The day started off so well. Sue and Jessica went out to buy eggs and bread so we could have bacon and eggs for breakfast. We sat around for a part of the morning and enjoyed the warm sunshine. We considered options for how to spend the day. Jessica was happy to go out and do some sightseeing on her own. So we sent her off to visit the District Six museum in the city center.
When she was finished there, Jessica sent us a text — and we arranged to meet at the ‘Bacon’ restaurant on Bree Street for lunch. Sue has swollen and sore ankles — she’s not sure what brought that on; either jumping to forcefully on the cliff walk yesterday, or putting her feet in the cold Hermanus ocean — so we actually took the bus for part of the trip. Jessica was already there — had saved us a table. After lunch (bacon, what else?) Jessica set off to see if she could find a particular clothing shop while Sue and I walked back home to the apartment.
Just after 5 there’s a knock on the door and Jessica comes in. How was your afternoon? Well, you won’t believe this, but I was just robbed! I’m not joking!
What a disappointment. Jessica had been walking back to our place, in broad daylight on a fairly busy street not far from here, when two guys come up behind her and demand her purse. They have a knife! Jessica gave them her purse but asked to please be able to keep her ID. The muggers run off, rifle through the purse and take her wallet (cash and credit cards and driver’s license) and her cell phone, then drop the purse on the sidewalk. A passerby stops who saw the whole thing comes to Jessica’s aid — tells her she shouldn’t be walking in that area! But he calls an Uber cab for her and pays her taxi ride back to our place.
Oh no! What do we do now? So we cancelled the credit cards, and I tried calling the police — but ended up completely frustrated with them when the Green Point police referred me to the city center police, and the city center police sounded like they were having a very loud party in their office and were hard for me to understand. Ultimately I decided that calling the police and filing a case might be a good thing to do, but wasn’t going to happen today.
Jessica called her parents back home. It was an upsetting event, but somehow Jessica (and her parents) managed to laugh and make some jokes about it too. After the call Sue started supper and I barbecued lamb and chicken skewers on the barbecue. Supper was good. We visited a bit and then had a Skype call from Ed & Val in Phoenix. We watched a few short shows on TV. After watching last night’s CBC The National we all went to bed.
A bit of a downer here in Cape Town! I guess it could have been worse, so that’s some consolation — but I feel very sorry for Jessica: two months in Africa, two robberies! Let’s hope that’s the end of that for her and the rest of her time in Malawi turns out to be a rewarding and way less ‘exciting’ experience.