Елена Калугина – We embrace the world (страница 3)

Then we visit another infant school, a larger one. It consists of three small rooms, each of it has at least 15 children, in the farthest chamber, one-year-old babies are sleeping, as usually, on the floor on spread blankets, not noticing the screams and noise from the neighbouring rooms.

We drive around Langa for a few hours. To be honest, this was one of those days that can change the perception of life and our attitude to many things, to those that we have and to those with which we can change this world for the better.

It has been really impressive what we have seen, the tough action of local rotarian friends with the help of all five continents, yes, because all the continents are part of the project and here also a similarity to our experience, connecting the world. And, at the end of the tour, one more surprise. The invitation from one of our new friends, Chris, to his house for a cup of coffee and sharing of our feelings.

Chris’s house is bright and spacious, in the British style, with a large well-kept garden. We wait until he turns off the alarm and all the security measures at home, unlocks all the locks and bolts, and here we are, inside. Large spacious rooms, photos of children on the walls, a lot of books and paintings, very cosy and quiet while you are inside. We talk for a long time, having coffee and cookies.

These people are really very nice, we are lucky to get to know the country with their help. In fact, who can show better the beauty of the place than the person, who has lived here all his life and who wants to transmit with their hospitality all the love for this unusual city. And it is really incredible! We are falling in love with Cape Town more and more.

Janey has recommended a charming hotel close to them. We go to have a look at it and immediately understand why she has recommended it. A colonial-style mansion furnished with antiques, high ceilings that fill the space with air, a huge tropical garden with a river and small lakes, where huge beautiful wild birds walk, squirrels run. The queens of this garden are eight huge turtles who live here. They can do everything, even come inside the hotel in the evening, and choose a secluded corner in the flowers and sleep peacefully. This lost paradise is situated right under Table Mountain, so you can imagine the view from the window.

We have been lucky to find one spare room, all the other rooms are already occupied by guests… well, to be honest, this is not exactly a «room», but a huge suite, very beautiful, in noble shades of gray and white, with an interior designed with excellent taste and windows overlooking the garden. The room is so excellent that we don’t want to leave it, but we still have a lot to see, and Janie will show us the best place from where you can watch the sunset.

As we do not want to lose a minute, we go out of town, before meeting Janie, to meet the wind and the ocean. The road is so beautiful, that sometimes it seems that you are asleep, and all what happens to you is a dream. The feeling of happiness does not leave us for a second. From one side you see the ocean, from the other rocks. We pass white beaches, cliffs, mountains, a whale is waiting for us and, from one of the cliffs that has an incredible view of the bay, here it is! A whale! It is floating, rising from time to time, from its home place, the sea. There’s always a thought in the head: «Thank you! Thank you for this!». We haven’t experienced such excitement and such strong emotions for a long time.

In one of the most beautiful places Adri has stopped the car and we go out to admire the view. The man sitting on the bench, hearing us speak Italian, asks with joy: «Are you from Italy? I’m Italian too!». We fall into talk, and he tells us that he has been living here in the suburbs of Cape Town for 20 years, having left Vicenza in the North of Italy. When we ask him if he is afraid to live here, he answers simply and clearly: «I know that South Africa is not going through the best times. Every afternoon when I return home from my office in Cape Town, I stop here, sit on the bench, look at the ocean, and think about how happy I am to see all this. Will I ever be able to leave it? I think I will not. There is no place in the world more beautiful than this,» said a man who was born and raised in Italy, but whose heart was rooted in South Africa. We are impressed by his sincerity and his words, and, by the way, we almost agree with him.

The white sandy beach, arched like a crescent moon and washed by bright blue waves, is located below the mountain, and it is incredibly beautiful. Adri turns the car around, and we search for the descent, passing small towns, groves of large trees of exotic species, and open desert spaces. Meanwhile, the weather turns from sunny and warm to cloudy and windy. This is a normal phenomenon here: four seasons live in one day.

