When a smell so foul that locals called it “unimaginable” wafted over Cape Town this week, a search for the source of the stench choking the scenic South African tourist destination led to the city’s harbor.
Nearly a mile from the dock on Monday morning, Terence van der Walt, a local wine distributor, was stuck in traffic when the odor, made worse by the hot summer weather, began to drift into his car.
With a smell so enveloping, rolling up his windows felt pointless.
“It was so putrid,” Mr. van der Walt said on Tuesday, describing his experience.
“It would have been green if this were a cartoon.”After the smell hovered over Cape Town for several hours, a team from the local environmental health department discovered the source: a 623-foot-long livestock carrier registered in Kuwait — with 19,000 cows onboard.
Persons:
Terence van der, van der Walt
Organizations:
Terence van der Walt, Town
Locations:
Cape, Kuwait