The 1200 mile flight to Cape Town was smooth and uneventful. We arrived in just under three hours and were through customs quickly. Our guide Kyle met us in the terminal and drove us to our AirBnB in the Waterkant district, a nice area with colorful houses and plenty of shops and restaurants.

Cape Town is South Africa’s capital and second largest city, after Johannesburg. The Portuguese first reached the area in the late 15th century. The Dutch arrived about a century later and established a colony that was then ceded to the British at the end of the Napoleonic Wars in 1814. The Dutch imported slaves from Indonesia and Madagascar to work the farms and vineyards they established, but the Brits abolished slavery in 1833.

Driving from the airport Kyle pointed out the numerous “townships”, which are huge slums. The townships are divided along racial lines, with African townships and colored townships. The colored townships are mostly mixed race and descendants of the Indonesian and Malay slaves. The townships do have electricity, but no water or sewer service except for communal facilities. They house over two million people.

In contrast, the modern areas of the city are tree lined, with first world amenities. Although no longer segregated, they are still predominantly white.

Our house is quirky, with one bedroom downstairs and one bedroom upstairs. Each has a private patio or balcony. The kitchen is on the ground floor, but the dining table is on the second floor. Metal spiral stairs connect the ground floor to the second floor, and the second floor to the rooftop terrace. It takes us awhile to learn how to use the stairs.

There are shops around the corner, and plenty of restaurants nearby. There is a gay bar on the corner called Manhattan, and Steve gets catcalls as we walk past. The houses are all painted bright colors and well maintained. we can see Table Mountain from our terrace.

We stock up on food and water, and get takeout sandwiches for dinner. After a pleasant evening on the terrace we are ready for bed. There is no heat or air conditioning in the house. There is a small space heater in each room, but ours is broken. There are hot water bottles in the armoire with knit covers, and we fill them to warm our feet. On safari they were called “bush babies”, and they are very comfy. We have a good night’s sleep.