Understanding Cape Town

August 1, 2016

This dialogue involves a lot of back and forth between places. We spend our mornings in class at the TSiBA institute, but we also travel to various townships and sites for activities. Our main mode of transportation is a giant coach bus with the most comfortable seats you’ve ever sat in. Actually, our TA’s have made a game out of taking photos of people sleeping because it is so easy to pass out on one of our 20 minute drives.

Our driver, Chris, is from South Africa and is one of the friendliest guys we’ve met so far. While this trip is focused on social entrepreneurship and gaining business skills, we’ve been encouraged that the cultural exchange is just as important. In our endeavor to learn as much as possible, Chris has proven to be an excellent resource. He’s willing to answer any of our questions and let’s us in on some of the knowledge that a typical tourist might not have access to.

We have relied on car trips all but once, when we went on a bicycle tour over the weekend. We took a day trip to Cape Point, and all 45 of us rode rented bikes for about an hour. The view was absolutely gorgeous the entire time, and I almost crashed at least twice because I was looking backwards at giant mountains. It felt really intimate to ride around with the wind whipping our backs, rather than being driven around with no control over your destination.

Safety is an issue when traveling anywhere internationally, but it’s emphasized more in South Africa. Many people value their autonomy when traveling, the ability to just get up and walk around the city, but unfortunately that is not a possibility here. We’ve adjusted to taking Uber’s most places, and it’s actually become a positive change because uber drivers have ended up being our best tour guides. That is just one amazing thing about the people we’ve come across in South Africa – they are eager to share their culture, to put in effort to help visitors understand the city.

Written By

Andia Paz

During my dialogue, I'll be exploring Cape Town, South Africa. We'll be working with our academic partner TSiBA to provide business consulting services to township entrepreneurs. The program also delves into topics like unemployment and poverty and other social, economic, and political issues in South Africa. I've chosen this program because it is the best use of my business skills acquired throughout my Northeastern career, allowing me to focus on social impact rather than profit. I traveled outside of the U.S. for the first time only last summer, and it really inspired me to seek out a study abroad experience. I've recently developed an avid interest in the outdoors, and look forward to the hiking that Cape Town has to offer.