Getting away sometimes isn’t about time or distance . It doesn’t need a bigger budget or a more exotic destination. It is not always about having more time, or a busier itinerary or more expensive equipment.
Sometimes getting away is about taking journeys of a different kind – journeys that show us people and not just places, simple journeys that open us to experiences that we often overlook and that are often right on our door step. It’s about meeting people and enjoying experiences that teach us, and enrich us, and give us understanding, and remind us who we are, and bring a smile to our faces.
I smiled broadly when I got the phone call letting me know that I had won the Getaway and Fair Trade Tourism South Africa competition to blog about several Fair Trade in Tourism initiatives around Cape Town during June.
I must have been excited because I so badly exaggerated the scope of the competition to my young children that they high fived me all night as though I had captained the Proteas to a World Cup win and kept saying (deadpan) ‘I am so proud of you dad.’
My genetic disposition to exaggeration aside, I am really looking forward to discovering parts of my city that I don’t know yet and haven’t yet had a chance to experience. And mostly, I am looking forward to interacting with people and families who I don’t normally come into contact with, talking to people and listening and rediscovering who we really are outside of our own small circles.
I am especially excited that this is all about Fair Trade in Tourism. I have had really positive experiences with Fair Trade in Tourism and have seen how communities have been able to benefit directly from something that they feel a part of.
My experience with Fair Trade in Tourism is that you get more on your journeys. You get a deeper layer to your experience that you would usually not get. That layer is the people: people who care, interesting people trying new and interesting challenges. Sometimes the ideas work, and sometimes they don’t, but these are the people who have the courage and the caring to try and make a difference, leaving you feeling energised, inspired and proud.
I feel a tinge of guilt at having such an interesting itinerary planned for the rest of the month. It is also shockingly bad luck that my partner and family will be moving home over the three weekends that I will be away, but sometimes the greater good calls. Here is what I will up to:
First weekend
This weekend I get a half day township experience with Uthando South Africa (a Cape Town-based non profit organisation aimed at providing a platform and sustainable infrastructure for the upliftment and support of the country’s most destitute and marginalised communities), a half day adventure with Andulela Malay Cooking Safaris (starting off at the Bo-Kaap Museum and ending with a traditional Cape Malay meal), and a half day on AWOLS international award-winning Bicycle Township Tour around the Masiphumelele community, all while being put up at The Backpack Hotel.
If you want to do any of these exciting tours, contact the following:
Uthando South Africa
Tel 021-683-8523
Andulela Malay Cooking Safari
Tel 021-790-2592
Web http://www.andulela.com/english/malay_cooking_tours.html
AWOL’s Bicycle Township Tour
Tel 083-234-6428
Web http://www.awoltours.co.za/blog/
Keep following my blog to see what I’ll be getting up for the next two weekends as Getaway and FTTSA’s weekend travel blogger. Here’s a hint of what is to come:
Second weekend
Next weekend I get to experience two nights out at Spier Wine Farm with an alternative winelands experience with Dreamcatcher Alternative Winelands Tour.
Third weekend
My last weekend starts out in Ceres with an overnight stay at the Fairfield’s Mountain Cottages and then finishes at the!Khwa ttu San Education and Culture Centre, close to Yzerfontein.
Contact Fair Trade in Tourism South Africa:
Facebook http://tinyurl.com/FTTSAFacebook
