N Kapse Ding – Carnival in January

For sure: the South Africans like to party. How come I know this already after one day in Cape Town? It is because of the Carnival. No joke: To welcome the new year properly, the Cape Towners celebrate Carnival on 2nd of January. A huge colorful street parade wiggles through half of the town, traffic is down, and then they celebrate for 12 hours (Here the song of the carnival).

But let’s start at the beginning: Today was my first day in Cape Town, the windy city. And she is worth her name – the squalls are so heavy I can barely move forward. I explore the city by foot to get a good overview. But the first impression is deceptive, as everyone is focused on the preparations and the mood is a bit tense – no surprise as several thousand people are expected to watch the street parade.

I walk by the Castle of Good Hope, pass several big colonial houses and finally reach the Alfred & Victoria Waterfront. The old harbor district, few years ago a shabby area, is the new Hipster place in the town (the stadium which was created for the football world cup 2010 is located here, the aquarium and tons of cozy cafés, chic marina restaurants and fascinating handcraft). The coolest part: Next to the harbor bay several dolphins and seals are playing :))) 

For lunch I enjoy freshly caught tuna and then I marvel at the biodiversity of the Two Oceans Aquarium. Later I wander back towards the street parade. But unfortunately what sounds fun escalates quite quickly. I have been warned from various sides to avoid the parade. And as I am easy recognizable as tourist I just pass by with security distance. But still: It feels uncomfortable as some dodgy people are approaching me – I don’t want to lean myself too much out of the window on my first day, so I jump into a taxi and go back to the hotel.

Here the first gallery from South Africa.

xoxo anita

Video: Close up in the aquarium

2 comments

  1. Liebe Anita, ich wünsche dir eine tolle Zeit in Afrika und freueich auf deine Berichte. Bussi Jutta

Leave a Reply to Jutta Moisi Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.