False Paradise (South Africa)

I woke up on my first morning is South Africa covered in bruises. Dark blotches were punched into both my arms. This isn't unusual in a country infamous for its crime bu the bruises weren't from a mugging (yes, I had my "welcome to South Africa" mugging experience the night before as well but it had all been very cordial and business like with no bruises). I had been introduced to the Cape Town music scene and found my way into a mosh pit.
Cape Town is pretty much the coolest city imaginable. Almost all the residents look like they are on their way to or from a photo shoot. I actually saw 4 photo shoots and a music video (complete with 3 Elvises, a break dancer and a cafe where the waitresses were serving a gorilla and a ware wolf) being filmed while I was there.
The people are hip, stylish, thin and glowing with health. They could put any Southern California city to shame. There is always something to do in Cape Town; climbing Table Mountain, climbing Lion's Head at the full moon, full moon parties, galleries, hiking, beaches, concerts and the hippest restaurants and clubs around.
Throw in the university and all that brings and the most manicured and pretty government section I have ever seen in a city and you have only touched the surface of what Cape Town has to offer. But I'm going to leave it at that before I sound too guide-book-cheerleadery.
Anyone who loves coffee shops and cafe hopping as well as the outdoors as much as I do would be in heaven. My days rolled over from beautiful beaches (despite teeth-shaking wind), walking around the city, exploring the posh waterfront, trendy cafes, a wine tour, hiking, sunsets on the mountain overlook and seeing the penguins to the legendary nightlife of Long Street that had me greet each day with a hangover.
Staying on Long Street you don't really have a choice; the music and drunken relics will keep you up all night no matter what, so you may as well join the party. I pried myself away from the near-perfection of Cape Town for the heartbreakingly beautiful cliffs of Hermanus- waves crashing into the rocks. From there it was the quiet wooded seaside village of Wilderness, then miles and miles of unspoilt beaches with incredible rock formations in Buffalo Bay. I sat, hypnotized as the w2aves shattered against the rocks in a synchronized spray far more impressive than at the Belagio.
On the surface, it would seem I have found my paradise. The locals are friendly and easy to meet. The area has everything I could ever want. All the places I have been are filled with fun things to do and the most impressive natural beauty I have ever seen. But if I have learned one thing on this trip it is that things are not always what they seem and I don't know if that perfect place I'm looking for exists.
It has been a strange transition in to such a developed country. I could be in California. Where is the Africa I know? Also, it is overwhelmingly white in the nice areas at least. The paradise feeling stops when you drive outside the beautiful towns and see the shadows of poverty. The vast majority of the population, all of whom are black, live in townships and slums. This is hard to see in any country, but the stark contrast between such a wealthy and developed city, just like one you would find in the U.S., and the slums and townships that surround the cities is horrific.
It seems like these people are just hidden from society, but because they are the majority, I wonder how long this will last. I was talking with a white South African who told me that he thinks they as people are all extremely insecure. They grow up with such violence and crime they they are always behind bars, looking in. Add that to the unstable political situation and instabilities for the whites in particular and you can see why they are so suspicious and insecure. He observed that when people like me come to visit South Africa, we feel like a right has been taken away because we are so limited due to the crime. For him, when he goes to Europe, the first thing he does is sit on a park bench at sunset because he can and he feels he has been given this gift of freedom.
One thing is for sure, you can feel the tension between the races and it is something that seems to destroy the country. It is always there, but never spoken about, impossible not to feel.
The damage of apartheid is deep. South Africa has elections coming up and many of the whites I have spoken too fear that it will turn in the direction of Zimbabwe with land redistribution and zoning, but who is to say what is right. It's like two different worlds here, that of most blacks and that of most whites. It's like the people in the cities don't even see the ones in townships. It's incongruent with paradise to say the least. I don't understand what is happening here and I need to talk to more people, but where before I was just very aware that I was the only white person or one of the few where I was, that was different. Here I am embarrassed and feel oppressive just by being white.