Picto Diary - 25 December (Christmas) - Going Home/Reflections
Merry Christmas! 25 December 2018. Cape Town International Airport.
If you want to make peace with your enemy, you have to work with your enemy. Then he becomes your partner. Nelson Mandela — with Margaret Taylor at Cape Town International Airport.
Above: Cape Town from the air. 25 December 2018.
Cape Town is head turner in all respects.
V and A Waterfront every bit Inner Harbor, South Street Seaport, or Pier 39. Squint and see Malibu.
Kirstenbosch, Mt. Nelson Hotel...all world class. — at Cape Town International Airport.
Above: Western Cape between 20 and 80 miles north of Cape Town. 25 December 2018.
Craggy ranges between which are vineyards.
Above: Mural on MOCAA Museum. V and A Wharf. Capetown, SA.
African Royalty? At least one artist's conception.
Above: Water warning. V and A Wharf. Cape Town, South Africa.
Water level here, of course, is the sea and the sign refers to the tide.
The intent of the sign is to call attention to the draught in Western Cape. One of our guides told us that the pressure is off a bit as the reservoirs are now 70% full. Still, he says, water restrictions are still on. He and his family are limited to 60 litres of water a day.
There were no restrictions imposed on hotel guests at the Westin where we stayed.
Above: A380. O. R. Tambo (Johannesburg) International Airport. 25 December 2018.
First time fly on an A380. A Christmas present of sorts, I guess.
Outrageously Gratuitous Generalization about Africa
I can't get out of my head the images of hundreds of seemingly happy African children with no hope. There are children everywhere. Throughout most of Africa over half the population is under the age of twenty.
Africa is an aggregation of failed states.
Through the colonial period.. from the late nineteenth century to circa 1960, there was, the degree of such depending on the colonial power, abuse and exploitation, but, progress was made as well. The French worked hard to upgrade the lives of Africans setting up sound administration, education, and economic development policies. By 1960, there were fifteen African representatives in France's National Assembly. There was not equality between races, for sure, but there was progress for the masses. England, similarly, worked to improve the lives of the citizens of her colonial possessions. So did the Portuguese. The Belgians, the exceptions, stand out as ruthless, cruel exploiters.
In 1960 most African countries under colonial supervision, full of natural resources, with nascent industrial activity, were enjoying 5% to 6% GDP growth rates with benefits spreading to the general population.
But, in each African country, during the '50s, there arose an independence movements... often, but, not always, Communist inspired. Essentially self rule, for these leaders, (personal power and wealth?) was deemed to be the higher goal even at the risk of their country's losing economic momentum. Most of the revolutionary movements assured their people, with no specific plans in hand, that economically, things would improve.
Colonial powers eventually gave in. Some of the separations of newly independent countries from colonial powers were peaceful... Kwame Nkruma and Ghana. Others, were violent... Patrice Lumumba and Congo. 500 thousand were killed before DeGaulle allowed Algeria to opt for independence. By 1965, most African countries had achieved their independence... exception Mozambique and Angola where the Portuguese hung on to their "possessions" for another ten years.
Post independence, admittedly generalizing bigly here, things have gotten worse. Africa suffers under leaders for whom self aggrandizement and accumulation of personal wealth via exploitation of natural resources has trumped establishing developmental programs which would advance economic progress for the people. Nelson Mandela and Leopold Segnhor were rare exceptions to the rule of bad African leadership.
Mock my colonialist proclivities if you want to, but, colonialism worked a heck of a lot better than the corrupt, destructive, despotic rule of African leaders following national independence.
Seeing the happy, hopeful faces of thousands of African kids this month, and realizing, that on current trajectory, there is no hope for them, is heart breaking.
China has stepped up, but in ways to dominate (debt traps), not empower. Western aid is a waste, going into the pockets of the corrupt elites and NGO middle men. Church and private programs are helping (praise be to those engaged), but, are more of a band aid than game changers.
So short of opportunity at home, Africans are naturally working their way north. Bringing in African accountants and computer programmer immigrants is one thing, but, bringing in the poor, unskilled hungry and destitute at scale is quite another.
And, yes, it impacts culture.
Hunker down.
First World Anecdotes
Table 3 Verandah Restaurant. Regent Seven Seas Explorer
Lunch, a week or so into the cruise. TIMDT and Mwah (sic) secured table three, a two seat table next to a starboard side window in the usual way. We took our napkins from our place settings and laid them on the backs of the chairs. TIMDT left her key card wallet at her place setting. The waiter came up and took an iced tea order from TIMDT. We then proceeded to the buffet table.
I returned first. There was a guy, about my age sitting in my seat, already with food on his plate. I thought, what the heck, it wasn't worth making a to do about... I sat down at another empty table near by. I would wave my new location to TIMDT when she returned. I did not see the man look up as I approached the table.
I decided to let TIMDT's return to the table to play itself out... ie. not wave at her from my new location, immediately, on seeing her.
Carrying her plate of food, she walked unwittingly right up to Table 3. As she tells the story, "I walked up to the table thinking the guy was you, Steve. Like you, he had short gray hair... like you he had a beard... like you he was fat :-), like you he was wearing a black t shirt. He was looking into his food as I walked up to the table. Then, I looked carefully. For too long a long moment, I thought I was going nuts. I looked around the room and saw you smiling and waving at me to come. I left my iced tea at "my" place setting, picked up my card wallet and came over to you."
