Cape Diamond

... 14 of us it would have required quite a few rides.  The taxis showed up and whisked us the 2 miles back to the Cape Diamond Hotel where Suzan and Sophia were waiting in the lobby.  As I emerged from the taxi Sophia spotted me through the window ...

We arrive back in Cape Town from Johannesburg and check into our new hotel, the Cape Diamond Hotel. Our first evening back is spent catching up with my (Erin) lovely mates Bec, Tez, Nic and Greg. We head out to Mojito for dinner and drinks. It is so great ...

... Cup Final. We have a well-deserved sleep-in and then it is time to pack up and say good-bye and good riddance to the Cape Diamond Hotel. Our new accommodation, the Altona Lodge is more our backpacker style. It is Josie's last day so we all decide that it ...

... be crippling, and I hoped that our group would not be overcome by it.  It seemed like people were becoming comfortable with Cape Town and enjoying it, and that made me happy. Day overall:  B+/A- Good:  Lecture went well with the PowerPoint ...

... . I went on a run carrying the new Olympus camera I bought for the trip, making my way through the busy streets of Cape Town to the V & A Waterfront.  I felt like an experienced urban runner, dodging traffic and probably breaking more than a few ...

... all we could allow ... it was more important to start looking at the real things!!!! We found a very nice diamond design house in Cape Town and after a few hours deliberation, including breaks for tea and 'stiffer drinks' a joint choice ...

... richer!!!  This is the site where De Beers started it domination of the institution of marriage worldwide - because after all "a diamond is forever", so don't you want your marriage to last that long too!  The museum is actually pretty honest ...

... to take some pain tabs, but they worked and I got some good rest in before waking again, just what I needed! Lazed about Diamond House until 0900 when I left to greet everyone at AFB Ysterplaat. Went to see Col Cowan and had breakfast with Hilton and ...

... some rand that I had kept since 1992 at the Reserve Bank as no one would accept it in their shops. We wandered down to a diamond shop that had a brief history of diamonds exhibit, then we went to Signal Hill to watch the firing of the canon at midday. ...

... feather business in the early 1900's, the opening of South Africa's coal fields, the leadership of DeBeers Diamond Mines, and even the mayor's office of both Cape Town and Johannesburg between 1905 and 1910 (there wasn't even a Jewish mayor of New York ...

... and on our wonderfully clear day, we could see all of it.  On the way home, we stopped by the Rhodes Memorial (a diamond tycoon who Rhodesia was named after).  The memorial overlooks the University of Cape Town where Michelle and Rob met in college. ...

... to walk around the beach area for a bit before going in and we were stopped by a homeless man with no teeth and wearing a plastic diamond tiara who was asking for money. He told us he had a newborn baby and he and his wife sleep on this beach and he ...

... that go to Robben Island (where Nelson Mandela was imprisoned for 29 ? years) from here.  Also saw the movie Blood Diamond that night.  Many of the people in the audience were laughing at Leonardo´s Zimbabwean accent.  It sounds good to ...

... in the city, the bus ride is a little more like travelling from one cowboy town to the next from the old gold and diamond mining days, where the words ranch and saloon are ever present. The eighteen hour journey normally allows for some degree of kip... ...

... in marriage. The temple and the adjoining ghat, situated overlooking the shore, attract tourists from all over the world. The sparkling diamond nose-ring of the deity is said to be visible even from the sea. Daybreak at KanyakumariOn two rocky islets just ...

... but that takes about 2 hours. Sensational views in all directions - back over the city, over the beaches to the side, and down towards Cape Point over the rest of the Park. A few rock hyraxes around the place as well, the local name for them is ...