Rotarian Keith's Travels
Hi, there! I hope that all is well with you ! I am using the computer at the business centre - easier to type than the tablet!
We arrived here late Friday evening after an 11-1/2 hour flight from Amsterdam. We took a boat ride on the canals in Amsterdam, seeing lots of old homes with barges decorated with flower boxes Anne Frank's home and Westkerk, a famous landmark. Had an Indonesian meal before going to bed early. Both flights uneventful. Our hotel was 200 meters from the train station.
We arrived at 10:30 pm in Cape Town and were picked up by the hotel driver Hanif. he told lots of jokes which would likely would have been funny, if we could have understand the accent. Now after a day and a half we are on to it!
Saturday, we woke up to a beautiful sunny day overlooking the Atlantic. I sat on the balcony and did some people and bird watching! The waves were rolling in and lots of joggers and walkers. We planned a shuttle ride to the base of the cable car for Table Mountain. What a beautiful setting! Lots of flowers, heather, birds and great scenery with small villages dotting the coast line. I believe that I got some good photos!
We came home in time to sit on the balcony with a drink and watch the sunset over the Atlantic. While we were there we watched two Southern Right Whales moving down the coast to their birthing grounds just around the Cape of Good Hope 50 km south of here.
We made dinner in our suite, which consists of a bedroom, two full bathrooms, a galley kitchen, sitting area and bar for meals.
Sunday, we went to St Georges Cathedral to communion and were surprised by such a sermon by the Bishop criticising the government for its lack of action in the mining dispute 60 kms north west of Johannesburg.
Monday we visited the V & A waterfront, and took in some of the old sites that my Dad would have seen when he was in the merchant navy. He was on the regular run from Scapa Flow (north Scotland) to Bombay and their mid point was Cape Town or Durban. He loved the area (I can see why!) and wanted my Mom to emigrate but she wouldn't! Even though he passed away a number of years ago I felt so close to him as we toured the harbour.
Tuesday was most of the day at Robben Island, which was powerful seeing where Nelson Mandela was incarcerated. We had a ferry ride over to the island about 5 miles off the coast, a bus ride where we saw leper graves and church, the quarry where Mandela was put to hard labour and were taken through the prison by an ex-convict. It was very moving; prisoners were confined to their cells for 23 hours per day and were allowed into the yard for 1 hour to break up rocks with a sledge hammer.
Today we booked a trip to the Cape with spots where we were 600 meters above the Atlantic Ocean, beautiful bays and stretches of sand and rocks. The walk around the Cape Point (Cape of Good Hope) with a 200 meter drop, birds flying everywhere-we spotted a few Albatross flying close to the waves and wheeling in their familiar style. We visited the African Penguin Colony where a number of the males were on their nests with chicks of varying sizes. An excellent half day tour which lasted until mid afternoon!
Tomorrow we are heading out to downtown to catch a "hop on hop off double decker bus and plan to visit the Botanical Gardens and some wineries. We have a couple of bottles in the room, bottles are $4 and up! I plan to attend the Rotary meting tomorrow evening and then pack for our next adventure! We fly out early for J'burg on Friday.
Hope all is well with everyone!
Cheers,
Judy and Keith