Sites

The Museum of Contemporary Modern Art Africa is a unique retrofit of waterfront concrete grain elevators by Thomas  Heatherwick - It is conveniently located next to my hotel so easy to fit into my Sunday “rest day.” Heatherwick was also involved in the bamboo school i visited at the end of my last cycling trip…

An atrium space shaped like a corn kernel was cut out of the middle of a 6x7 grid of cylindrical concrete grain silos. Galleries wrap around in the outer tubes. 

Circular stair fits into one silo

Nine square grid of skylights at the atrium roof

Three silos extend up for the elevator overrun

Elevator ride was fun:

A high end hotel occupies the grading tower above the silos. Rooms go for $1600 to $10,000 USD per night. Seems to be a popular wedding venue.

The other night at the social table, La, the wine expert, said to go to MOCAA for the building but not necessarily the art. She was more or less right but there was an exhibit from Ghana with fabulous embroidery.

Monday, Robben Island.

On the ferry to Robben Island

I can’t say much about a place that was one of the lowest points of humanity or lack there of. It’s a barren little island full of turtles, penguins and mostly bad memories. The prisoners who made it through here had incredible persistence and fortitude. 

We had a little bus tour around the island with an amusing guide who tried to teach us Xhosa. Then we had a less amusing tour through the prison by a former inmate. He was incarcerated there in 1977 for 4 years at the age of 21 for taking part in the Soweto uprising. He was  4 years older than me.

Many of the prisoners suffered eye and lung health problems from working in the limestone quarry - limestone was used to make the roads on the island…or just to keep them “busy.” The quarry also gave them an unauthorized classroom in the form of a cave that was used officially as a toilet and as a lunch room. Our guide learned mathematics and english there under their “each one, teach one” practice.

How strange it must be after all these years for past inmates to be housed on the island and paid to be tour guards. Someone on the tour asked him when did apartheid end and they looked very surprised when he said, “it hasn’t.” I don’t think they had seen a township or wondered why all the service people were black…it may have ended on paper but the practise continues, perhaps somewhat more subtly than before.

The morning was sunny and my nose got burnt after being so vigilant with sunscreen while cycling! The clouds came in so i spent the afternoon watching the guys on the dry dock outside my window continue to demolish a ship while I packed.