I gave TIMDT kind of an apology (not really) for not warning her more quickly that our table had been sequestered. The waiter came over: "I'm sorry Mr. and Mrs. Taylor, I told the man that the table was taken and he ignored me. I told my supervisor and she said,'well, if the Taylors have found another table, lets just let the situation go.' Is there anything I can do for you now?" TIMDT: "Well, I never seem to be able to find the wonderful coconut centered chocolate cookies made in the ship's bakery any place." The waiter, an Indian kid from Mumbai, made, right there a personal trip to the ship's bakery and retrieved for cookies for TIMDT. He advised, "I've given an instruction to the hotel staff to deliver four cookies every day to your suite." And sure enough, for the remainder of the voyage, ten days or so, the coconut centered cookies were delivered daily to our suite.
Of course we dropped the matter of "Table Three," but revived it, amongst ourselves, occasionally, including with our travel companions, perplexed about what the hell happened. OK... so I didn't forget about it!!! "I want that clown off the ship... NOW!"
NOTE: The contrast between our luxurious travel circumstances and the squalid, struggling locales we would see as we followed Diaz 1488 route down the African coast was striking and.... well.... difficult to process. The world virtue signals its guilt for the plight of Africa. But, in reality, not much is getting done to jump start a broken continent.
Tour Bus Rights
Tour bus. Forty six passengers. Average age 65. One guide.
We were assigned Group One, Bus 2 from the time we exited the ship in Cape Town. There were four tours on the same bus, same guide during our Cape Town stay.
There is always someone who tries to get the front seat so as to get an unrestricted view of the road ahead. I can't say that I haven't been that person from time to time in my life. But, there was a sixtyish German couple that went to extra lengths to obtain the seat. They would leave the ship earlier than authorized, rush to the assigned bus, put something, a hat etc., on the seat and then go back to where the group was waiting for official authorization for their group to join the bus.
I stayed with the group. But, I can't deny that, often following Bridge, I would up the pace to arrive at the bus sooner than the others, in the hopes that I could get preferred seating. Arriving at the bus on the last tour day, 24 December 2018, I saw that the best seats had already been commandeered with hats and bags on the seat. I shrugged and found the "next best" seat, sometimes putting my cap on an adjacent pair of seats if Bridge and Bond were behind me.
Several minutes later, startled by loud talking, I looked up to the front of the bus to see the German guy "giving words" to a "handicapped" woman and her husband, who had taken the front seat, notwithstanding it having been marked by the German couple (who were fluent English speakers). The commotion ended with the tour guide, John, affirming that the handicapped person should have the right to the front seat. Some people on the bus clapped when this right was affirmed by John.
There are two schools of thought here... for me, if not for you.
1. It is now an international protocol that handicapped people should be given preferred seating.
2. The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few. (Spock. "The Wrath of Khan.)"
Sorry. I come down on number 2, at least in this case. Hate me if you want. I've seen too much abuse of the handicapped "rule." In the case of our brouhaha on the bus, the woman in question did have a cane and walked with a limp. But, she was otherwise ambulatory, albeit a bit slow. Had it been me, I would never have put myself in a position to block, or slow, the other passengers. I would have located a place on the bus where I could get off last. I'm jaded, I guess, having played tennis with a bunch of geezers who would joke about angling with their doctor to successfully gain handicapped parking permits.
Tour Bus Passenger Questions to John, tour guide.
Are elephants afraid of mice?
Did somebody build those buildings over there?
Note: There but for the grace of God go I.
Addendum:
That was my impression when I visited in 1973.
“Yet, Cape Town stands out as a location that could substitute for Malibu, Venice, Palm Beach or Sarasota.”
Panama,
Los Angeles, CA
Hi Steve,
I visited MOCAA while in Capetown last summer - I thought the best part of the museum was the story of its creation. An astonishing re-purposing of huge grain silos. It is an extraordinary structure!! I spent most of my visit listening to the architectural tour. I found most of the artwork strange and MEH (note new vernacular picked up from my millennials home for Christmas).
Mrs. Driggs,
Park City, UT
Bishop
Did you know a banker called Pieter Oosthuizen at Citi? He was my boss for a few years. Sweet guy. He was from Stellenboch https://www.tripadvisor.com/Tourism-g312673-Stellenbosch_Western_Cape-Vacations.html
Headed up Overseas Operations which included my area of Overseas Automation, as we began introducing IBM 360/30’s to the branches in Asia, from 1970…
We have friends from Tokyo who live in Stellenboch now. Midori and Hans Schroeder. They own a winery. They bought http://www.stark-conde.co.za/after leaving Japan. Their children when to American School with my daughter.
Safe journeys.
Agree, good shot. He sort of blends in, doesn’t he?
Panama, Los Angeles, CA
Heard of him... didn't know him.
You so make me want to go back. I remember "sundowners" as well as the black velvet sky with vivid views of stars and Milky Way and Southern Cross. No ambient light to obscure the vision. They were just frickin wonderful! Didn't see the interior of South Africa though, just one of the private reserves that border Kruger National Park.
Ray,
Park City, Utah