Cape Town!
My first trip to the continent of Africa, bringing the continent total to 4! This trip was actually through a program called Devices for the Developing World, where we (a professor from the University of Delaware, 5 UDel students, and 3 UPenn students) went around interviewing local doctors, citizens, and patients about medical device needs. During the day, we spent most of our time talking to various professionals, and also sprinkled in some tourism in the evenings and at the beginning and end.
We took from Newark and got there directly after a loonnggg flight. We got money and food at the airport and a friend of Dr. Karand (the UDel professor), Mali, helped us out to get to our hostel. The hostel had college-age kids from all over Europe and America and had some wild nights.
The next day, we did a game drive at Aquila Private Game Reserve. We went with a driver who was very knowledgeable and even showed us the prison where Mandela was released from at the end of his sentencing. The game drive started with a welcome drink and buffet (which was pretty decent), and then we set off in a group of about 12. We saw hippos, zebras, elephants, giraffes, lions (up-close!), and even the elusive cheetah in the distance. It was really cool seeing these animals in the wild. Our driver even played a game that involved putting balls of animal waste in his mouth and spitting them really far, but I couldn’t tell if he was joking and put something like chocolate in his mouth instead. That evening, we hit the grocery store again and interviewed Lee, another one of Dr. Karand’s contacts, about South Africa as a whole and the medical field. We learned about load shedding (rolling blackouts), the healthcare and insurance landscape, and hospital wait times, especially in rural areas.
After that, we visited the University of Cape Town (UCT) Biomedical Engineering department and spoke with several graduate and post-graduate students working on various medical device projects. We then visited the museum of the university hospital system (the first ever heart transplant was done at the nearby teaching hospital, Groote Schuur Hospital) and the mortuary, where we several cadavers up close and personal before they are used for lab classes. It’s a requirement for biomedical engineering students to work with cadavers, and I’m glad it isn’t at a requirement at UPenn! After a lunch at the university cafe (was alright, but the USD conversion rate made it sound super cheap!), we took a Red Bus Tour from the Central Business District. We stopped at Groot Constantia, a famous winery, to sample some wines. For the equivalent of ~5 USD, we got to try 5 (almost full) glasses of wine of different varieties, all while being under 21! It was a lot of fun and needless to say, the professor might have regretted letting us drink while on a city tour. We also visited a local township, Imazamu Yethu, and it looked EXACTLY like urban India based on the dwelling size/shape/colors and layout. It was interesting to see how people live, and that this is how billions of people around the world live. As we headed to Camps Bay, we were treated to the most beautiful sunset as we drove around the Bay and onto the beach. With the 12 apostles rock formation behind us and the ocean in front of us, it was a golden-orange paradise. I even bought a painting of the landscape from a local for about 300 Rand (negotiated down from 700!). We Ubered home and called it a night.
Leaving details out, this night ended up being super rough for me as I confirmed my suspicions about one of my close friends who was conveniently on the trip. I didn’t get much sleep after this and also did not eat much for the rest of the trip. I did enjoy the remainder of the trip, but my mental was off and that’s good context for you, the reader, to have!
ANYWAYS, the next day we visited the Tygerberg Oral Health Centre and talked with several dentists, including one entrepreneurial dentist. We also toured Robben Island, Nelson Mandela’s prison for the majority of his sentence, and got to talk to an ex-political prisoner, see Mandela’s room, and take pictures of Cape Town in the distance. I actually met someone from North Carolina on this trip and loved talking with her about her time in Cape Town (on an internship through her school). We finished with a Braai ceremony (like a South African BBQ) at Jess Schoemann’s house (Dr. Karand’s network! She volunteered here for a year, so she made lots of friends). The vegetarian options were limited, but I did enjoy the wine!
Interviews galore the next day. We started with interviewing Morne, a medical school professor (learned about the technologies doctors use and what is missing), at a yum breakfast place called Mango Ginger. Then, we interviewed Rameez, an ER doctor, at the hostel (learned about the messy triage system and insane wait times), followed by a trip to the Amy Foundation, a school, to talk to facilitators and teachers at Gugulethu, the township where the the school is located. They discussed how local doctors don’t have the knowledge nor the respect for their patients that secondary hospitals have, and can cause problems with care. We also saw the children perform songs and dances (which felt very white-man-burden and made me uncomfortable, since we interrupted their studies—I would have rather watched them do math!). Most of them spoke Xhosa, which is the famous clicking language of the native Africans. We wrapped up our day with dinner at Jerry’s (burger place) with Sudesh’s lab (UCT). That night, I visited the friend I met at Robben Island and we went out on Long Street, where I had a really good Indian dish called a “Veg Bunny” (looked like a 3D pav bhaji) and visited some cool bars. Security was high, but I never felt unsafe and we called a night before it got too late.
