The Adventure to Cape L'Agulhas

August 9^th, 2014. Today we are going on an adventure to the southern-most tip of Africa in a land called Cape L’Aguhlas! At 7:30AM, we began our three hour drive to our destination. I am accompanied by my housemate Ryan and three other members of SANBI’s research facilities: Fhatani, Nkhume, and Tenda.

To get there, we drove all the way through the Cape Flats and across the township of Khayalitsha.

Up and over the Hottentot Mountains into the rural lands of the Western Cape.

Then down to the rocky coast of Cape L’Agulhas.

It was amazing to experience the different views in the few hours we spent on the road. My favorite was our passage through the farmlands of the L’Agulhas Flats. At first, it was rolling hills of dark green; I believe this is alfalfa.

As we ventured deeper and deeper into the countryside, there were magnificent displays of yellow.

This picturesque landscape is the canola flowers giving us a show. Not only is it amazing to see the rolling hills painted yellow, but I had no idea what canola really is. Canola oil is a kitchen necessity in most households yet I am sure very few people know much of anything about where it comes from. So I did some research.

Canola is another name for field mustard/turnip rape scientifically known as Brassica rapa. It was bred naturally from rapeseed at the University of Manitoba, Canada in the 1970’s. It’s was produced as an edible oil, but is also used as a source of biodiesel. It was actually named canola to avoid the negative connotations of rape. My research has explained that the word canola is derived from either Canada Oil Low Acid, or the “ola” referring to oil. Nontheless, it was all a marketing ploy to avoid rape, which I had no idea and think is pretty interesting. In fact, the latin word rapum means turnip, hence rapeseed.

The product was once a specialty crop of Canada, but is now an American cash crop and the highest-producing oilseed in the states. 90% of this crop is produced in North Dakota. The oil is produced by the heating, crushing, then refining of the seed. The end product possesses omega -6 and omega-3 fatty acids with low amounts of saturated fat. There are no tests proving dangerous health problems from this oil and it is recognized as safe to consume by the United States Food and Drug Administration.

Records show this crop has been cultivated by man dating back to 4,000 years ago in India. In the 13^th century, Northern Europe used the oil for lamps. Much later during World War II when steam engines were under rapid production, canola oil was utilized as a cheap source of engine lubricant.

As we reached the oceanside town of Cape L’Agulhas, we headed towards the lighthouse to hike 500 meters to our long waited destination. 

This is a photo of Nkhume, me, Ryan, and Tenda at the sign pointing towards our destination.

A boardwalk took us straight to the point. Sadly, it didn’t seem much like the point I envisioned. It just seemed like another spot on the beach, but this specific spot had a giant stone figure with one arrow pointing the the east and another towards the west, labelled “Indian Ocean” and “Atlantic Ocean”. I was hoping there would be an exaggerated tip where couples could be caught mimicking the scene from Titanic. But when we arrived reality set in that just because it is the “tip” of Africa doesn’t mean it is a literal tip.

After we posed for a few photos, all of us made it a point to get our feet in the water. No sharpness of rocks would keep us from getting to the tip of the tip and in the water! I can proudly announce I have been in the Indian AND Atlantic Ocean at the same time.

Aside from taking pictures and comparing the two oceans (the Indian Ocean is warmer), our group spent the rest of the time checking out the tide pool life and skipping rocks. Here are some pictures of hermit crabs with beautiful green and brown stripes. I call them the Mint Chocolate Hermies.

We then decided to go get the greatest fish n’ chips at a local joint for lunch. On our way back, I photographed some of the plant life on the coast. Plenty of Haemanthes and bulb specimens, mesembs growing in the pebbles, even some shrubs.

I am sure in a few months there will be quite the view of African daisies in flower.

After lunch, we drove two hours along west to another beach town named Hermanus. Hermanus is a pretty nice vacation town which gained popularity by the numerous whale sightings off the coast every year, which has made this the center for the whale watching industry in South Africa. Our business was in Zwelihle, the local township, where Tenda had a friend from Varsity (University) whom he wanted to visit.

The townships are an interest place to be. If you are white, it is not advised to be there without a black escort. Not that the people are bad, but not all of them are to be trusted. Especially since they are less fortunate and the white population is assumed to have money. These communities are poor and commonly portrayed as the stereotypical shanty town. Zwelihle was pretty nice for a township, but still very much a shithole for the style of life I am accustom to. Trash everywhere, it stinks, we watched the “ratchet” trail her now ex-boyfriend down the street while she yelled how much she hated him. It is just a completely different style of life in the townships. I did not get many pictures of the township because I did not think it would be very respectful to be walking around with a camera, conspicuously taking photos of these people’s lifestyle.

But here are a few I did get. Check this out, chickens running around the street and this dude has two cut up pigs just hanging on this fence. How is any of this sanitary?!?!

After we met with Tenda’s friend, we went into the township. I really wanted vetkoek so we drove inside and parked the car as we looked around the taxi rink for a vendor. We ended up inside a storage bin which was made into a concession stand. Get this, I bought 10 vetkoeks and some fried snoek (a rather fine quality local fish) for 20 rand. This was enough to be dinner for the five of us for two dollars in America. Crazy right?

Back at the corner where Ryan, Nkhumi and Fhatani were, Tenda and I showed up to the guys chowing down on another local favorite, chicken feet. Chicken feet are a delicacy in the township communities. Yes, I tried it. No, I did not see the hype. You’re basically sticking these grilled feet into your mouth to spit out the toenails and bones it consist of. You are supposed to eat the soft skin (scales) and veins but there really isn’t anything on them. Funny thing is, eating this chicken foot was the best township food experience I had. As I am pondering what I’m doing with this chicken’s toe in my mouth, a taxi pulled us to the stop sign next to us and makes a hard stop. The driver leans out his window and stares at me in awe! He could not believe his eyes there was a white guy, in a township, eating chicken feet! 

We left Zwelihle and head back to Cape Town. Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to get a cool picture of the Cape Flats as Ryan’s VW Polo putt its way down the Hottentots. By the time we arrived at Kirstenbosch, it was around 8pm and I needed some sleep for my hike up Table Mountain the next day.