SOUTH AFRICA

We are finally in South Africa. It was a grueling plane ride, made even more grueling due to a 3 hour delay sitting on the plane . But we made it. Cape Town is beautiful. It is a large city and we are staying in the heart of the tourist district. The ocean is clean, but freezing. The weather is great, in the mid seventies to eighties during the day and in the sixties during the evenings. The people are friendly, kind, and helpful. It is safe to walk around the tourist area at night, but if you get out of that area you are told to take an Uber. The city has its share of shanty towns, that is an area where people live in boxes, pieces of wood, tarp, about anything that can be used for shelter.

What is so remarkable to me is how all the peoples of this country, at least the parts I have seen, get along with each other. The blacks here seem not to maintain any type of animosity towards their counter parts, the whites, even after the history that they have shared. They all seem to live in harmony and it feels real.

We went to a township that was a Uber ride away and it was a different story. The people were still very nice and accepting of us being there to view their way of life. But it was the town that was remarkably different. There is government housing that was made out of cargo containers, two families shared one. Then the next step up was brick housing where six families would each have a room and they share an unattached bathroom and kitchen. And then if you are lucky, the government supplied a true single family home. It was a long way from how people lived in Cape Town. What was most disturbing was all the garbage that was in the streets and around peoples homes. We were told that garbage was picked up four times a week, so where did all this garbage come from?

The tour guide took us to an area in the township where there are shops, galleries, and restaurants and new ones being established. This should start to make a difference on how these people live. We were then taken to a nursery school and you could not find a child without a smile. One can only hope that by the time they are adults the town will have been transformed to a place that they can find jobs, decent housing and a place they would want to call home.

In a couple of days we are leaving to go on a safari. We have to take a plane to get to where our safari is to take place in Kruger National Park. This is why I am here in South Africa. I want to see the animals. I want to experience the beauty of large animals living in their own habitats. I hope it lives up to my expectations. I do believe it will.

My cancer is still with me. It shall be with me for the rest of my life, no matter where I am. So better here than waiting for my next doctor appointment. Live life to its fullest. Living is not merely surviving!!!