Day 7 - Last Day In Cape Town

Today was unfortunately our last day in Cape Town so we aimed to squeeze as much as we can in the day before we caught the plane to London. The day started with a lie in, allowing us to finish our packing and have a relaxing breakfast before getting the taxi at 10-am to the District 6 museum.

When we arrived at the small but powerful museum of District 6 we were soon consuming lots of information and personal stories of how thousands of families were forced to move out of the city to make room for the white citizens of Cape Town. We came across many personal artifacts, saw how businesses were dramatically affected as well as the laws and rules set in place to segregate the white people amongst black and mixed race people. The full scale of District 6 was absolutely devastating as it played host to the separation of many families as well as the separation of the whole community. We learnt and grew to understood an important part of history that day. We were able to read personal stories such as; a man who moved out of District 6 who, when he moved, released his racing pigeons hoping that they would return to their new 'home'. Unfortunately not one of of fifty returned home. when he was driving past the demolished buildings of District 6 whilst on his way to work, he was astonished to find all 50 of his pigeons standing where their home has once stood. It's hard to believe that all this devastation took place only a few decades ago in the 60's and 70's. All 6 of us will take something back not just from this trip, but also from this particular visit to the museum as we all individually must learn from our mistakes in the past.

After browsing the gift shop of the museum, we took the taxi to St George's Cathedral which is famous for being the Cathedral of Archbishop Desmond Tutu who has famously outspoken his views on segregation and modern day slavery. St George's was also the home of the Great March in 1989 so try to stamp out Apartheid laws. Thanks to this historical event, it lead to the beginning of the end for Apartheid within South Africa. The Cathedral itself is an impressive building boasting interior and exterior characteristics. Inside we came across a small museum showing us strong pictures the Apartheid era including the Great March with Desmond Tutu. On the floor of the Cathedral laid large purple circles, which, when visitors stood in the centre of, quoted relevant and strong words from many diverse people as well as the Bible itself. It was a small but powerful exhibition which allowed us to question our lives and how we ought to lead it. After a small prayer, we donated money and lit a candle each for us to reflect upon ourselves, our lives, the trip or simply others. We then, as a group, lit another candle to thank those who helped and supported us in reaching Cape Town.

We then took a small walk in the heat and sunshine to a small cafe to find a quick bite to eat. After a long wait and the sounds of Abba playing in the background, we received our food. Unfortunately not all of our meals were nice as Mrs Bhana's meal was very greasy which meant she was unable to eat all of it.

The morning soon passed and before we knew it, it was time to return to the hotel to finish off our trip off in true British style. The swimming pool. We put on our speedos and headed for the Pool which was right on the back overlooking the Atlantic ocean. We dived into the pool (The Four 6th formers) in our own style and watched as Anna and Tom raced, with Anna taking the victory. We then dried ourselves off with a sunbathe and a read in our few remaining hours of beautiful sunshine. Walking back to the hotel, we treat ourselves to an Ice Cream.

After a refreshing shower and final acts of packing, we set off for Cape Town International airport and said goodbye to South Africa and to Cape Town. Fortunately, the flight didn't seem to last long at all as we watched 500 Days of Summer, though some of us slept as soon as we took off. We all managed to sleep, allowing us to hopefully attend college on Monday morning :P

We arrived in Heathrow 1 hour earlier than planned, we we are currently sat in a breakfast bar in St Pancras eating our last and final meal together as a group. It has been a fantastic and memorable trip and I am sure we have certainly took something to learn from and to understand from our trip to Cape Town. Again, we would like to thank everyone at St Mary's and those who supported us in our fundraising to help us get there. It would have been impossible without you, thank you again.

From Simon :)