“When a man is denied
the right to live the life he believes in, he has no choice but to become an
outlaw.”
~Nelson Mandela
 |
| District 6 |
Adventures in Cape Town continue to grow. Spreading seeds of
love each & every moment on where it’s taking me. I love being in alignment
when things are just meant to be. My backpackers’ oasis in Greenpoint has been
heaven. I will admit that the vibe isn’t the same as the
Ulwazi Lodge out in Thanda, but it’s still pretty good. You can
definitely tell a lot about the moment with the energy that is being channeled.
I mean everyone at
The Big is fab, Amy
& her crew go out of their way with a labor of love to make sure your
having a wonderful experience in the Cape with some practical & helpful
travel advise. I feel that each moment has taught me how to listen to the “signs
of the universe” on what it shows me that I need to act upon in the present
moment. Some might be a reminder to make sure that I got a place to lay my head
for my last night in CPT to smart traveler advice in a food bazaar.
 |
| Cable Car to Table Mountain Summit |
I literary have been nonstop & occasionally having a
sleep in, but still that is not much. From a recommendation from one of my
guide friends, I went with
Wine Flies
for a lovely day out in wine country with 5 vineyards’ learning everything
under the sun about the South African wine process. I even had the experience
of actually tasting from the barrel. Definitely a fun thing to do with loads of
craic. I scored a deal with hiring a car with a private driver with some folks
from the backpackers’ to head down to the Cape Peninsular. It was nice to
escape city life for the day exploring all the nooks ‘n crannies along the way
from Bantry Bay, Clifton, Hout Bay, the Cape of Good Hope, Simon’s Town &
Muizenberg, experience the beauty of Table Mountain National Park. The drive is
very beautiful & I had my feet in the freezing cold Atlantic Ocean & a
wee bit warmer Indian Ocean. The highlights were of course was actually
visiting the Cape of Good Hope, the most south-western point of the African
Continent & to see the penguins at Boulder’s Beach for that penguin love. I
basically went on a marathon style walk thought out the city making stops on
Long Street to browse the boutiques before finding a lovely bookshop on
Buitenkant. I ate the most delicious gluten free heavenly lemon square at
Charly's Bakery
before experience the
District 6 Museum
where I learnt about the history of the township. I had a proper dirty curry at
the Eastern Food Bazaar before headed down to the
V&A Waterfront to wander around in the art market & finding
myself experiencing a dry pedicure at
Woolworths.
When it comes to markets, I prefer to buy local made products that have been
planted with that karmic seeds of love. It’s all about collectively supporting
the right organizations. You def need to be careful when buying goods & to
try to stay away from getting haggled into stuff that you don’t want or just
have bad energy. It’s about raising your vibrations. Art has a lot of energy,
just be open to receiving it & trust from within that it’s right. Got to
feel it out is how I “roll” when buying. Quite the day of shopping & exploration
with seeing the random art sculptures. There’s something about this city that
reminds me of Vancouver some how. I had a lovely Cape Malay style curry at
Biesmiellah
over in Bo Kapp. There’s colourful houses that line the street in the Cape
Malay district that is quite charming to explore with views of Table Mountain
in the background.
The art factor
is amazing & I’m in love, love, love with it.
Ostranenie: (n)
encouraging people to see common things in a strange, wild or unfamiliar,
defamiliarizing what is known in order to know it differently or more deeply.
 |
| Art Mural in Khayelitsh |
As an artist, I decided to go on a
Township Art Tours out to South African’s largest
township, Khayelitsh, for my last full day.
Honestly, this was a very moving experience seeing a
township from the inside out.
I
quite enjoyed my time, looking at all of the murals, chatting with the guide,
chatting with locals, chatting with a fellow artist from the States, checking
out a local school where the kids were very lively (they kept on calling me “white
person” in their native language & just kept on hugging me while asking for
“high 5’s”) to eating some local food & drinking cider in a pub. Life in
the townships is amazing & they have some wonderful community base
resources to help others get a better life. It’s been a very moving experience
for sure.
It was nice to spend the
equinox & super moon with liked minded creative people chatting about art
& ways to show society how to live a more fulfilling life. For the
afternoon, I decided to take the “lazy” way to the top of
Table Mountain, for a
ride up & down in the cable car. I felt like I was in Disney World with the
shenanigans that I saw as a very hot tourist attraction. The cable car was cool
since it actually moved giving you a 360 degree view as you go up & down.
Very groovy in deed & I spoiled myself with the cable car cos there was no
way that I would be able to hike it after my like 20kms marathon hike threw the
city from the day before. You definitely can see how fast the weather
conditions change here with a sever wind advisory at the top of the mountain
with massive white clouds moving very quickly. I had to be very careful of not
getting blown away at the top. I did enjoy my hike around the rim trail &
inhaling the beauty of the cape. It’s been a wonderful week with many exciting
experiences.
“But then there are
magical, beautiful things in the world. There's incredible acts of kindness and
bravery, and in the most unlikely places, and it gives you hope.”
~Dave Matthews
As I’m leaving the city & South Africa, I’m very sad
with emotions going threw me that I haven’t yet process. I’ve been able to have
some wonderful chats about life in general with many people & have opened
my eyes even farther. I found kinder soulful spirits in Thanda that became my
family. Luckily a dear friend of mine actually had taught me very well with my
photography, which was my main purpose of my expedition. The rules that I once
thought were “the right thing to do” have been broken with a new creative
mindset of looking at the images from taking the photograph to the
postproduction work in Lightroom. I’m sure that I have taught many new things
along the way & showcasing a rather unique perspective of life onto them. I’ve
found my inner strength back that has been buried deep in my core. It’s all
about walking the path that most won’t take to actually free themselves from
the fear & anxiety to go after the things that are calling them. Cape Town
has been fab & temptation overload. Not cos it won the award for the art
factor with the design capital of the world, but there’s so much goodness here.
Loving smelling the other side of the Atlantic Ocean. I must say that next stop
in Dubai before getting shipped back to Boston…
