Argus Cycle Tour

On Sunday I was a marshal in the Argus Cape Cycle Tour for my Rotary club in Hout Bay. The Argus is the world’s largest cycle race with 30,000 cyclists. My Rotary host counselor, Don, picked me up at – gasp – 5 am, so that we could be in Hout Bay before 5:30 when all of the other Rotarians arrived. Originally I was supposed to be stationed at an island at one of the intersections, but when Don discovered that I had brought my digital camera along, he promoted me to photographer. This entailed me riding on the back of a motorcycle and snapping photos of the cyclists at various points in the race. I had never ridden on a motorcycle before. For those of you who know me well, you know that I am probably the least likely person in the world to enjoy riding on a motorcycle at high speeds on narrow, winding mountain roads. Well, you are wrong! The motorcycle driver, incidentally also named Don, told me I was a natural – although I figure that holding on doesn’t take too much talent, so he was probably just being nice. Still, it was great fun. Hout Bay is a gorgeous area, so it also made for some amazing pictures. Here are some of the best:

It was a long day – I didn’t make it home until about 6:30 that night, but totally worth it. I also made friends with some of the other marshals who are unemployed youth from the unofficial settlement in Hout Bay called Imizamo Yethu.

IY is an area of makeshift shacks that houses about 20,000 people. Only some of the shacks have electricity and few have running water. I mentioned to one of the girls that I couldn’t wait to get home and take a hot shower, and she told me that the only way she gets a hot bath is if she heats up water in a pot on her stove. Poverty like this is obviously not uncommon in Africa, but to see it right next to the beautiful mansions built into the mountains of Hout Bay is pretty shocking.

Several of the folks I worked with were refugees from the Democratic Republic of the Congo, perhaps the most war-torn country in the world. For these men, the poverty in IY was clearly a step up from the violence at home. One of them told me that he was forced to leave the DRC after the previous president was assassinated. He had been a member of the president’s security force, and was now wanted by the new government. If he hadn’t left, he surely would have been killed.

Also, my friends from IY were pretty impressed by the fact that I am an American. They were full of questions about the US. Most of the South Africans I have met so far, of all races, have been rather privileged folk, and not so impressed by my Americanness. They see American culture all the time on TV and in the movies. The people from IY, though, obviously had not had the same exposure, and were very curious. I was glad to be able to share with them that Americans are interested in South Africa and interested in people like them who live in places like IY.