Camels in the Garden

I've been driving instead of walking to work this week due to inclement weather and late meetings. Today it looked like it wouldn't rain on the way in, at least, so I walked. The walk is generally uneventful, but it usually offers a few quirks, as one sees in cities. There's the man who plays the recorder from a park bench, the sea gulls that sound like cats, a few homeless transvestites coming back from a late night somewhere, or sometimes an armored car surrounded by guards with automatic rifles and flak jackets.

Today, I didn't expect much. The tourist population in Company's Garden, the main park that's across the street from my apartment, has grown as it's gotten closer to the high season. There's more light to photograph Table Mountain as well. Anyway, as I was walking through the garden, I saw the area through which I normally walk cordoned off. I assumed they were doing some landscaping, but as I passed the statue of Cecil Rhodes, I saw three men with dreadlocks saddling camels, and beyond, a film crew laying down track for the camera and setting up a crane. The trees were festooned with Christmas ornaments and tinsel, and floodlights softened by silkscreens cast a strange glow. I assume they must have been filming for some sort of Nativity or acid trip scene--I'm unsure. But I did not expect to see camels at 8AM this morning.