Dubai - Part Two

Today we headed out on our own, rode the metro and visited two malls. The UAE celebrates its 43rd anniversary of its founding so there are flags and posters all over noting the celebration. The UAE contains 7 emirates so the leader of each is shown below.

First stop was the Mall of the Emirates:

The ski slope and snow park from the outside (above) and inside (below).

 

The mall is just a giant version of most malls you've ever experienced - although you see some different sights when people watching.

This part of the mall tries to resemble a trains station.

We then took the metro to Dubai Mall, billed as the world's largest. First metro system with two classes of tickets with separate compartments. Can't tell you the difference between regular and first class as we traveled with the common people,

 

 

Includes a giant aquarium and underwater zoo, with the world's largest aquarium window according to the chamber of commerce hype.

There was a very cool fountain show outside. Quite spectacular and set to music, first time a fountain show reminded me of a fireworks show.

The water fountains are in the square in front of the world's tallest building.

 

 

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Dubai

We arrived very early in the morning and immediately began a city tour included in the tour package. Above is Dubai's most iconic hotel, the Burj al-Arab. We had a view of this from our hotel, One of Dubai's least iconic hotel.

Much of Dubai is built on landfill. They are completing full build-out of a palm-shaped development and in the distance you can see their newest landfill development that will be a series of islands in the shape of the world. It would be fascinating to know Dubai's business plan as they evidently have run out of oil. It appears from the casual tourist's viewpoint that they have positioned Dubai to be the go-to shopping destination for the wealthy from the Arabian countries as well as others from Europe and Africa looking for lots of shopping and nice beaches.

Building projects continue all over the city/kingdom.

Desalinization plants provide the vast majority of Dubai's water supply.

Burj Khalifa, the world's tallest building (for now), was built in 6 years and tops out at828 meters! They describe it as the world's first vertical city and claim the technology is there to build something twice as tall.

 

 

Dubai Museum below.

These dhows carry all sorts of goods to ports in the Middle East and Africa where large container ships can't go.

Crossing the "creek" is by bridge, metro,or abra (water taxi). We rode an abra to the spice souk below.

This man flashed a peace sign as I stood with my camera so I snapped. Picture.

The gold souk below.

We took a desert safari at sunset. It was kind of hokey but it did get us out in the desert.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Cape Peninsula

We spent a day touring the Cape Peninsula, a beautiful drive with amazing scenery.

Above, a rock formation that is part of Table Mountain, known as the Twelve Apostles.

 

 

Hout Bay from a viewpoint along Chapman's Peak drive.

A shark watcher standing watch high above the swimming beaches. He posts a different colored flag depending on what he sees: green - all clear, red - sharks seen, black - water is too dark to see whether sharks are in the area, and yellow - caution.

There are several wild baboon troops in the cape peninsula area. This is one we encountered in the Cape Point Natural Reserve. The troops are accompanied by human guards, who make sure humans do not feed them.

Ostriches in the Cape Point Natural Reserve.

Cape of Good Hope, the most southwestern point in Africa.

Two breeding pairs of African penguins arrived at Boulders in 1982, and the colony has grown to over 2,000 in recent years. The species is listed as endangered, with only 10% of the 1910 estimated population of 1.5 million remaining at the end of the 20th century.

Kirstenbosch National Botanical Garden is dedicated to the indigenous plants of South Africa. The Cape Floral Kingdom is one of 7 plant kingdoms in the world, occupying the smallest geographical area of all the plant kingdoms. It was given to the nation in 1902 when its last owner, Cecil John Rhodes died. He had purchased it to protect the eastern slopes of Table Mountain from urban development.

 

Peter Hesse, our great guide in South Africa.

 

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Robben Island

 

Robben Island (Dutch for Seal Island), is 6.9 kilometers from Capetown and has been used to isolate mainly political prisoners since the end of the 17th century. Political leaders from other Dutch colonies and the leader of a mutiny on a slave ship were early inhabitants. In the mid 1800's, lepers were moved to the island, first on a voluntary basis but later were not permitted to leave based on the Leper Repression Act passed in 1892.

 

In addition to the prison buildings, the island has a village where formerly those associated with the prison lived; now, it is home to some of those working at the Robben Island Museum.

Moturu Kramat commemorates Sayed Abdurahman Moturu, the Prince of Moture and one of Capetown's first imams who was exiled to the island in 1754.

The prison complex where political prisoners were kept in maximum security. The leaders were housed in Section B, isolated from the other political prisoners.

The cemetery where people with leprosy who died on the island were buried.

The limestone quarry, where prisoners from Section B, were forced to do hard labour. The stone cairn to the left of the blue sign was created by former prisoners during a reunion of ex political prisoners in 1995. Led by Nelson Mandela who picked up and deposited the first rock, it commemorates the daily life and hard work of their imprisonment, and honors those who have died.

The Robert Sobukwe House, where the founder of the Pan African Congress, was interned in isolation after serving his sentence. In 1960, he led a protest against the "pass" laws which required all black South Africans to carry a pass book at all times. This was the same day as the protest in Sharpeville where 69 people were killed in what is known as the Sharpeville Massacre. It was after those events that the African National Congress changed its policy of fighting apartheid only through non-violent means. The South African Parliament passed the General Law Amendment Act which allowed Sobukwe's imprisonment to be renewed annually by the Minister of Justice. He was finally released in 1969, but only to house arrest.

"The journey is never long when freedom is the destination."

Dumisani Mwandla was our tour guide. He was arrested for terrorism in 1989 and received a life sentence in 1986; after serving 5-1/2 years, he was in the second to last group of political prisoners to be freed in 1991. He was able to give a detailed account of daily life in the prison and a very funny story about when Mandela came back to the prison in 1991 to order them to stop their hunger strike. Mandela had been released in 1990, and the rest of the political prisoners were expecting to be released shortly thereafter. As time dragged on and they were still in prison more than a year later, they began a hunger strike to call attention to their plight. Dumisani recalled that Mandela did not like that they resisted his order, and when they all met later at a reunion in his house, he remembered who had given him a hard time during that meeting. His story showed a lot of affection for Mandela and acknowledgement of his leadership qualities.

Before the International Red Cross intervened, the mat below was what prisoners had to sleep on.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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