Finally, we arrive at a magical place. The beach is much wider and longer than it looked from above. Dark grey clouds are floating low over the waves and sand. We are here alone, leaving fresh tracks in the wet sand. Adri is ahead as usual, fresh salty wind is blowing in our faces. We want to be silent and listen to the nature. How many sounds are concentrated in this place: the sound of waves, the twittering of birds, the whisper of sand, the rustle of wind. Raincoats help to protect ourselves from the wind. We are part of this landscape, this moment, this happiness. It’s a wonderful sensation, but let’s go back to the city, Janey is waiting for us.

We leave our car in the city center, jump into Janey’s Mercedes, and she drives us up the magnificent road from the foot of Table Mountain to an observation point almost on the top. In one beautiful place, where a magnificent panorama of Cape Town opens, we stop, get out of the car and freeze up with delight. The rays of the setting sun paint the mountain and part of the city in red and orange, on the horizon, the ocean gently bends around the borders of the land, making the space infinite. It seems that you are in the best place on earth, but Janey, breaking the idyll. «Do you see this beautiful road that runs through the Park at the foot of the mountain? Once this picturesque place was a favorite route for all local cyclists and hikers. Now everyone who gets there out of ignorance, runs the risk of being robbed. I don’t really want to talk about it, but it’s true.» It becomes very sad thinking how easily paradise turns into hell, but it’s nice that the locals tell everything honestly about their life, and this makes you feel even more of their pain.

«I know that you only travel with hand luggage, and that you don’t have a single extra inch in your suitcase, but I really want to give you this book about my city, the most beautiful city on Earth, as a keepsake. "– Janey pulls out of the car a huge book, illustrated with picturesque photos, called «7 days in Cape Town». – «You can leave it at the airport or some other place later, but now, please, take it.» Well, tell us, how could we leave this book after these words? And, the book at the end has arrived back to Slovenia after visiting all the world.

Then we go to another place, to another mountain, the sun has not quite set yet. There we find a lot of people, mostly young, sitting on the grass. A few guys are playing guitar, adding a note of romance to an already magical evening. Wild Guinea fowl walk around, beautiful big birds that resemble chickens. «There are so many of them here, they are cute, but very stupid and noisy, especially when they fly to sleep on the fir tree near my house, and then fall off it in their sleep and start shouting at the whole area,» Janey says with a laugh.

The sun has disappeared, and the magic day is ending. We thank our companion for the unique experience and the book, for the advice on where to go and what to see tomorrow and we move to our hotel. By the way, it has two restaurants, one of which we are going to try today, so the second day in Cape Town is still going on, not finished yet and we are very happy of this.

We decide not to change our clothes and go to dinner in what we are wearing, because it is already quite late after such an intense day. Dinner in the garden with the surround of such a luxurious nature is a worthy end to this unusual and eventful day. We have to say that also the food here is at top level. The cuisine is mixed European, the ingredients are excellent, all that we have tried: bread, cheese, fish and meat – everything is local and has an excellent quality, and the wine…the wine of South Africa, this will be a separate story. Our plans, in fact, include a visit to a winery. But this will be later. In the meantime, good African night, we need to think about a lot of what we have seen today.

5

«We will be very grateful if you will not use the bath. Cape Town has a freshwater crisis" informs a card in the beak of a cute duckling at the bottom of our large and beautiful bath, which stands in the middle of a huge bathroom. „Well, a crisis is very dangerous thing, if we are so politely asked, we can also stay without a bath, we can use a shower.“» In the shower there is a bucket that stands in the middle, at the bottom of the bucket is another card. «Well, no, if there is a request not to use the shower, it would be difficult to do» the thought arrived. However, the second message contains other information: «When taking a shower, please do not remove the bucket, we will be able to reuse all the water you collect.» Wow seems it is a really difficult situation. And then for some time we thought about how they are going to use this dirty water.