Day 10: Saturday 7 July

Weather getting cold. Me too. After breakfast took my brolly and went looking for stamps and postcards.

As arranged with Chris, turned up at the Drunken Springbok at 11.00 AM to watch the Lions v Wallabies game (well, that was the excuse!). The Lions were brought down to earth with a bang, losing 35-14. Needed to sink a couple of beers to calm the shattered nerves.

Just as the party was really getting started, I had to break off to get back to the hotel at 13.45 for the tour (the things one does for culture!).

As I was the only non-Chinese (from Singapore) in the minibus, I got into conversation with the driver, Arn. He told me he had spent 7 years in the SA army, fighting in Angola. He took part in 127 engagements with the enemy (which must have been the left-wing government). Tall, bearded, fit-looking, wearing a faded fur-lined bomber jacket, he is descended from French Huguenots who arrived at the Cape of Good Hope at the end of the 17th century. These Calvinists consisted of only a fraction of the large-scale Protestant flight from France after the revocation of the Edict on Nantes in 1685, but their numbers were large enough to have a considerable influence and leave a lasting impression on the young settlement at the Cape.

Arn said there is no need for the controversial multi-billion arms purchase passed by the government--all week the papers have been reporting that politicians involved in the decision-making process have received large discounts on Mercedes 4x4 vehicles.

The tour first of all took in the South African Natural History Museum. It has evocative displays of man’s prehistory and evolution, indigenous people and their cultures, and animals, insects, birds, shells and geology. Among the most appealing displays are those of the Bushman hunter-gatherer cultures, including original examples of their tools, rock art and engravings.

Then on to the Jewish Quarter and historical parts of the city centre. There is lots of construction in progress near the waterfront, where among other things a canal and a convention centre are being built.

We then headed out along the coast and passed Century City, the biggest shopping centre in the southern hemisphere. Further into the country we had an extended visit to an ostrich farm--never imagined there were so many things you could make out of ostrich eggs! Upon our return to Capetown Arn dropped us off at the V & A Waterfront.

The Singaporean Chinese group who were on the tour with me kindly invited me to join them for a Chinese meal at the Sea Palace--a great Chinese restaurant!