19/05/17, The Last Day

So unfortunately I’ve spent all of yesterday in bed, not feeling to well. At some point I tried cleaning and disassembling my bike, but I got light in the head and crawled back into bed. On top of that my legs hurt like hell from that stupid climb down the mountain :-) Note to self: just take it easy man.... Such a shame to spend a day in bed while being in Cape Town though. I would have loved to visit Robben Island or the district 6 museum. However things are the way they are. Can’t change anything about that... This morning I felt a lot better though. My final day of this trip! Where has time gone!

After waking up I went down to see if I could stomach some light breakfast, which I could :-) After that I cleaned my bike, disassembled it and packed it into a box for transport. Next was packing my bags. All this took me the whole morning. I finished around 1200 and as my flight would not be until 11pm I decided to go downtown for lunch. I had an uber drop me of at the Zeitz Museum of Contemporary African Art and Silo Hotel, designed by Heatherwick Studio. The hotel is a 5 star hotel but I went in nevertheless and asked if I could have lunch on their rooftop terrace at the top of the former industrial grain silo’s, some 60 meters above the harbour and waterfront. Even though I was very underdressed and signs say that the roof top terrace is only for hotel guests, they allowed me in and I got to enjoy some spectacular views on the city and a very nice lunch :-)

After lunch I went down and visited the museum. Not necessarily for the art but more for the building. The former concrete tubes that formed the grain silos have been turned into a museum. By carving out a giant ovoid (grain shape) they created this amazing Atrium and the faceted windows provide amazing views on the city. It was a very nice and easy way of spending the afternoon!

Around 5 I made it back to the hotel and had a last bath. At 7 i got picked up for my transfer to the airport and currently I am waiting for the departure of my flight...

So this was it. Four months gone... But what a trip it was. The people and the experiences will stay with me for a long time. And I’m very gratefull that I was able to make a trip like this and the opportunities that I was given by TDA, by my employer and by my friends and family!

Luckily I can’t say I’m sad to go home though. After 14 months in Vietnam and 4 months in Africa i’m looking forward to spend time with friends and family back home. I’m looking forward to the new challenges that my job will offer. I’m looking forward to renovating my currently windowless appartment (hopefully the windowless state does not last much longer than a week or so :-) 

So It’s been great! Africa signing off! Untill my next big adventure!


Silo Hotel and Zeitz Museum of Contemporary African Art, former grain silos at the Waterfront


Great views over the harbour


And the rest of the city!


Who doesn’t like a pool like this :-)


Great architecturen :-)


Four months in Africa and this is the only architecture excursion i did :-)


But it’s a great one :-)


The ovoid cutting through the former high concrete tubes, now used as elevator shafts


Amazing way to end this trip!