Part 3: Cape Town

The sites of Africa:
Unbelievable poverty.


Khonje (at least in Chichewa, I think it's in the Aloe family in English). This really reminded me more of Malawi than South Africa. It's what was used for fences there. But I was glad to see it, it made me feel like I was at home.


And Table Mountain. That's the view from my hotel room. Nice.


The weekend: We really only had one weekend of leisure on the trip. It's tough to tell in this one just how high up Mom and I are but we were walking up for about 30 minutes before this was taken.


Did you know there are penguins in Africa? No, seriously.


The giraffes aren't real, but the street vendor is.


The coast looks nice but I've heard the ocean is freezing.

Best part of Africa: The singing. No contest. I actually went to a church in one of the townships with Mom. I've always said once I experienced that kind of music, there was no other way to love god. Once Mom went, she said she understood why. I don't have pictures of the church (because I wisely took video instead) but there are lots of singers in the tourist areas which makes me happy.

South African Wildlife: It's all about the baboons. We saw them a couple places. These are some of the better pictures I snapped.



Mom and I at a formal banquet. Yes, I am still that tan.

The wire mesh Mandella bust is proof that in Africa, crafts can be made from everything.

I did make it to one nursing home in Cape Town. Guess what. The government in South Africa pays for single rooms. Guess where I'm moving when I get old. This is one of the Community Sisters (which is a nurse) who showed us around.


Table Mountain: Liz faces her fear of heights and her blood pressure drops. Table Mountain is the signature of Cape Town. It's like the Brooklyn Bridge or the St. Louis Arch. There's a cable car up to the top. On windy days, when you get close to the top, they give a warning to hold on because the cable car bangs into the mountain. Ask me how I found that out. Ask me what my blood pressure was. It could be counted on your fingers and toes.

Mom wouldn't even take the cable car up. Mom, who is not afraid of heights at all, wouldn't go to the top so I went with a lady called Mary from Arkansas. Once we got to the top, the clouds actually cleared for a while. She didn't understand my fear of heights but had the good grace to be entertained by me getting on my hands and knees to get near the edges. You know my knuckles are white from grabbing onto that railing right?



This was actually the way we spend our last morning before the 35 hour marathon homecoming. I've decided for all international travel, I need to fly business or first class. Also, South African Air is one of the more pleasant airlines I've traveled.