Monday started cold, wet and miserable. We could have
been mistaken for waking up in England! It all seemed quite fitting, as today
was the day Charlotte had been called up to play cricket for Western Province.
Charlotte and I were picked up from the Portlands Indoor Centre and driven to
Old Mutual Cricket Ground in Cape Town. The plan was that Western Province were
to play a touring Zimbabwe team over two 20/20 games, the rain however, had
other ideas. In a true extension to Charlotte’s English cricket season, the
first 20/20 match was called off due to the rain, which was now pouring in
biblical fashion onto the already puddle filled covers, and in true English
fashion, there was still belief that the second game would be played. A little
earlier than scheduled, the players ran to take the covers off (a brilliant
sight of giant origami!), the coin was tossed, and Western Province chose to
field first. The Zimbabwe women sorted out their batting line up, the Umpires
stood in position and the first ball was eventually bowled. In an innings that
was interrupted on a number of occasions due to the rain, Zimbabwe managed
85-7, despite losing their last over with the rain deciding an early lunch was
due. The rain persisted, and the match was eventually called off, with Western
Province not getting a chance to bat. A good day out, despite a disappointing
result.
With tensions high amongst the group, team meetings have
been abandoned this week. The coaching manual is coming along well, with a lot
of independent work going into its production. I hope the future coaches can
utilise it to its full potential.
Thursday saw MITS become equal with the rest of the
partner organisations out here in South Africa, and we got a car!! After long
deliberation, the car was named Hilda. Anna loves Hilda, especially since
receiving photographic evidence of her family back in Sweden, preparing her
car, Benny, for a rally and crashing it, completely writing it off! RIP Benny.
Friday brought with it another active citizenship session.
7 participants turned up for a morning filled with valuable information that
they can hopefully use to gain employment and further their lives. With the
session from 10-12, there just isn’t enough time to make sure we are giving our
everything for these guys, so after a discussion with the local policeman who
brings the participants to the Indoor Centre, the subsequent sessions will be
0900-1200!
Friday afternoon saw our first outing in Hilda. Anna
drove Charlotte and I around the Cape to Simons Town and Boulders Beach, home
to one of the largest colonies of African Atlantic penguins. The boardwalk
through the native bush gave us space to walk so that we could view the
penguins in their habitat whilst not invading their space and causing stress
for them during the mating season. We saw some of the penguins along the
boardwalk, and eventually reached Boulders Beach. It was here that the
authorities informed us of the R60 per person to enter the beach, needless to
say, we left pretty sharpish, with a view of gaining access to the beach
another way. Our plan was hampered by the high tide, so we admitted defeat and
wandered back towards the car. It was here that we noticed a small pathway
through the trees, curiosity got the better of us and we followed the path down
onto a beautiful empty beach. We wandered out through the waves to some rocks
where we sat admiring the view for a while until we realised we had company. A
small group of penguins had come to inspect the intruders to their sanctuary.
We had gotten everything we wanted from our little excursion through the trees,
and still had R60 in our pockets!!
Driving back to Mitchells Plain, I realised I had
forgotten my house keys, with Patsy and Barney out for the evening, we had no
way of getting into the house!!! We piled back into Hilda and headed out to
Muizenburg, where Patsy and Barney were at a family birthday party. In the
truly hospitable South African manner, we were not allowed to leave without
having eaten Cooksisters (amazing doughnut type things covered in some sort of
syrup and coconut), and a couple of glasses of wine!
Saturday was a chilled day in which we made our way out
to the V&A Waterfront, Cape Town, after grabbing a quick lunch, and
checking out the boats from the Volvo Ocean Race that are finally in harbour,
we headed out to Sea Point, where we were staying that evening. Adriatic Bar
was our destination, a complete dive of a bar, but exactly what we needed for a
couple of beers and to watch the rugby. England were unlucky against the All
Blacks, I think it could have quite easily been an English win, but the AB’s
were just too strong over the 80 mins. The Boks were a completely different
story, having been annihilated by the Irish. A great game to watch even in the
increasingly tense atmosphere!
Sunday was an early start, with a 0900
departure on the Susan Kruger to Robben Island. The Susan Kruger is the only
ferry that once carried prisoners from the mainland to Robben Island that is
still in operation today. 12km and about an hour later, we set foot on this
tiny island filled with immense historical importance. Our first part of the
tour was on a bus, which drove around the island showing us the different parts
including the various prisons, houses of particular guards and inmates, the
town of Robben Island (that is still inhabited today!!!!!) and the quarries in
which the prisoners used to spend painstaking hours and days of their
sentences. The second part of the tour was on foot. We were given a guided tour
of the maximum security prison in which the political prisoners were kept. The
most interesting part of this tour was that it was given by an ex-political
prisoner who had served time with Mandela himself. What an amazing opportunity
we had been given here! The tour was incredible, and having read Mandela’s
book; The Long Walk to Freedom, it was amazing for me to be able to finally put
images to the words I had read. It made everything seem so much more real!
The journey back to the mainland was a sombre
affair, until I saw a seal diving in and out of the water right in front of us.
After declaring myself the happiest person in the world, Charlotte told me I
was about to get happier. I followed her outstretched pointing finger to the
most amazing sight of a pod of dolphins leaping through the waves. The dolphins
played in the wake created by the Susan Kruger, darting under the boat from one
side to the other. Eventually, our show was over, the dolphins left and the
boat returned to the harbour where we were back to Terra Firma...
Another amazing weekend in Cape Town had come
to an end!
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