Well into the second half of our trip, we woke up early the following day to interview Gokul, a medical device entrepreneur, at our hostel. I learned a lot about taking a device from the lab to the market and the South African version of the FDA/CDC. We went back to UCT and floated potential project ideas to Sarah and Cliff (the UDel students were starting a senior design, so theirs was more flushed out) and interviewed Maggie and Rene about their experiences and ideas. We walked around the campus and I bought a really fresh UCT crewneck while admiring the views on campus, since the campus is halfway up a mountain.
The highlight of the trip was that evening, where we climbed Lion’s Head. It was advertised to us as an easy 1/1.5 hour hike that all American tourists do, but as we began to climb, we encountered staples, chains, and segments of vertical incline. It took us over 2 hours to finish the hike, and we were a group of moderately athletic 20-year-olds. It must be a hazing ritual because there is no way the average American tourist can hike that in under 90 minutes. The views when climbing up the mountain were absolutely gorgeous: the beach, other mountains, and the city were all laid out beneath us. We got to the top at right around sunset, which made the views absolutely breathtaking. After taking some flicks at the top (had to do one Eren Jeager style at the end of season 3), we began descending on the longer but less steep path (since a vertical decline did not sound appealing). It got dark quickly, which made things a little scary, but the views of the city lights were worth it. After the hike, we went to a “traditional” African restaurant (Mario’s African Place) for dinner, but it felt like a stereotype of actual Africans because the menu had lots of weird meat. I tried this worm-based dish, but it was really weird and so I just stuck to chicken. Before we went to bed that night, my clumsy self slipped and fell on the bathroom tile and got a Tom-and-Jerry style bump on my head.
Luckily, the bump wore off by morning, which is when we went to tour Khayelisha Health Centre Site B with Leigh. We learned about the average wait times (over 5 hours!), technological improvements, and even saw parts of the tuberculosis and prenatal care wings, both of which are major causes of death in the area. We left the hospital to go to Boulder’s Beach, where we saw a penguin colony in their natural habitat. One of them even got up close and personal, but unfortunately, there was a huge fine for touching one (endangered species!). Next, we drove along Chapman’s Peak Drive, one of the most scenic routes in South Africa, and made it to Cape Point. We saw ostriches on the way, monkeys in the parking lot, and climbed up to the lighthouse for some amazing views of False Bay. Nearby was the Cape of Good Hope—the Southernmost point in Africa and the place where the Pacific and Atlantic meet. There was even a cross for Vasco de Gama and Bartolomeu Dias, which were 2 explorers who crossed that point in their expeditions. We headed back (passed out on the drive back) and got dinner at the Victoria and Alfred Waterfront with Maja and Dr. Bansal. We hung out in the area, did a beer tasting, and headed back.
On the last day, we split up and did our own things, from climbing Chapman’s Peak, going shark-cage diving, and what I joined in on, going to a local market. Our original attempt was to find those opposite-team merchandise that the NBA/NFL send to Africa for charity, but we found something much better. After grabbing breakfast at Nando’s, which was 10/10 and heartbreaking to find out there isn’t a spot near me in the US, we headed to the Old Biscuit Mill. On Saturdays, there’s a local market with food, handmade jewelry, clothing, etc. We had some delicious apple juice (a risk for stomach issues, but screw it, it’s the last day in another continent) and churros while listening to a DJ at the base of Table Mountain. On the walk back, we went thrifting and I found a really cool windbreaker as part of a local school uniform. After hitting the McDonald’s (it was alright, they had a good chocolate pie but that’s it), we headed to the airport and flew home. Big shoutout to Victoria, who told the random who sat next to me that it’s her first time flying and so we could sit next to and sleep on each other for the 16-hour flight.
An absolutely stunning country with some of the greatest views I have ever seen.
Overview
- Wine tours are the move if you’re in Cape Town
- The hikes are 10x more difficult than advertised, but definitely 100% worth the view
- Practice your clicks if you want to fit in with the locals
- The South African medical technology field is incredibly innovative, especially with low-tech and patient-friendly solutions
Rohan Chhaya 