Last Wednesday, CBS broadcast an episode of Amazing Race 2 that had the participants fly to Cape Town, South Africa and perform a number of activities.
I had never heard of this show before until some people at work asked me about it on Thursday morning. Friday night, I watched a rerun.
A few observations:
1) It’s nice that Cape Town is getting some much deserved publicity. It is a truly beautiful place with some of the most interesting and diverse cultural experiences in the world. I recommend a visit to anyone. Go with an open mind and heart, and take appropriate security precautions, and you’ll have a fabulous experience.
2) It’s a shame that the coverage of the city and its life were dealt with so shallowly. Reality Television is anything but. I don’t know what else I expected from our present media environment, but I was really disappointed.
3) We visit Robben Island, an incredibly solemn and heart-wrenching place, and all the contestants do is run in, grab an envelope – right out of Mandela’s former cell – and race on. I’m sure the folks who run the prison as a tourist attraction made a pretty penny, but it seems quite disrespectful to me.
4) Naive and goofy Americans jump into taxis, onto trains, and galavant through Langa township. They run through the township looking for a smiley and drink a Sangoma’s potion. The only reason that at least one of these groups didn’t experience a major crime was that they were surrounded by a gaggle of videographers, security, and pre-arranged drivers and sites.
These places are all very possible to visit, they are wonderful and interesting experiences, and almost all the people are wonderful and friendly, but please go with a qualified and knowledgeable tour guide (like Tetile (Boy) Sgwentu of Magnificent Tours. You can get robbed, raped, or killed in these situations if you find yourself at the wrong place at the wrong time acting like a tourist. Taxis, buses, and the train (and stations where you catch these conveyances) are trawled by gangsters and petty criminals. The townships are quite safe for those who are part of the community – they are self-policed and very active neighborhoods – but an outsider is often mistrusted and at a severe disadvantage in understanding what is appropriate and where is safe.
The girls staying with us exclaimed at one of the scenes where an American couple is riding the train and a man with sunglasses and a baseball cap perched high on his head is warning them not to go to Langa. They said that he was obviously a gangster (meaning part of the drug-dealing gangs in Cape Town), and that they would have been quite frightened to see him and never would have spoken to him.
5) You will indeed see fascinating things like smileys (roasted sheep heads), Sangomas (traditional healers), dance troupes, and beautiful children running barefoot in the townships. But open yourself to the way the people live, their struggles and triumphs, their personalities and traditions. As I’ve said before, South Africa is full of contradictions, the best and worst of humanity, the most beautiful and the most ugly. Don’t just surf the tourist wave when you go. Immerse yourself and gain some understanding. Then pledge your support of a family or student. Help them build this nation, rather than just handing out some cheap sunglasses and feeling smug that you’ve really helped.
