Cosmopolitan Cape Town
Early in January 1999 my husband realized he wanted to have his right shoulder replaced. He was forty five years old, and arthritis meant he'd already undergone two hip replacements. The bad news was there was no surgeon in Zimbabwe qualified to sort out this process, so we had to travel outside the country for the operation. The great news was that one of the world's prime shoulder specialists lived in Cape Town, a metropolis we'd heard so much about from people who'd been there. At the moment Zimbabwe was still six months away from it is descent into the tragedy it's as we speak, so it was simple to make the appointment with the surgeon, arrange the bills with our medical assist company, book the air tickets and get in touch with a pal who'd been transferred there a number of years earlier to request accommodation. It took six weeks to get everything arranged, and early in March we boarded the flight from Harare to Johannesburg, and then on to Cape Town.
Our buddy Pete was ready for us at the airport. After we would collected our luggage we drove to his house. The drive along the highway from the Airport to Cape Town was our introduction to town we would be calling house for the following ten days. The highway was in excellent situation, and ran by means of areas of scrub that flowed away the verges of the road towards distant mountains. Nevertheless ten minutes later we got here across shanty cities that had been erected subsequent to the highway.
They had been a shabby reminder than ten years after gaining independence the distinction between the rich and poor has maybe worsened. The shacks making up the shanty towns were made of every sort of material recognized to man - corrugated iron sheets and rusty metal sheets combined with wood, cardboard and wire to type an especially uncomfortable shelter than a family called home. Even more appalling was the fact that most of the shanty houses had run wires to the overhead power lines. This dangerous link was apparently sanctioned by the electrical energy board - Pete told us that the municipality and the government have been failing to maintain pace with the demand for houses for the poorer members of society, and preferred to go away the shanty towns intact! A refuse collection service run by the local authority was working to help hold the shanty cities behaviorable. We saw a number of shanty cities alongside the primary highways throughout our stay in Cape Town.
Pete lives hotels in Cape Town a suburb called Somerset West, and his residence was a practical and very fashionable cluster home in a compound of about 30 residences. This model of living is very well-liked in South Africa, because of security and reduced overheads. The complexes are very nicely maintained because each owner contributes towards the maintenance and maintenance of the complex. Some complexes supply communal playgrounds for all the resident children, tennis courts and swimming pools. House owners are normally able to keep pets too, because each house has its personal private garden. It's also an ideal method to live in Africa if one needs to travel or go on vacation - neighbours will keep watch over the house while you are away. My husband and I were so impressed with this way of living that the next year we purchased right into a cluster advanced my then employers were advertising and marketing in Harare. After we sold our house in 2003 we reinvested the money in a second cluster home. If one needs to live in Africa safety is essential, and a cluster home complicated presents the best level of safety for residences.
Pete's a bachelor, so that night time he prepared a barbecue in his Weber braai unit. His girlfriend Pat got here spherical to help with the cooking, and we had a beautiful evening. The view from Pete's house was superb. Somerset West is constructed on a hill overlooking town, and the view from his verandah offered the traditional Cape Town view - the sprawling city on the foot of majestic Table Mountain, the lighthouse and the Atlantic Ocean. His house had three bedrooms, bogs, a large front room, state of the art kitchen and outside laundry/storeroom. He told us he spends most of his time on his verandah or in his garden.
The next morning we had our appointment with the surgeon, who was a Greek Zimbabwean - Basil Vrettos. After his examination and x-rays he booked us into a private clinic, scheduling the operation for 8.00 the following morning. Once we asked husband ought to go to hospital that night, Mr Vrettos told us to relatively book in at 6.00 the next morning, urging us to spend the day stress-free and walking round Cape Town. He told the operation would take 4 hours, and that the hospital stay would be just three days! We had been delighted. Pete had taken leave to be with us throughout our stay, so the three of us headed into the city.
