Twenty Seven on First Cape Town

... abseil required suitable weather conditions that offer a reasonable level of visibility at the top of the Table Mountain, which had not been the case throughout most of my stay in Cape Town!

The last day for me here had come and I -on my toes with my fingers crossed- was yet to receive a confirmation of my booking with Abseil Africa. Few more hours left for me in Cape Town, and huge clouds were still covering the top of Table Mountain like a white tablecloth. It ...

... the opportunity to try to encourage him to keep pressing on. I hope to have more conversations with him in the next week.

A bunch of the interns are on a soccer team with some students from UCT, and there was a game that night! It was really awesome to go to a field nearby and see 35+ people broken up into two teams playing soccer. Many were natives, some were volunteers, and some were students, but this brought everyone together in a neat ...

... down the steep sides like a waterfall but dissipates before reaching the first line of houses. One morning the city was covered in what I took to be a thick mist but which turned out to be smoke from a serious bush fire around Sir Lowry's Pass about 40 kms to the east. On the same day there was a small fire just above us on the mountain quite close to the last line of houses. I sat on the balcony watching a helicopter collecting water in a ...

... towards the top. As the cable car gracefully climbed the floor was rotated to allow all a good view, including those who had deliberately moved to the uphill side to avoid looking down! We saw sunset on the way up and had an Irish coffee at the top in what is now a highly developed complex with a restaurant and bar. A far cry from the empty hill top that greeted Ben and I when we last were up there and when he collected his A-level results by mobile phone.

... of wine tasting fee and all entrance fees, it excludes Lunches ,Dinner and beverages. Highlights:South African Wines Itinerary:The Valley of Wines · Groot Constantia · Klein Constantia · Buitenverwachting · Constantia Uitsig · Steenberg · Cheese Farm · Constantia Village for Unique Shopping · Cost of Wine Tasting included Detailed Description:Valley of Wines The Constantia Wine Route is named after the original farm ...

... here! Also a lot people were cycling and climbing Table Mountain or the Lion's Head. It seemed to be mainly the white people who were out and about on this beautiful day. It reminded me of the beaches in Toronto. I saw a few African street performers at the waterfront. Unfortunately, in my paranoia, I didn't have my camera. The boat to Robben Island where Nelson Mandela was imprisoned starts ...

... camera (the exact same version we had before!). It was a really clear and HOT day, at around 35C. We opted to take the cable car up, instead of the 3 hour hike, simply because of our time limits (not because it was hot and a difficult climb). Here is a picture of Stephy on top of Table Mountain, and you can see all across the North side of Cape Town. Capetown has all the restaurants and bars of San Francisco, or New York ...

... top of the steep section and sat down for a drink we decided that the slog up to the main summit didn't look worth the extra effort so we retraced our steps and paused for a while on the way out of the reserve at the area where there are picnic tables. This is worth a brief stop and a look around. Common Waxbills and Olive Thrush are quite numerous as are several species of sunbirds. A Fiscal Flycatcher was very confiding and a pair of Malachite Sunbirds flew over. This ...

... shot, (the guards were given orders to shoot to kill). that same cave was where they had to eat their lunch. It also became known as the university, as it was where, with teh help of some of the warders, the prisioners taught eachother, some left the Island with degrees and letters to their names because they had managed to get correspondence courses and studied with the help of their peers in that cave. 70% of the prisoners were actually illiterate despite being political ...

... and thanked me for coming...I guess most tourists don't make it out to these events...Perfect! I met Cara through Sylvia, a professor of music here who I got in touch with thanks to some music professors back home. Sylvia also introduced me to Teekay, a graduate student in music here who showed me this great African Cuisine place right on campus. Teekay and Cara are both considering continuing their graduate study in Music at U of I! Sylvia must be ...