I was driving to work today, grooving away, and then on the play list one of my random music downloads came on and I was transported to a sunny day atop that beautiful Table Mountain beloved of all Ashanti Back Packers. My friend Paul has just spent some time in Cape Town and the whole time the table cloth was on. Oh well never mind Pauli I have some amazing photos, with shades of brilliant blues; deep to light, of the ocean and sky above the mountain, Iā€™ll show them to you so that you will want to go back in the sunshine! Saying this Pauli had a great time in down town Cape Town. And Stellenbosch. And Franshoek. And Cape Point. The man has not stopped smiling since he got back from Africa. Which is not surprising. Readers on my blog will be appalled to know that he did not buy my case of Cape Classique. Apparently his suitcase was full of his red wine. Outrageous behaviour really.

Any hoo. The song that transported me back to the Mother City was a song I had not heard before from Miriam Makeba, about Table Mountain. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6e11SQV8acc
I had been doing a bit of lat night music shopping and bought a few different albums.. thus the randomness of this song coming up on the playlist coming to work.

Miriam has a special spot in my heart because my Australian mother use to rave about her. Miriams songs were very popular in Johannesburg in the 1960s when Mum had lived there. Mumā€™s affection for Miriam was reborn in the mid nineties when one day she heard on the Australian radio Triple J Pata Pata. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lNeP3hrm__k Mother rung me at work she was so excited. Miriam Makeba was on the radio! She had not heard her since Africa.

It makes me smile to think that Mum, an Australian living in Johannesburg, was able to listen to Miriam Makebas music even though she was exiled from South Africa at the time. Despite her music being banned mum was still able to become a fan. Mumā€™s affection for Miriam meant that we even went to one of her concerts in Brisbane. This concert still rates as one of the greatest concerts ever.

So why don’t you go buy a Miriam Makeba album and book a flight to Mother City so you can go see that table mountain, drink a glass of wine from Stellenbosch at the bar at Ashanti soon.

Allison Finley-Bisset