LAST STOP IN AFRICA
By Bob Van Leer

  (CAPE TOWN, SOUTH AFRICA, Sunday, Jan. 28, 2001) - Our cruise aboard the Pacific Princess ended here at Africa's southernmost city from where we were to fly home.

  This was actually written in Gold Beach as my laptop computer had to be packed away the night before in our luggage and we wouldn't be reunited until we reached Medford.

  We left the ship about 8:00 a.m. and our flight to London is not until 8:00 p.m. so we have the whole day in Cape Town. We decided to take a guided tour around the city.

  South Africa is a country of 42 million people with 3.5 million of them in Cape Town.

  Cape Town was founded by the Dutch in 1652. The English and Dutch clashed until the end of the 19th century when the British won a war and created the Union of South Africa. South Africa declared itself an independent republic in 1961 and was ruled by the policy of "apartheid", separateness, everyone in their places. The white 12% of the population ruled with an iron hand over the 78% of blacks, 8% coloreds and 2% Indian.

  Apartheid lasted only 30 years. In 1990 the mostly-black African National Congress was legalized and Nelson Mandela, a black man who had been in prison nearly 30 years, was elected president in 1994.

  We were in South Africa once before in 1986 in the "apartheid" days. Blacks have noticeably more freedom of movement now, but there is not much mixing. Our guide said getting rid of political apartheid was relatively easy, but psychological and economic apartheid is still strong. Downtown is dominated by high rise buildings and there are beautiful residential areas. But there are also still the "townships", crammed together shantytowns where blacks still live.

  Cape Town is a beautiful city dominated by Table Rock, a huge massif 1086 meters (more than 3000 feet) behind town. We were able to see the famous "tablecloth" this trip. A cloud forms over the mountain and spills over the cliffs. When the cloud hits the warmer air below it evaporates leaving the effect of a tablecloth over the mountain.

  We toured the Company's Gardens and South African Museum. The museum is outstanding. Memorable attractions are dioramas of the San, the earliest people of the area, now nearly extinct. The people in the dioramas were modeled from life in the 19th century and look almost alive.

  From Signal Hill we were able to see Robben Island where Mandela and many of his colleagues were held prisoner. It is now a park.

  Princess Lines had set up a hospitality hall for us at the Albert and Victoria Waterfront, an old area of the harbor now developed as a tourist area and immensely popular. The weather was perfect, temperature in the 70s with full sun and a light breeze.

  South Africa is a wealthy country compared to its neighbors, with a per capita Gross Domestic Product of $3215. But not everyone shares equally. The new government, now headed by Thabo Mbeki, has not been in power long enough to have changed all the old ways and to show what it can do for the economy. With the start it has, if South Africa can't make it, it is unlikely that any of the sub-Saharan African countries can prosper.

  Late in the afternoon, we headed to the airport for our British Airways flight to London. Our world-wide transportation system is truly remarkable. We can go from Cape Town to Medford in a day and a half.

  That said, the day and a half are difficult ones. Our flight to London is 11 hours, 15 minutes. We landed at Heathrow Airport and the security there was the tightest we remember. After an 8 hour layover, we were off again on a 9 hour, 15 minute flight to Seattle. The layover in Seattle was short and flight to Medford was only an hour and 20 minutes.

  We arrived in Medford just before 8:00 p.m. Monday, Jan. 29, after being on the road 34 hours. We were 10 hours ahead of Oregon time in Cape town, so by the time we were adjusted to, it was 6:00 a.m. the next day. We were bushed, so we stayed the night in Medford and drove home the next day. A long trip and enjoyable one, and we learned a lot.

  After a trip such as this we always have a greater appreciation of where we live. Hardly anyone lives as well as we do in the United States.