Audi 2008 Annual Report Download - page 138

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Cape Town
The Other Safari
First time in Cape Town? Ah, Madam, Sir – you’re in for a treat. Business or
pleasure?
Leave me alone, you say, pushing past impatiently – I’ve seen the sights,
done the attractions: the golden beaches, the balmy Indian Ocean and the brisk
Atlantic, all laid out under the flat-topped mountain; the taste of summer wine,
the splash of a whale’s tail ... shark-diving, rock-climbing, township taverns, even
Mandela’s prison cell. Been there, got the T-shirt. But Sir, Madam – wait. You
haven’t seen it all! There’s another Cape Town, one that exists inside, alongside
the one in the brochures. It smells more of the south-easter wind than it does of
sunscreen and martinis, and it’s hard to fit on a postcard.
Fortunately for you, dear visitor, I do a tour – especially designed to meet
your needs and requirements. There’ll be no gorgeous sunsets over the silver bay,
no lions hiding in the bush. But I’ll point out the cloudscape behind your back; I’ll
coax a seagull to sit on your shoulder; I’ll buy you a slightly battered arum lily,
smuggled off the mountain and sold out of a plastic bucket by a woman at the
side of the road. It’s going to be great.
So roll up, roll up, as they say: join the other Cape Town tour. Let’s call it
a safari; but the creatures you meet won’t be giraffes and elephants. We’ll start
in a random corner of the town and stroll through its less travelled streets, stop-
ping to observe the changing light, the ground at our feet, the shapes dis-
appearing in the shadows around the next corner. And we’ll end up back where we
started – under the shadow of the mountain, in sniffing distance of two seas,
gazing at the sky. So, sightseers, are we all together? Try not to wander off.
Let us begin by casting our eyes to the heavens. It’s customary to stare at Table
Mountain. In fact, it’s hard to get away from the thing; it’s always on the horizon,
trapping the gaze. And once you’ve looked, it’s almost impossible to look away.
But let’s try. Drag your eyes away from those elegantly terraced cliffs and slopes,
and move a little sideways, towards the less imposing Lion’s Head – which is a
lion only by a considerable stretch of the imagination, a sort of dachshund if
truth be told.
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Cape Town
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