Cape Town January 25, 2024
The breakfast at the hotel was very tasty and a lot. Of course Lisa was whining again that she wasn’t hungry but she ate fruit and an omelet. At half past ten I ordered an Uber that was there 5 minutes later to take us to Lilly. There, after two and a half years, I saw the camper again.
Julian had taken care of it just fine, but of course a few things don’t work (anymore). I think I’ll sole that
I just drove my first piece in the camper and that went well. As always, it is good thinking at intersections that I take the right turn, but that is gone with a day.
I have now obtained the local SIM card with an insane amount of data (200 GB) for ZAR 700 and a lot of hassle with registering that card. For a few years now, the prepaid SIM card has had to be in a name and that means passport (no problem) and a ZA address (I do have it). Now they wanted ‘proof of address’ and that is not possible. Oh well, with some smiles you can do a lot and occasionally drop that you have family here.
For the holidaymakers among us, just buy the thing at the airport. They are located next to the exit at Capetown airport.
It was nice to see Lilly and Julian; tomorrow we leave for Dysseldorp. It is now 33 degrees here but there it will be more than 40 there in the coming period.
Tonight we sleep in front of Lilly and Julian’s house in our camper
We just discovered that something is wrong with the 2nd battery of the car or with the wiring that regulates the interior lighting of the car. Nothing works at all with the engine on or off, but everything works when the external power is on it. Tomorrow someone will come and have a look and then we will see further.
Last night we were introduced to the South African electricity problems. That’s called loadshedding here and it’s the result of unimaginable corruption where far too little power is generated. Every day the power goes out here for at least 2 hours and then you are in the dark.
Cape Town – January 26
Today is our son-in-law’s birthday. No idea if he’s going to celebrate anything with the big party next month ahead!
Last night we had long conversations with the family about anything and everything. South Africa is known as the rainbow nation because of all the populations that live here, an idea of the president in 1994. The fact that reality is a lot more difficult was made clear yesterday by a story that brother-in-law Julian told about a young man and woman who had a child, but his family, black and Xhosa, did not accept her and the child. It was something cultural was the story but for me this was racism, she is coloured, in the purest and most dangerous form. As a white Dutchman, I am very well aware of the expressions and forms of racism that are there despite the fact that I have never experienced this myself. I was therefore surprised that, in this story, the culture card could simply be played, in this country with its history.
The apartheid laws of the whites have been exchanged for the cultural laws of the blacks but they are just the same….
Today we are going to repair the car and have a barbecue. Tomorrow to the heat in Dysseldorp
Hieperdepiep, in dat geval!!! En natuurlijk een goeie reis naar Dysseldorp!