Cape Town is Unique - History and OverviewWritten by Ed Berry
The city of Cape Town is situated on south western tip of African continent, in one of most beautiful natural locations in world. The original inhabitants of Cape region were Khoi San people whose ancestry can be traced back thousands of years, through discovery of fossils and artifacts, to origins of humanity in Central Africa. The "Mother City" as Cape Town has become known over years was first South African port established by European settlers in 16th century. Dutch sailors working for VOC - Dutch East India Company set up a refreshment station at Cape. They also established Company Gardens in city which was used to provide passing ships on route to West Indies with fresh produce. The gardens still exist and have been cultivated and transformed into a place of relaxation for Capetonians. Early Culture and language. The first Muslim slaves were brought in to Cape from Madagascar in 17th century to help run refreshment station. This immigration continued until 1834 and was expanded to include slaves from African countries such as Angola and Mozambique, West Indies and Sri Lanka. Various languages were spoken in those early days but most predominant was Malay. Gradually Afrikaans language, a simplified form of Dutch containing elements of Malay and originally used for communicating with their masters, took over among slaves. It spread inland throughout South Africa when descendants of Cape Dutch and French settlers trekked north to colonise interior and eventually establish Afrikaner nation. The Cape Malays of today with their unique Muslim cultural heritage, and Christian 'coloured' community descended from mixed blood unions between early settlers, indigenous Khoi and slaves who brought their African Indian culture into Cape. In 17th century British settlers arrived and annexed Cape declaring it a British Colony. They developed city of Cape Town using slave labour. Slavery was eventually abolished in 19th century. The British went on to develop and colonise South Africa. Elements of their influence in Cape are still visble in architecture of many buildings in surrounding coastal towns eg. Simonstown Cape Town Attractions. The ancient Table Mountain often draped in swirling cloud and flanked by its attendants Devil's Peak and Lion's Head, forms an impressive backdrop to sprawling city of Cape Town and is a well known subject for many postcards and photographs. It stands at head of a chain of mountains forming Cape Peninsula National Park which follow line of Peninsula to Cape Point.
| | A Trip To Iqaluit In Nunavut, A Canadian Arctic CityWritten by Clint Leung
In 2004, I completed two Inuit art buying trips to Iqaluit (formerly Frobisher Bay), capital of Nunavut, Canada's newest territory. For both trips, I flew out of Ottawa on Canadian North airlines. The other airline that services Nunavut is First Air. Only last half of jets was allocated for passengers as entire first half was for cargo. Being so remote, Canadian Arctic Inuit communities pretty well have to have everything shipped up there by plane or by boat during summers since there are no roads connecting to rest of Canada or even between each Nunavut community. The Arctic landscape from air was desolate, hilly and barren. As plane got closer to Iqaluit, airport's small terminal building stood out with its bright yellow color. The airport itself is within walking distance to rest of town. There are taxis that charge a flat rate of $5 per trip anywhere in Iqaluit. Interestingly enough, these taxis also pick up and drop off other passengers along way so shared rides with others are common here. There are several hotels in Iqaluit and rooms are generally clean, comfortable but quite basic. Accommodations and dining up north in Nunavut are both expensive. All food items with exception of local Inuit fare must be flown up from Canadian south. A carton of milk will cost about $10 in Iqaluit. Most Inuit locals cannot afford to buy overpriced fruits, vegetables and meat from south. Many local families still rely on Inuit hunters who bring caribou, seal and whale to table.There is only one high rise building in Iqaluit and it is used mainly for local Nunavut government offices. All other buildings are low rise, including hospital. The vast majority of residential housing is similar to cabins that are raised off ground because of harsh Canadian Arctic winters. Many look a bit run down with junk and disposed items piled outside. With fact that there are no lawns or trees possible this far north, neighborhoods are certainly not prettiest sights around. But one Inuit art carver told me that his government subsidized rent is only $36 per month. There are some small clusters of nice homes on outskirts of town. Some houses have husky dogs tied up outside and many have snowmobiles. In fact, roads, most of them unpaved, are shared by cars, trucks, snowmobiles, all terrain vehicles and people. During summers, Iqaluit can get quite dusty with all vehicles turning up dirt on roads. As a result, Iqaluit did look a bit nicer during my first trip which was during winter when city was in white snow rather than brown dirt. There is new construction going on since with creation of Nunavut territory, Iqaluit is growing as more Inuit from other Arctic communities are migrating to city.
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