, it's tiny compared to the Lundcruiser.   I guess we better enjoy the hot showers in the hotel while we can!    

We pick up the rv's on Thursday to begin the main adventure of the trip.  Can't wait.