“So far as the artist is concerned, the ultimate extent of human experience is not so important for him as the depth and intensity with which he experiences things.” ÔÇô Thomas Wolfe
As an annual family treat, my wife and kids always take me on trips to interesting holiday destinations during the festive season. This is meant to provide an opportunity to have a well earned rest and unwind.
It certainly does the trick for everyone else, except me. My creative mind often starts racing the minute our journey begins. This time around our destination was Cape Town, that African marvel of breath taking mountains, sandy beaches and beautiful people.
It has never been clear to me, and I have never bothered to ask, if South African Airways’ mini tour of the sea, just before landing, is a welcoming gesture or a necessity. Either way, it is an exhilarating experience that sets the pace for a unique holiday at sea.
I immediately notice that Cape Town International Airport has had a major expansion, making it more sophisticated and remarkably beautiful. Checking out is swift and friendly. At arrivals the usual pirate cabbies are ready with hushed up offers to whisk us into town.
Before the trip, my wife and I had debated endlessly about the option of hiring a car and that of using taxis. I had finally convinced her that though quite expensive, Cape Town by Cab is the best way to enjoy the holiday. We therefore safely opt for the official airport taxies lined up outside the airport.
Much as I earlier thought, as soon as his immaculately neat cab starts rolling, our cabby suddenly becomes a self appointed tour guide. Realizing that we are all staring at the shacks which are first thing you see as you leave the airport, he half-heartedly commends the government for providing electricity for the squatters. His face lights up with excitement as we move on past a better looking area, which he says was formerly called District Six, an inner city cosmopolitan residential area famous for the forced removal of its over 60 000 multi racial inhabitants who lived peacefully together before the apartheid regime decided otherwise.
He shows us an old Mosque and an old Church building which still stand as remnants of good old District Six. Traffic is slow and the meter is running fast. Before I get a chance to complain about the meter, almost as if in anticipation, the Cabby starts on another interesting subject. According to him, Cape Town was originally developed by the Dutch East India Company. Drawing from their experience in Holland they moved the sea and built a city! This certainly had the kids astounded and made them sit up and look around. Before their questions about Sea and City were over we were at the hotel entrance and the Cab bill was a well earned R300!
Next stop is the famous Waterfront to enjoy the boat rides, fancy restaurants, designer stores, African street buskers’ music, Aquarium tour and good old English pubs. And then on to beach day at Camps Bay, followed by Table Mountain [recently nominated as one of the seven wonders of nature] then Green Market Square ÔÇô our list of activities is endless but everywhere the place is buzzing with tourists from all over the world with different languages floating above a sea of beautiful happy people.
Is this really Africa? It is a positive Africa, an Africa you will not see on European or American television. A reality I know my relatives and friends in the West would love to view from time to time instead of the doom and gloom images they are constantly bombarded with. Indeed a promising challenge for an African filmmaker who must endeavor to provide content that promotes this image to the world.
A local friend and fellow filmmaker tells me over a drink at one of the trendy bars on the famous Long Street that during the World Cup, television crews preferred to go to Gugulethu’s worst areas, avoiding its more affluent neighborhoods and ignoring world class suburbs such as Constantia. A sad situation in our industry. I tell him about my Positive Africa Image Campaign which he agrees to support. After all with living examples such as Cape Town we certainly can’t go wrong! As the drinks start flowing he decides to reveal a little more about his own ancestry. He is a coloured man, in fact he almost looks like a white man with his pony tail and all, but according to him he is really Khoi-San. Hell no, not Bushman ÔÇô that is derogatory. His great grandparents were Khoi-San and as the different races kept mixing, he became a coloured. He is proud of his heritage, his ancestry and origin. There is a whole big story to be told about his people and Cape Town as opposed to the current obsession with Cape Flats Gangs, he complains and I agree.
Cape Town is a whole life experience for me as an artist, not so much because of its beauty but more because of its culture, its vibrancy and its accommodating nature where a visitor comes away with knowledge and understanding, where there is no foreigner and everyone is equal ÔÇô from the Zimbabwean waitress, Nigerian taxi driver, British bar lady, Chinese masseuse, German backpacker, Arabic dancer to the coloured Khoi-San local. It is indeed ‘‘The Cape of Good Hope” for Africa.
When the fat lady has sung, it is always time to go back home. My wife and kids have had a great time but for me it is time to reflect on this experience and bring it closer to home where we are headed.
My mind wonders in optimistic wishful thinking. If only we as Batswana showed more pride in our culture and heritage, if only we had a proper tourism board with young vibrant creative people who may be more responsive to innovative ideas, not just wildlife. If only we had statues of our heroes shining proudly in strategic locations and our streets were named after our countless forgotten heroes. If Sir Seretse and Lady Khama, Sir Ketumile Masire, Ratsie Setlhako, The Three Chiefs, King Nswazwi and others had statues at a heritage centre where we could all come together to eat, play, pray and celebrate. If Independence Day still had some meaning to us like in the olden days when we would go to the National stadium for celebrations and our parents would dress up to the nines and visit His Excellency at the State House. Kgotlas in all villages would be packed and full of celebration.
How about a Christmas or New Year’s message the President? Then an organized celebration at the city and town squares? Our own little mini Time Square, Big Ben, Eiffel Tower, Cape Wown Waterfront, Nelson Mandela Square.
All this may sound simplistic or even too fantastic but my simple point is that a family/nation that prays together, eats together, and plays together stays together. It is these little things that bring about a sense of pride, unity and understanding of one another. The things that bind a nation and bring pride to current and future generations. ┬áA proud nation attracts success, positive development and happiness for all. Let’s look forward to a positive 2012 together.┬á
