5 (fun) ways to move your body in Cape Town

By tinavisc

The following post is inspired by Elon Musk's design for a hovercraft disguised as the Hyperloop.

Students, plagued by insolvency and open mindedness, have a unique opportunity to travel around this world unbound from the ordinary. My own experience on the matter has equipped me with tools to help along my fellow peers seesawing on the fulcrum of adulthood. Thus begins a tour through Cape Town by virtue of my own terrestrial body:

The Train.
I often take the train to Muizenberg beach for 7R (~70c USD) round trip. It's a temptation hardly resisted by surfers on a sunny day between (in stead of) classes (I mean, learning lies equally in and out of the university, right?). White South Africans often scoff the train as a mode of transport within the realms of incubi and zombies, but it's hardly such during the waking hours. Ordinary people trying to make a day's work line the open rows of seats and windows overlooking all the beauty Cape Town offers, from the Southern Suburbs to the Cape Flats to mountains and cliffs and waves and beyond.

Dancing.
To the point: I highly recommend. Live bands at Zula on Long Street, bluegrass wednesdays at Desperados in Observatory, the 80s club Boogie in Claremont, and as you walk down the street in general. Cape Town is very accepting.

Minibus taxis.
I last took a minibus to a backpackers' (hostel) in Greenpoint at which I attend to tasks such as booking rooms, tending the bar, and meeting weird people. I planned to catch a minibus outside my flat in Rondebosch around the mountain to town, and from town to Greenpoint. A few blocks down Main, while stopped at a traffic light, the driver of the bus in front of us yelled some things to the driver of my bus in Xhosa. We were shuffled with a, "Please people, hurry!" to the bus in front just in time for the green light. I've heard about minibus hijackings around here, as the minibus gangsterdom is organized into turfs, but I figured, "no guns, no worries." Plus I didn't want to have to catch another bus. Anyway, minibuses are a cheap way to get around and often blast club music and organize a bit of a light show at night.

Taxi cabs.
Metered cabs are actually the greatest when split with upwards of 4 people. The drivers encourage you and your entire entourage to pile in with the implication of legroom and the promise of disappointment. I've met the most interesting people who work for Cabnet while on my way to dancing at above-mentioned hot spots. Students often befriend a particular driver and call him up directly whenever they need a ride or a friend to chat with over coffee.

Slacklining.
The most inefficient way to get around, but by far the most rewarding. One 2-inch flat band of nylon line anchored to two trees. It takes balance and 10,000 monkey barrels of patience. But once you've mastered your body into the lotus on a slack line, your perspective of life profoundly changes.

I'd finally like to note that while we enjoy the freedoms of transport -of our ideas and our bodies- there are many in this world who can not. Let's dedicate all the gratification we experience in the realization of our freedoms to our brothers and sisters fighting for theirs in Egypt.