a week in Cape Town

Cape Town! I had such a good time visiting. 

I flew via London, from where it is a long, long flight. I got chatting quickly with the other middle seat passenger and we discovered about an hour into the flight that not only did we know each other (not well) but that we were going to the same conference and most embarrassingly of all, he is an external supervisor of one of my very own students. We were equally embarrassed for not recognising each other.

I arrived on Thursday early afternoon, checked into my hotel, showered and went out exploring. I did so naively, not realising that it can be risky to explore alone in Cape Town. After a stern telling off by the hotel receptionist, I was a good girl, travelling by Ueber and staying where I was told I would be ok. The conference venue was just around the corner. 

The conference was really really good, for those of you curious, it was the World One Health Congress. You can look up One Health, a really interesting concept, considering human, animal and ecological health holistically. I met with colleagues I wanted to meet but also made new connections. Two of my students attended. It was good to meet and I had a good time getting to know the student that had just graduated. The trickiest part was to decide which session to attend, there were several parallel session to choose from. 

We got really nice conference tote bags made from blue Shweshwe fabric, a printed cotton that is manufactured in South Africa. I asked around to find out more about the fabric and where I could find some.... I eventually happened upon one of the conference venue organisers, who actually had commissioned the production of the totes. She gave me the address of a fabric shop, Da Gama Fabrics in Woodstock. I was not the only person loving the totes, a young women from Leeds who I met early in the conference also mentioned her love for fabric. So instead of networking over packed lunches, we ventured out to the Woodstock neighbourhood by Ueber and then spent a happy hour in the shop. It was most wonderful, but also stressful because every single bolt of fabric called my name. I caved in off course, rationalising with myself that fabric would be an excellent trading good when the apocalypse is upon us. I did not know of course that I would also be gifted three beautiful length of Shweshwe fabric my Moira, who I met on my last day in Cape Town. Thank you Moira!

I should mention at this point that I have yet to cut into the African wax fabric I brought home from Malawi almost two years ago. 

I had a whole day and a half to explore after the conference. I decided to take a hop-on-hop-off bus tour. There are two routes, one that went quite far out, the other sticking closer to the centre of town. I took the blue route to Kirstenbosch Botanic Gardens and spent several hours walking the trails, stopping to take in the view, take photographs and marvel at the flora and fauna, so unlike anything we have here in Glasgow. It is by far the most beautiful botanical garden I have ever visited. My only regret was that I was on my own and could therefore not safely hike up the mountains on which slopes the gardens were. I watch too many mountain rescue documentaries to hike up a mountain unprepared. 

My next stop was the World of Birds on the blue route. A bad decision, not a place were animal welfare is top of the list. I was glad that I had seen so many birds in the botanical gardens. I left as soon as the next bus passed by. The bus then circled back to Cape Town via Hout Bay, some 20 km away from the Waterfront district of Cape Town. I mostly ignored the audio part of the tour, it didn't provide the level of detail and historic accuracy and commentary that I wanted. We were shown the informal settlements around Hout Bay, where people are living in cramped conditions, with a lack of infrastructure, poor underserved communities essentially. I found this a bit voyeuristic. The drive back along the coast was stunning. I only got of the bus once because I needed a pee. Upon my return to the city centre, I had planned to go on the red route to drive by the Table Mountain cable car station but I was too cold and tired. Also, Table Mountain was shrouded in clouds so not much hope of a good view. The views at the Botanics were amazing and I didn't feel like I had missed out. I hopped off near my hotel, took a hot shower to warm up and went to the Waterfront for a spot of shopping. I visited the Watershed, a craft and design place where I wanted to buy just about everything but I refrained. I did buy a small gift for my mum's birthday and a necklace and earrings for myself. I also bought a light weight lilac down jacket and an orange hat. I ventured into a food hall and had a delicious mixed mushroom ramen bowl. A glass of white wine, too. I tasted some delicious fruity white wines actually. Outside in the harbour, there were dozens of harbour seals floating and playing. I had been to a talk on the ongoing rabies outbreak in the Cape Town fur seal populations so was glad they were in the water. 

I spent the evening packing, which was quite challenging because of my shopping spree. I had also brought too many clothes from home. I can't help myself. The next day I took it easy, late breakfast, then I went to Mouille Point Lighthouse, where I met Moira. We walked along the seafront, then around Green Point Park. This is a large open park with beautiful waterways and meandering paths. I really enjoyed meeting Moira. I am going to cast on for a pair of socks with one of two beautiful skeins of South African sock yarn Moira gifted me. It will be a nice memory of a enjoyable meet-up. I might make coordinated cushion covers with the Shweshwe fabric I also received. 

I returned to my hotel, had a light lunch and left for the airport. I had a 7 pm over night flight to catch. This was uneventful and on time. In London, I asked to be rebooked onto an earlier flight to Glasgow and I was back home by 9:30 am. My suitcase also arrived, which is always nice. 

So that's Cape Town. I am glad I had the opportunity to visit and make new memories, and of course also learn a lot for my work, and meet fellow scientists, and make new friends. 

Thanks for visiting.