July 18th, 2016

Day 109: V&A Waterfront

We only had a half day in Cape Town before we had to return our rental car at the airport. If we had planned it in advance we might have *just* had enough time to visit Robbins Island to see the prison cell where the late president Nelson Mandela was incarcerated, but unfortunately the 9AM ferry was fully booked (actually, the whole day was booked). We decided to visit the V&A Waterfront anyways, and finish any last minute shopping we needed to do along the way. We had lost Igor’s down jacket sometime in New Zealand, and now that we were in a winter climate he was really starting to miss it. Luckily we found a camping store, and got him a new K-Way brand jacket for USD $100 (with VAT Refund at the airport).

We spent the rest of the day walking around the waterfront – reminds us of Fisherman’s Wharf in San Francisco. There were so many pretty shops and restaurants, we were almost regretting that we had such a big and delicious breakfast! A little after noon, we headed back to the airport to return the car and get our tax refund (very smooth process in SA, so no funny story to tell, a la Malaysia). After a very long wait at Immigration, we got into the terminal with an hour and a half before our flight to chill out and have a late lunch in the Executive Lounge. Gotta say, our Premier Pass is killing it in South Africa – awesome food spread and wine options!

 

Our final oceanfront, balcony-seating full English breakfast. Gotta savor every last bite!

 

Shopping for a new down jacket at Cape Union Market outdoor & camping store

 

Walking around the V&A Waterfront

 

A school of Heaviside’s Dolphins swimming along the shore

 

Checking out the “seal platform” outside the Cape Town Aquarium

 

The platform was empty, except for one very sleepy bull seal – we can see why he had the platform to himself – he was HUGE!

 

Mini-bottles of JC le Roux and a delicious dinner spread at the executive lounge in Cape Town before boarding our Air Namibia flight

 

Second lunch / early dinner on Air Namibia – surprisingly yummy! And sparkling wine to boot!

When our flight started to descend in Namibia, we were surprised when we looked out the window and saw miles and miles of nothingness – where is the capital city of Windhoek? We knew Namibia was less populated than South Africa, but there was literally not a single building within sight! We met James from Desert Car Hire at the airport, and after getting some cash and a new SIM card, he drove us to our guesthouse in the city, which turns out is a good hour from the airport.

During the drive, he gave us some history / political background on Namibia, which until 1990 was actually part of South Africa. Right away we could feel a different attitude in Namibia – first of all there are far fewer people (with only 2.3 million inhabitants, Namibia is the second least-densely populated country in the world, after Mongolia). Their economy is growing, and crime (especially violent crime) is much less common. Finally, in South Africa, almost everywhere we went we were surrounded by white people – blacks still seemed to be very separated. The fact that there are still huge townships full of impoverished black South Africans is shocking – you *really* feel the economic class difference there. In Namibia, however, whites are very much the minority making up only 7% of the population – and walking the airport we felt the people we saw living their normal lives reflected the real demographics of the country. It was a welcome change.

Yes, yes we are.