CAPE TOWN, South Africa—I was warned right away, at the airport: “We have a water crisis with severe restrictions in place,” read a Buick-sized sign in the arrivals area.
I had spent the past week in South Africa on a reporting trip and had decided to pass through Cape Town on my way back, in part out of curiosity about the water shortage.
I spent a few months in Cape Town during the southern hemisphere’s wintertime in 2010.
Like The Atlantic’s other health editors, I don’t bathe much anyway.
I ordered a carafe of local wine for 30 rand, or about $2.50, thinking it would help save water.
Yet another sign said water purchases would be limited to 20 liters per person.
People said that for months, they have been showering into a bucket, then using that water for their gardens.
They’re allowed 50 liters per person per day—less than a bathtub’s worth—and risk fines if they exceed the limit.
Still, she worries about the city’s many, many poor people.
Like its hardy fynbos, the country always seems to find a way.