30. Day 11 (Aug 27) – Charm Overcomes an Important Part of History

Okay – the title is a bit bitter, but I believe it is correct.  It was one of the many big problems I found with our guide and all of which I have shared with Road Scholar (the operators of the tour we took).  I do not think he should be retained as a guide and I’m happy to note that in looking at the personnel listed for this tour in the future, he is not listed.  Today’s events show one of the reasons for the complaints I made.

(Not as interesting, I’m sure, as the photos and perhaps even the commentary but in the interests of a complete description of the trip, you’re going to get this.)

As you get close to leaving on the tour, you are sent (by email in electronic form if you wish) a document called the Final Information Packet for the tour.  Included in that document is a day-by-day summary, and today’s entry  read:

“Head through the scenic Winelands countryside to Stellenbosch. A short city tour orients you to Stellenbosch and its history, after which you have time to explore this small town on your own. Many of the town's historical landmarks are within easy walking distance of the town center. An interesting stop is the Village Museum, where four restored historical houses trace the history of Stellenbosch and its famous architecture. Discover some of the region’s tasty products during a wine tasting at a local winery. Hear a lecture on the area’s architecture, history and viniculture.”

After lunch at a local winery, we would be departing for Cape Town, where our afternoon itinerary was described as follows:

“En-route to the hotel, you have a city orientation tour which takes you to the historic Company Gardens, the colorful Bo Kaap community, and the District 6 area which remains a poignant example of the forced-removal era of apartheid. Continue on to your hotel in the heart of the Victoria & Alfred Waterfront.”

I was looking forward to the morning as you know I like my wine, and then the afternoon was going to be more political where we would hear more of the history of another part of the country under Apartheid.

But this is not exactly what occurred.  Instead, after the Stellenbosch experience, our guide made a unilateral decision to take a detour from our trip west to Cape Town for the scheduled afternoon activities, first heading east to spend some time in a charming little village called Franschhoek, a little bit of France here in South Africa.  I did love the town.  It was charming and fun, as the photos will show.  But what that detour cost us was the elimination of the District 6 area visit, which is a terribly important part of recent South African history.  We were never told why our guide made the apparently unilateral decision to change the trip for today. My own (admittedly prejudiced and possibly unfair) surmise – it provided a way to avoid discussing another difficult part (for a former member of the Apartheid regime) of the recent history of South Africa.  (This post will cover the trip to Stellenbosch while subsequent posts will look at the winery visit, the town of Franschhoek, 

With that background out of our way, let’s get to wine country.  First stop – the city of Stellenbosch, which is the second oldest European settlement in the Western Cape Province (after Cape Town).  It was founded in 1679 by Cape Dutch and has a strong Afrikaner sensibility to it, feeling more European than African.  For example, this tree-lined street.  Note the open storm sewers (and yes, it was a drizzly and sometimes rainy day).

Stellenbosch Street

This guest lodge is also typical of the architecture in Stellenbosch.

Guest Lodge in Stellenbosch

In the town itself is Stellenbosch University.  It is not on a separately defined campus, but consists of various buildings around the town, although concentrated in one area, such as this building.

Stellenbosch University Building

If you look at the sign on this building you will see that it is in three languages – Afrikaans is the first, English is the second, and a native African language (most likely Xhosa but possibly also Zulu) the third.  Prior to the liberation of South Africa, the University taught classes principally and possibly exclusively in Afrikaans.  To this day a majority of the classes, at least at the undergraduate level, are taught in Afrikaans, the only major university in South Africa to do so.  The university has about 25,000 students and their ethnicity breaks down as 68.5% white, 15.2% coloured, 14.4% black, and 1.9% Indian.  It is one of the three public universities in the Western Cape and one of about 20 in the country.  It is generally rated in the upper 300-400 universities worldwide and second or third in Africa (University of Cape Town is generally reputed to be the best university in South Africa. Of course we can all dispute ranking systems – such as what are the factors, etc., but I add this information here because it is generally and easily available.

The building in the photo below, thatched roof and all, is the Schreuderhuis, built in 1709 by Sebastian Schröder, whose titles included “Free Burgher, Secretary of the Public Mill, and Messenger of the Court at Stellenbosch.”  The street corner on which the house is located is the first street corner in Stellenbosch and the building is the oldest known European town dwelling in South Africa.

Schreuderhuis - 1709

While Stellenbosch is principally Afrikaner, it also has and had a significant British population as well.  And to this day evidence remains such as this tastefully named pub.

The Slug and Lettuce Pub

When we were in Stellenbosch there was an exhibition by SOST (The Stellenbosch Outdoor Sculpture Trust) with the 2014 outdoor art exhibition themed  “Come Sit”.  The curatorial statement for the exhibit stated that it focused on “applied arts – namely, functional art which incorporate design, creative ideals, and utilitarian value.  The artists’ brief was to use a simple concrete bench as a base to create designs that blended function and form.”

One of the pieces of this exhibit was called “Seemingly peaceful” and it stated that is was an old man “seemingly peaceful” who is sitting and reading on a park bench. 

"Seemingly Peaceful" Man on a Bench

The artist questions whether the old man, reflecting on the world, can feel serene given such matters as his contribution to the degeneration of the planet, whether his life was egocentric or soul-centric, whether he cared for mother earth and whether he cares about the legacy he has left behind.

The sculptor has a poem into the book the man is reading:

It’s 3:23 in the morning
and I’m awake
because my great great grandchildren
won’t let me sleep
my great great grandchildren
ask me in dreams
what did you do when the planet was plundered?
what did you do when the earth was unraveling?
surely you did something
when the seasons started failing?

The poem is called Heiroglyphic Stairway by Drew Dellinger and seems especially compelling as we face climate change and such specific effects as our California drought.

Here you can see the poem as part of the sculpture:

Poem in Sculpture

And, in case you’re wondering about the bird sitting on the back of the bench, it’s also part of the sculpture which the artist says represents spiriti, illumination, and the sun.

There are other sculptures that are also part of the exhibit.  There is a somewhat more abstract sculpture of a person sitting on a bench.

Abstract Person Sitting on Bench

And another sculpture which makes the bench itself the subject of the art.

Bench As Art

Now, after Stellenbosch itself, it’s time to visit a winery in the wine district just outside the town.

I seem to have forgotten to post the link to the full resolution photos for Post 29 so here they are, followed by the link to the full resolution photos for Post 30.

Link to Full Resolution Photos for Post 29

Link to Full Resolution Photos for this post (#30)