Protea Hotel Tyger Valley Cape Town Welgemoed

... and chatty - but then I tend to bring that out in people ; )

The second thing that struck me while driving from the airport was that it was raining. It had rained and thundered off and on ...

9/27/09

Yesterday was the Neptune Ceremony, the day we cross the equator for the first time. They put on this big ceremony that has a bunch of traditions. I'm not sure where they came from, some people say that some of it came from old Navy traditions and some people say Semester at Sea started a lot of it. Anyways, it started around 7 or 7:30 in the morning when crew members walked through the halls banging cymbals and blowing whistles. It was really funny ...

... British Airways VIP lounge, the internet was not working in the airport and I was forced to board the plane without any plan of what I would do for transportation or where I would sleep.  I was only concerned because I was tired. I watched movies on the plane, read books, wrote journals, but could not sleep.  I was starting to feel real jet lagged wanted to sleep, but the 8 hour time zone difference told me it was only 7PM.  
I arrived to Cape Town at 9PM.  The airport ...

... the Cape of Good Hope National Park. We drove in and parked and then took a funicular up to the top of the cliff overlooking the point where the Atlantic and Indian Oceans meet. There was a trail around the back to an old lighthouse, so we walked down there and took a few pictures.. We then walked down to the beach, where there is a sign saying "Cape of Good Hope - Most Southwesternly Point on the African Continent" where everybody has ...

... remember our responsibility to help those less fortunate than us. Secondly he said, and this one is crucial, that "We can never eliminate terrorism or other forms of violence unless we eliminate environments that breed desperation. We need to learn that bread is more important than bombs." That was the last thing he said. I ran ahead to the gangway knowing he had to exit there and while people mobbed him all the way up there I got to greet him as he stepped outside, shake his hand ...

... Then, a knock on my hotel room door. I had been traveling all day and was soooo tired and a little iffy about OPENING my door. But nonetheless, I cracked it and saw our receptionist and a white european girl looking very tired with a backpack.Hello? I said. Can I help you. "This is your roomate," he said. "Are you with Gap?" I said. Yeah she said. "My flight just got in from Germany." I am so tired. I looked at the receptionist and said, "There must be a mistake, I only have a double ...

... and I sighed out loud as I took it all in. During the remainder of the day, we lounged by the pool and caught up on long forgotten magazines and other collections of writings that I used to call "readings of pleasure". I must have gotten through three quarters of The Economist by the time we started getting ready for the evening Braai". Amanda worked the kitchen while her boyfriend Marc manned the grill, "Braaing" copious amounts of meat ...

... and put in the tuna fish head, we had 3 sharks going around in circles and they were huge!!! Along with the fish head, the "shark lady" tossed in a cut out of a seal, I didnt think it would work since it was just a piece of wood, but it really did. As the sharks swam up towards the bait, the "shark lady" and her helper would pull them up so the shark wouldnt get them and the sharks would swim by and them come back a minute later. There were a few ...

... in the world and getting to my next destination. We all know how well I do with transitions. Plus, I'm still playing catch-up because I just don't have the energy at the end of the day to write the day's experiences before going to bed. And that means that, at this particular point in time, I am sitting in my cabin staring at the Victoria and Alfred wharf in South Africa through my window as we refuel our ship. It's right there. Another 300 meters and I ...

... never occurred to me how much penguins would smell - then again I never thought of it before, but they sure as heck do. Rest assured this didn't help my hangover so I left the Aquarium feeling worse than I arrived, but mightily impressed with it. Sadly my time in Cape Town was quickly coming to an end so I had to dash back to the lodge to sort out my bag. Before I knew what had happened I had packed my bag, said my final goodbyes and was shooting off to the airport.