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Francis Doku and a guide at the Lesedi Cultural Village

Francis Doku: Climbing Table Mountain and riding side cars in Cape Town

Last week, I told you about the first part of my journey to South Africa.

I tried to paint a picture of how wonderful the experience was watching lions and other animals as well as canoodling with cubs in the Lion Park, touching and feeding elephants at the Elephant Sanctuary, walking on the streets of the historic township of Soweto among other experiences.

I have since been back and trying to find my way around the happenings on the radio and TV front.

So before I get back into the groove and start talking about what the new Channel R and XFM are up to or why Miss Naa decided to do a 360° return to YFM or who is winning in the English speaking market, let me share with you the second half of my trip to South Africa. Editor permitting, of course.

Before the SA Specialists team from Ghana and Nigeria would leave Johannesburg and the wider Gauteng area to the Western Cape, a few other places were visited.

The first was the Apartheid Museum which features all the relics from the apartheid era and then the famous Gold Reef City located at the south of the Johannesburg’s Central Business District.

Gold Reef City is located on an old gold mine which closed in the early 70s and the park is themed around the gold rush that started in 1886 where the park is currently located.

It is a theme park that features many things including hotels, restaurants, casinos, children’s playgrounds and different kinds of rollercoasters with different heights and speeds.

The one that the team loved and some almost developed heart attack riding was the Tower of Terror (also known as the Shaft of Terror).

It is a vertical-drop roller coaster which features a drop of 50 meters, and a pull-out which features a positive G-force of 6.3 Gs. You have to have a strong heart to do this one!

The last visit in the Johannesburg area left most, if not all the members of the team, in utter amazement!

The Lesedi Cultural Village is a tourist village which celebrates the cultural traditions of the most dominant ethnic groups of Southern Africa.

The village was developed to depict and reproduce traditional dwellings of the Zulus, Basothos, Xhosas and Pedis and it offers demonstrations of cultural activities of these people and how they used to live and still live in the traditional settings.

You learn how the Xhosas treat their women compared to how the others treat their own, you learn about how the Basotho King Moshoeshoe hatched a plan to defeat the Zulu warrior, King Shaka and then you will also have a taste of some of the traditionally prepared meals of the people.

The height of the visit to Lesedi is the dances of the various ethnic groups as demonstrated by a well-trained and groomed team of dancers. Our team and other teams from elsewhere were gobsmacked by the performances they were treated to at the Lesedi Cultural Village.

Having completed the tour of Johannesburg, the team checked out of the four star Maslow Hotel and headed to OR Tambo International to continue the next stage of the experience in South Africa in the stylishly acclaimed Mother City or Cape Town.

Our home in Cape Town for four days was the famous five star The Table Bay Hotel located at the V&A Waterfront. The hotel is well located to overlook all the major tourist attractions in the Cape Town area viz. the Harbour, Table Mountain and Robben Island.

If the treatment we received at The Maslow was top notch, the one we got at The Table Bay was even higher. From arrival through setting us up in the system to entering our rooms to realise that we were going to be treated as royalty to the food and beverages and the spa treatment on the evening before our departure were magnificent!

The Cape Town adventures took off with an open top bus tour of the city to learn about its history and what informed the culture as it has evolved over time. The tour ended with a visit to the legendary and iconic Table Mountain.

Most great cities all over the world are known by some iconic landmarks, whether natural or manmade. New York has the Statue of Liberty, France has the Eiffel Tower and Cape Town has the Table Mountain.

To go to the top of Table Mountain or 1,067ft above sea level, you can either hike/climb or use the famous Table Mountain Cableway. This is a lift like device that takes passengers from the lower cable station on Tafelberg Road to the top of the mountain.

Upon reaching the top, you have a breathtaking view of the valley below and you overlook the city of Cape Town itself, Table Bay and Robben Island to the north, and the Atlantic seaboard to the west and south. A great view when the weather is right and not covered by clouds.

The cableway, we were told in the open top bus, was officially opened in 1929. In 1997, the cableway was upgraded, and new cars were introduced carrying 65 instead of 25 passengers. The new cars give a faster journey to the summit, and rotate 360 degrees during the ascent or descent, giving a panoramic view of the city.

Apart from the breathtaking view below when you are at the summit of the mountain, there are shops, a restaurant and walking trails of various lengths for those who wish to explore the various points of the iconic range of the Mother City.

The next great adventure which I have always looked up to having was the visit to Robben Island. The story of South Africa is replete with what happened on the island located some 7km off the coast of Cape Town. It housed the prison where those who opposed the Apartheid regime were sent to.

Not the least, Nelson Mandela spent about 18 of his 27 years of political incarceration on that island. Also to have served varied prison terms on the island are the current president of South Africa and leader of the ANC Jacob Zuma and Walter Sizulu, another former leader of the ANC.

Touring the island, visiting the prison facilities, entering the prison cells of some of the people jailed there, reading the letters they sent back home, reading their view post-apartheid, listening to the narration (sometimes from former prisoners who serve as tour guides) of stories of how prisoners got there and were treated was amazing in one breath and touching in another. Clash of emotions would best describe the feeling you have on Robben Island.

Then there was a great trip from Cape Town to Praal in the most amazing means of transportation I have ever used. A motorbike that has a sidecar! Believe it, all of us in the team had to be suited up properly to brace the chilling weather we were there in winter and so the weather was biting to make the 58km trip from the hotel through the vineyards and farms along the way to our destination. What a great ride it was!

When we got to where we were going, located between Wellington and Stellenbosch, we had another wonderful time riding quadbikes through the tracks created especially for them along huge vineyards owned by some of South Africa’s big wine estates.

After the quadbike rides, we had amazing lunch at a small but wonderful restaurant located at the Rhebokskloof Wine Estate. We also had the opportunity to taste different brands of both red and white wine manufactured by the estate. It was a great journey to that part of the Western Cape and every member of the team was happy on the bus back to the Table Bay Hotel in Cape Town.

To climax the day and all the wonderful experiences in Cape Town (including eating at exotic restaurants and night clubbing at Cape Town’s finest clubs) the team had a wonderful spa treatment at the hotel’s ultra-modern spa to calm nerves and release tension, etc.

Indeed, this particular trip to South Africa was a very great opportunity for me to experience the amazing (I am aware that I have used this word too many times than I would be allowed) gift of tourism that country can offer.

I am very grateful to Global Media Alliance for choosing me and to South Africa Tourism through its West Africa Trade Manager Mr. Mohammed Tanko Kwajaffa for the opportunity. I can’t wait to go back!

@TheGHMediaGuru

 

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