As I mark two years of being in our beautiful Mother City (Cape Town), I have been looking back at my first week here – in The Mother City, in Mamma Africa, on Mother Earth.
I arrived in Cape Town one dull Sunday morning in October 2012, suitcase in hand. I had no real idea why I had come. I had never been to South Africa in my life and knew only three people here – two of which were passing acquaintances. When asked “What brings you to Cape Town?” I was hard pressed to answer sensibly.
The third day was a glorious one, much like today – hot, sunny, no wind, with piercing blue skies and a warming heat that penetrates to the bone. I sat by the pool of my backpacker’s lodge and it finally dawned on me why I had come. “I’m in my Land of Plenty” I thought.
Venturing out of the comfort of my backpacker’s lodge, I wandered the streets below Gardens and walked some of the grid-like structure of the City Bowl. Watching people and places, I found myself in a market square amongst stalls selling African wares to the tourists. Nearby were funky cafes serving freshly squeezed juice and wholesome soul food. Revived and ready for more, I entered the hallowed space of the Cathedral, having walked past the Parliament buildings. Squinting into bright sunlight, I left, and followed the crowd into Company’s Gardens to lie on the lush green grass below the Frangipani Trees…. This is an awfully big adventure, I realised.
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